Kolkata: The once-strong bus transport system in Kolkata is no longer a popular choice as recent data shows that not a single new bus has been registered in the city this year. Meanwhile, there has been a huge rise in the purchase of private cars till July this year.
Experts in traffic and transport planning believe that the city’s focus has shifted from mass transit to a car-centric transit policy.
Reflecting the shift in people’s preferred mode of commute, there has been a noteworthy rise in the registration of private cars in the first seven months of 2022 as compared to the pre-Covid times.
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This comes despite BS-VI vehicles being more expensive than pre-pandemic BS-IV ones.
As per operators, since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, buses in Kolkata have lost around 30 per cent of passengers.
Out of the city’s fleet of 6,000 private buses, only around 2,000 are still operating. Meanwhile, as many as 625 buses, which have completed 15 years of operation, will be scrapped this year.
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This year, over 9,000 cars have been registered with the PVD Kolkata till July 31, as opposed to the entire pre-Covid year of 2019, which saw 11,633 car registrations.
In the two-wheeler segment, this year’s registration is likely to surpass the pre-Covid tally as, by July end, as many as 11,712 two-wheelers have been registered in the city, while the total figure for the entire 2019 was 19,391.
Source: https://www.timesnownews.com/kolkata/kolkata-citizens-now-prefer-to-commute-in-private-cars-rather-than-buses-article-93855311
