The proposed hike in City Bus fare is being resented strongly by the people of Ranchi. In a meeting held on Wednesday, Ranchi Municipal Corporation office, it was proposed to increase the bus fare by Rupees 5 for various destinations for the City Buses.
“We will switch to auto-rickshaws”, said a bus passenger Rita Kumari. “There is no point travelling on a bus if the price of auto and buses have the same fare”, she further added.
“They should throw away these buses in their backyards”, said another sweat laden bus passenger Rajendra Prasad upon being asked for his views on the bus-fare increment.
“It would obviously affect my budget”, said a student traveller.
The number of city buses being less than the number of auto-rickshaws in the city will also be a problem for the turning up of the bus crowd for auto if the fares are increased. “I get an auto easily from anywhere in the city to my desired destination but I have to wait for long durations for buses and also there’s no fixed time for the buses on a particular route, so I prefer auto over a bus to get to a place in time”, remarked an office employee Neeraj Kumar.
“There is no way the fare of buses should increase, there is nothing in these buses, they are overly crowded and mismanaged”, commented another traveller.
Meanwhile the hike in bus fare will see a huge decline in the number of passengers travelling by bus, the economically backward class who earlier preferred bus travel for low fare will face a dilemma for travelling in the city.
“I will have to cut my costs at a large extent to afford ‘bus-travelling’”, mentioned Hemalata Kujur, a construction site worker.