Let's take the bus

UNCOMFORTABLE. THAT'S THE WORD that comes to mind when a commuter thinks of public transport in India. Buses packed beyond capacity and moving at speeds as low as 6 kmph are a common sight. Small vehicles such as autorickshaws and black-and-yellow taxis are old and often flout ELV (end of life of vehicle) norms.

Two factors are to blame. First, there’s not enough public transport. Second, India doesn’t mandate norms for commercial vehicles and buses that factor in comfort, or, for that matter, basic rights such as accessibility for disabled people.
The private sector is now entering the fray and thinking of ways to fill this vacuum. But the going won’t be easy: Public transport is heavily regulated, which leaves little room for the private players to manoeuvre. The government isn’t pushing its policies in an aggressive or uniform manner to deploy efficient travel options.

Despite the problems, companies such as Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki, and Mahindra & Mahindra seek to tap the opportunity in the smaller commercial vehicles space, while the likes of Volvo and Mercedes-Benz hope to expand their presence in the luxury bus segment.

Tata Motors has begun test marketing its new Magic Iris, a soft-top “people-mover”, in Rajasthan. It aims to offer more “dignified” travel, says R. Pisharody, president (commercial vehicles business unit), Tata Motors. “It’s superior to three-wheelers [autorickshaws], which at 300,000 units a year is a large market,” he says.

To be launched in the first quarter of 2011 and expected to be priced below Rs 2 lakh, it will increase the choices available to passengers and entrepreneurs. The four-seater comes with more power and better speed capabilities (11.3 horsepower and a top speed of 55 kmph) than other vehicles in the same segment. Another recent launch by Tata is the tweaked Winger Platinum, which is a seven seater. Earlier it was a 14 seater.

Tata is not alone. In 2009, Maruti Suzuki, India’s largest car maker, launched Eeco, priced at around Rs 3 lakh, which has since sold 60,000 units. Officials say seating and driving comfort (standard reclining and sliding features) make the van that comes in five- and seven-seat variants “highly popular” with cab operators. That explains why there’s a three-month wait for it.

The Mahindras are testing Reva’s new NSR and NSX vehicles, and Pawan Goenka, president of Mahindra’s auto sector, says the company is in talks with government officials to consider using electric vehicles in “last-mile” corridors that connect to public transport hubs.

Comfort is also being addressed by radio taxi operators such as Easy Cabs, Meru Cabs, and Mega Cabs via air-conditioned fleets that include Hyundai Accents, Maruti Esteems, and Mahindra Logans. Even tier II cities such as Jaipur and Chandigarh are now serviced by radio cabs.

Then there is the increasing private participation in state-run services to consider, as well as the changes in the size of luxury bus fleets. Tata Motors has delivered 2,800 low-floor CNG buses to Delhi Transport Corporation over the last couple of years, and under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM)—a government programme to upgrade public conveyance, among other things—the company has delivered more than 5,000 buses.

“Today we have operators with fleets of more than 350 luxury buses. That was unthinkable a few years ago,” says Akash Passey, managing director, Volvo Buses India. The Chennai and Bangalore transport corporations have more than 100 Volvo buses each, which are considered to be far more comfortable than the regular buses.

Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz India has been conducting trial runs of its low-entry and semi-low floor buses with the Pune, Mumbai, and Bangalore transport corporations.

But government efforts such as the JNNURM, and making more comfortable commercial vehicles, are not enough to clean up the current mess. Road taxes and transport policy differ from state to state, increasing the scope for corruption and harassment of operators. The difference in taxes for commercial and private vehicles also confuses manufacturers who make vehicles for both uses (think Toyota Innova).

Vishnu Mathur, director general of the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, says the rates of
road taxes is just one part of the problem. “The other is doing away with interstate octroi fees. The implementation of the Goods and Services Tax could help.”

If regulations are not in place, Tata’s Magic Iris could turn out to be just another overloaded vehicle. Auto manufacturers such as Tata Motors and Mahindra are keen to unite, and to engage relevant ministries to overhaul policies and bring state-level legislation under the ambit of the central government, but it’s still just an idea. Former Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Kamal Nath says, “So far, my ministry hasn’t received any such proposal from auto makers.”