The strike by autorickshaw unions on Monday saw the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) record its highest one-day revenue generation since its inception — ₹2.04 crore.
With autorickshaws off the road following protest called by 17 autorickshaw unions, residents had no choice but to travel by public transport buses. PMPML plied additional 150 buses on major routes across Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad to accommodate the morning and evening rush hour.
“There were around 1,750 buses carrying 15.47 lakh passengers on Monday. The day’s ticket sale was ₹1,92,08,968 and daily pass ₹12,62,755. It is the highest one-day revenue generation and passenger count for PMPML. We had earlier crossed the daily figure of ₹2 crore on January 4, 2016 and November 14, 2022,” according to a statement released by the public transport body.
PMPML officials said that it was prepared for the strike day.
“The total bus fleet for the day went up to 1,750. We had given duties to office and depot clerical staff to visit nearby bus stations and monitor buses and passenger crowd during morning and evening peak hours. Buses running outside PMC and PCMC limits were cancelled for the day and routed withing city areas to meet the rush hour,” said Omprakash Bakoria, PMPML chairman and managing director.
Girish Lodha, an IT professional, said, “I had to go for my personal work to old city area from Baner. As auto drivers were on strike and private cabs showed high fares, I decided to travel by PMPML bus. Very rarely we travel by public transport buses, but the travel by electric AC bus was good and I could reach the destination safely at affordable fare. I would now prefer to travel by PMPML bus for long distance to avoid traffic jams.”
{{/usCountry}}Girish Lodha, an IT professional, said, “I had to go for my personal work to old city area from Baner. As auto drivers were on strike and private cabs showed high fares, I decided to travel by PMPML bus. Very rarely we travel by public transport buses, but the travel by electric AC bus was good and I could reach the destination safely at affordable fare. I would now prefer to travel by PMPML bus for long distance to avoid traffic jams.”
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