ప్రగతి రథం - ప్రజల నేస్తం

అదిగో అందరి బస్సు ఆర్డినరి బస్సు. దశాబ్దాలు గా తన చక్రాలు మీద పల్లె బ్రతుకులను ఆప్యాయం గా పలకరించే నేస్తం. తరాలు మారినా ప్రజల అంతరాలలో నాటుకుపోయిన రవాణాబంధువు.

పల్లె దైనందిన జీవితం లో అదొక భాగం. పల్లెకు, పట్నం కు అదొక వారధి. గందరగోళ పట్నం నాగరికత నుంచి పచ్చని పల్లెటూరుకు వెళ్ళే నిత్య బాటసారి . రహదారి ఎలా ఉన్నా, తన పరిస్థితి ఎలా ఉన్నా తనని సరిగ్గా  పట్టించుకోకపోయినా ఏనాడు విరామం ఎరగని శ్రామికురాలు. పచ్చని పంటపొలాలు, ఆకలి తీర్చే రైతన్న స్వేదాన్ని ఆకలి కేకలతో ఏడ్చే ఊరి చివర బ్రతుకులను, భూములను మింగే భూస్వాములను, పాఠశాలలకు పరిగెత్తే పసి మొగ్గలను, ఏటిలో ఈదులాడే మూగ జీవాలను, ఎండిన బ్రతుకులను, బీడువారిన భూములను, స్వేఛ్ఛగా నిరంతరం సంచరించే పశు పక్షాదులను కొండ అంచులకు, లోయ సోయగాలను, అందమైన సీమ సోయగాలను, పిల్ల పైరు గాలి పలకరింపును, ఎన్నో మరెన్నో చూసింది.

అమెరికా నుండి వచ్చు పిల్లలను ఆప్యాయంగా తల్లిదండ్రులకు చేర్చి మళ్ళీ వెళ్ళేటప్పుడు వారి మూగ రోదనను మౌనంగా వినింది. కని, మోసి  పెంచిన పిల్లలను పెళ్లి చేసి పట్నంకు పంపే తల్లితండ్రుల హృదయంలో తెలియని ఒక దుఖం చూసింది. పెద్ద చదువులకు ఉన్నత ఆశయాలతో పట్నం, నగరం వెళ్ళే పసి మనసులను పలుకరించింది.
పల్లెకు ఆకలి వేసినా, అనారోగ్యమొచ్చినా, ఏ అవసరం వచ్చినా, అన్నింటికీ తన ఉపయోగం పడింది. తల్లితండ్రులని పోషించడానికి టాపీ పట్టుకొని తెలుగు నేల చివరకు వెళ్ళేవారిని పట్నం బస్సు స్టాండ్ ల వరకు వదిలిపెట్టింది. ప్రతి పల్లెటూరి వాసి హృదయం లో, జీవితం లో ఏదో ఒక రూపం లో అనుబంధం కలిసి ఉన్న చక్రం పల్లె బస్సు చక్రం. ఇంతటి ప్రాముఖ్యత కలిగిన పల్లెవెలుగు గురించి వార్తల్లో సంస్థకి నష్టాలు తెచ్చే గుదిబండలు గా మారాయని తప్ప ఇంకేమన్నా వినిపిస్తుందా. పల్లెవెలుగు కే గాని ప్రాణం ఉంటె మనకి ఎం చెప్పేది ?

పల్లెవెలుగు మాటల్లో ...

నా వల్ల నష్టం వస్తుందంటే అది మీ అసమర్థత కానీ, నా ప్రయత్నం లో ఎప్పుడూ లోపం లేదు. నాకు గుర్తింపు లేక పోయినా, మీ గౌరవం కోసం పోస్టర్లలో  volvo, scania, indra, super luxury సరసన ఏ రోజు నాకు చోటు ఇవ్వకపోయినా నేను పట్టించుకోను. పట్నం బస్టాండ్ లో, సగటు మనిషి అవసరం లో, పల్లె గుండెలో, ప్రకృతి ఒడిలో, పల్లె కాలువ గట్టు మది లో, నన్ను ఎప్పుడు తలుచుకునే మీ బాల్యం ఙ్నాపకాలలో ఎప్పుడు ఉంటాను. నాకు నేనే పోటి, లేదు నాకు సాటి.

