TMT rakes in moolah on new AC bus routes

Thane: The newly inaugurated AC bus routes from the city to Andheri (E) and BKC have turned out to be a hit. The Thane Municipal Transport officials said that within the first three days of launching the service, it collected Rs 2 lakh, Rs 95,000 of which came on Friday.
TMT officials said that they expect the revenue to touch Rs 1.5 lakh daily by mid-November.
“Several people are still on Diwali leave and others are still tied to other services.In a few weeks they will all start to take these buses,” said an official.
A notable section of Thaneites travelling by autos or BEST buses have made the switch to this service, said the official. He also added that they were pushing for customer feedback to iron out chinks in the service.
“The services have just been launched. We will analyze the travel pattern over the next few days and then revise the services, if needed. Our conductors have also been asked to take feedback from commuters on a daily basis,” said Ashok Burpule, officer-in-charge, TMT.
Before launching the service, the TMT had conducted a study and realized that there is a huge density of Thane residents who wanted a single mode of travel to their workplaces in Mumbai. They had to switch different modes of transport to reach Cadbury junction from where they took a BEST bus or had to hire an auto from Modella check naka, both were uneconomical.
The undertaking said they want more people travelling in autos, cabs or private vehicles to switch over to these services. The low fares and its accessibility from Ghodbunder is something that may prove beneficial, said a staff deputed on the route.
The services are available between 7am to 11 pm in both directions.