With the recent string of accidents of privately-owned turning fatal in Odisha, the exciting fact for commuters is that a journey by State-run buses in the State is among the safest in the country.
The State-run buses had only four fatal accidents in 2014-15 though the total accidents involving State-run buses are around 22. Among its neighbouring counterparts (AP, WB, Bihar), the OSRTC has recorded the lowest number of fatal accidents of 0.01 per lakh revenue earning km.
Interestingly, the Odisha State Transport Corporation (OSRTC) has one of the youngest fleet of buses in the country. It has only 6 per cent of its fleet over-aged against 100 per cent in Bihar and around 17 per cent in Andhra Pradesh. Buses run by the OSRTC on an average are below five years old against around 11 years old in Bihar.
According to an NCRB analysis on accidents, running of over-aged vehicles on road and also the human error were the two most vital factors behind the rising accidents in the country, besides the disregard to traffic and freight norms.
Significantly, the Odisha Transport Department in a recent inquiry into a bus accident blamed the over-occupancy among the reasons behind the fatal mishap. Also significantly, when the occupancy ratio in the OSRTC buses is around 80 per cent, the ratio in private buses hovers around 120-150 per cent.
Significantly, in Andhra Pradesh, the occupancy ratio in State-run buses is still lower than Odisha with a figure of below 70 per cent. But when the APSRTC ferries 586 passengers per bus per day, the OSRTC could ferry only 39 passengers per bus per day. This reflects how the State-run transport system plays a minor role in public transport in Odisha, leaving the private players to have monopoly even over commuters’ lives. The reason: the OSRTC has a fleet strength of below 500 against a whopping over 12,000 fleet strength of the APSRTC.
This marginal role of the OSRTC baffles many when it posted a net profit of Rs 515 lakh in 2014-15 compared to a loss of around Rs 59 lakh by its Andhra counterpart. It’s not that marginal operation by a State-run corporation yields into more profit. The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport by ferrying around 160 passengers per bus per day had earned a net profit of over Rs 248 crore in 2014-15. Interestingly, in fatal accidents per lakh revenue earning km, the UPSRTC is almost as lower as Odisha’s rate.
During the last half decade (2009-15), the OSRTC hasn’t shown any appreciable rise in passengers ferrying per bus per day as the increase load has been limited to a mere seven more heads compared to addition of around 1,500 heads by the UPSRTC.
The result: though the OSRTC figured among the most-cash-rich State-run transport utility in the country, it failed to figure in service-to-passenger parameter as it remained hamstrung by its limited operations. Though built on tax from common citizens, the OSRTC proved of little use to public than in bridging the Odisha Government’s fiscal deficit.