పల్లెవెలుగులను, వాటి ప్రాముఖ్యతను మర్చిపోఎలోపు గ్రామాలకు అవి ఎంత ముఖ్యమో తెలుసుకుందాం. తెలంగాణ లోని గుండంపల్లి గ్రామ ప్రజలు మరియు వారి ధనలక్ష్మి కథ (ఆంగ్లం లో) ..

Both APSRTC and TSRTC Don't generally send new/medium aged buses on night out services . Generally, they use 12-15 years old buses for night out services. But here, it is a different story !

Bus no : 01Z-0042
Name : Dhanalaxmi
Route : Nirmal-Gundampally.

Gundampally(Samundarpally) is a village located on the banks of river Godavari. This is a special village in the region served by Nirmal depot. People from this village treat the BUS as their own. They sweep and wash the bus twice a day. They treat the bus as their “Dhanalakshmi” - the bus which brings Wealth to their life.

The people of Gundampally fitted a clock in the bus along with first aid kit and Tape Recorder with the money of village development committee. They also arranged a person from village with monthly salary to keep the bus clean and wash it daily. He also serves the crew during night halt. They also decorate the bus with special flower garlands and mango leaves during special occasions and festivals.

Night halt parking is provided at panchayat office. A Double Room has been constructed and a Cooler,Fan,Fridge,Mineral Water and TV have been provided for the CREW who Halt in village at Night.

At a time when we are seeing more and more villages moving away from buses to shared autos and cabs this village has shown the way. Their effort to support a service so Important should be lauded.

పల్లెలు ఎప్పుడు ప్రగతి రథ చక్రాల  వెలుగులతో సంతోషం గా ఉంటాయని ఆశిస్తూ, శెలవు.

telugu text by kiran dhanalakshmi story by krishna 

Experiments

We are starting this year with an Experiment, 

We are starting this year with an interactive map ! 

Early last year, we thought of doing a series "Know Your Corporation". The idea was to explain the organizational structure and various other things we know about APSRTC and TSRTC using various media. We spent the last year building our research and learning new skills.

Depots by Region is a (work in progress) map with all of the depots in Telangana mapped and segregated according to the regions they belong to. We hope to add more meta data to this map in the coming days.

What do you want to see ? Let us know in comments ! 

Depots by Region

Hover on the points for the depot name
Use the search function to find a place

Have fun using the map :)
More interesting stuff coming your way !

via GIPHY

ICONS !

Over the last ten months we have been trying to create content in different media. We started with GIFs and then progressed to produce videos. We have finally started working on a long pending project, that is creating an Icon Set for city buses in Hyderabad, Visakhaptanam, Warangal and Vijayawada. He are some of the icons we created till now.

The 11Z Bus

The BSIV Bus

The 28Z Bus

Marcopolo Non A/C Bus

Marcopolo A/C Bus

Finally.. #NotMyMetro

All of the icons are up on Wikimedia Commons

Access them HERE 

LOVEofZ at Krishna Pushkaralu

We went to KrishnaPushkaralu this year at Vijayawada to see if APSRTC learnt anything from special bus operations last year for GodavariMahaPushkaralu. Here is a snippet from what happened. We will be compiling and uploading more videos overtime.

Ultra Deluxe ?

A lot of my friends have been complaining about "unreasonable" fare hike in ultradeluxe buses. Lot of them acknowledge that this is because of the re-branding of deluxe as ultra deluxe. Having said that, many also complain that there has been no increase in comfort. To quote one of my friend "they just repainted the bus and changed the seats - they claim there are pushback seats, but they are uncomfortable". It is true that the "rebranding" exercise involved repainting and changing the earlier static seats to "pushback" seats with a 15° incline (super luxury and garuda buses have a higher incline angle) . I also agree this does not mean any increase in comfort. but why did they do that ? The corporation says it did so because it wanted to deliver a better "product". but, is that true?

The argument I am going to make might not make any sense but, that is the only argument that sounds plausible to me at this moment.

Initial investment on an Express bus and a Deluxe bus are similar . Express has 50+ seats and Deluxe has 30+ seats . Operating costs too are similar for both the brands . But, considering the little price difference between two brands, it does not make sense for the corporation to operate deluxe buses with such a low fare when that can add more seats and earn much more per a bus.

