KSTDC likely to reduce routes to avoid evening city traffic snarls 

Mysore/Mysuru: The Ambaari double-decker open-top hop-on and hop-off buses launched by the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) is getting good response from tourists and buoyed by this, KSTDC has decided to introduce one more bus to the existing fleet of two buses.

Permission from the Road Transport Office (RTO) has been secured to introduce one more bus service as the demand is good and the bus will be on road within two to three days. With Dasara just days away, tourists have started arriving in Mysuru in large numbers and there are many takers for the buses that cover 35 destinations with audio guides explaining the significance of the landmark structures. Even local residents are hopping on to the buses to get the “roof-top feel” of their favourite destinations.

On Sept. 18, 55 people travelled in the buses in 5 trips, on Sept. 19, 115 people took the service in seven trips, on Sept. 20, 21 people in 1 trip, on Sept. 22, there were two trips with 25 passengers, on Sept. 25, there were 4 trips with 56 passengers. 

On Sept, 26, 92 tourists travelled in 6 trips and on Sept. 28, 18 people travelled in 1 trip. Yesterday, 10 people travelled in 1 trip and today till noon, 60 tourists had gone for city rounds by noon. 

Each passenger will be charged Rs. 250 for a round trip of the city covering 35 tourist-interest places. According to KSTDC officials, on weekends there is a huge leap in the numbers and there is more demand for afternoon and evening trips. 

“A typical trip takes two hours and now we are facing problems in the evening trips as the traffic density is too high on many roads in the Central Business District. As such, it takes more than three hours to cover one route,” an official said. The evening trip from 6 pm to 8 pm and from 8 pm to 10 pm are in great demand and the KSTDC is planning to cut short certain destinations to avoid the bus getting caught in traffic snarls. “This is the only alternative for us. Also, all the tourists ask for roof-top seats with not many takers for the other seats on the main body of the bus. This is unfortunate and we request the people not to insist or argue over roof-top seats,” he added.