If that is possible, they could have done it . What is the reason they did not do it ?

On short distance routes where the corporation operates aggressively at frequencies less than 15 minutes, deluxe buses have been a hit. Express buses on such routes have not been received at the same scale. So, it makes sense for the corporation to operate deluxe buses given that passengers are looking for comfort.

 

A.P.S.R.T.C New ULTRA DELUXE Bus.

Now, coming back to the question of re-branding

If the corporation has to continue to operate deluxe buses for the reasons said before, it makes sense only if they increase the earnings per bus. They could not have increased the fares as it could have gone down wrong among the passengers. Now the easiest way to do it was to just re-brand.

 

A.P.S.R.T.C New ULTRA DELUXE Bus.

 

A.P.S.R.T.C New ULTRA DELUXE Bus.

An Ultra Deluxe Bus Glowing in Defiyance...

There is a longer history to the attempts at re-branding deluxe buses. I will tell that story sometime else.

Re-branding was to increase earnings per bus and nothing else.

‪#‎apsrtc‬ ‪#‎rebrand‬ ‪#‎loveofz‬

Written by Ratnam.
Pictures used for GIF will be up on LOVEofZ 's commons handle soon

Garuda Plus Once Again

TSRTC Brand New Volvo Garudaplus Buses.

TSRTC's New GarudaPlus buses (VOLVO B9R 2016 Face lifted Model) waiting to head out for registration at JBS, Secunderabad.

Pictures are available on Wikimedia Commons here and here

Know your City Buses !

Branding of City Buses, How many know that there are six different brands/classes of city buses in Hyderabad ? All of them charge different fares for same distance and every bus has different livery and seats. Let us learn more in the post below.


City Ordinary

Popularly known as 'rtc buses' or 'ordinaries' these have the lowest fare of all services starting at Rs.6. These red and white buses halt at all  bus stops in the route and are generally slower than other services . Most of the buses are built on Ashok Leyland's Viking standard floor(900mm) chassis by RTC's bus building unit at Miyapur. After serving 10 lakh kilometers, all buses from higher service categories are rebuilt or rebranded as City Ordinary.

A Re-Built City Ordinary bus

Metro Express
Popularly known as 'express buses' these have a minimum fare of Rs.7. These blue and white buses halt only at 'high demand'  bus stops in the route and are generally faster than City Ordinary. Currently there are three types of metro express buses serving in the city. The new BS4 buses sport graphics similar to City Ordinary buses but are in 'dark blue' color. Then, there are "JnNURM" metro express buses which are in dark blue and white which are known for their middle door. Oldest of the lot are light blue buses which are slowly being converted into City Ordinaries. Infact, the picture of City Ordinary bus in this post is of one such rebuilt bus.  After complaints of rattling bodies, JnNURM buses are being rebuilt by RTC's bus building unit at Miyapur.

A semi low floor Metro Express bus parked in Patancheru

A new Metro Express bus parked at Moosarambagh 

Metro Deluxe
Popularly known as 'deluxe buses' or 'veera buses' these have a minimum fare of Rs.8. These buses, similar to Metro Express halt only at 'high demand'  bus stops in the route and are generally operated on long distance routes.Metro Deluxe buses have more comfortable seats than 'Metro Express; and technically they have no standing capacity. Hence the difference in fares. Currently there are four types of Metro Deluxe buses serving in the city. The new BS4 buses sport graphics similar to City Ordinary buses but are in 'green' color with 'pink' lines. Then, there are TATA Marcopolo low floor buses procured with JnNURM funds.These are best known for their rear engines and deafening noise they make. Apart from there are the first lot of buses in dark which are slowly being converted into City Ordinaries and the first AC buses of the city which have been converted to be operated as 'Metro Deluxe'.

A BS4 Metro Deluxe 

A low floor Metro Deluxe parked at Patancheru

City Sheetal

These were the first AC buses Hyderabad got under JnNURM scheme and have a minimum fare of Rs.15. These buses, similar to Metro Express halt only at 'high demand'  bus stops in the route and are generally operated on long distance routes. These are the AirConditioned versions of JnNURM Metro Deluxe buses and are cursed for their not-so-great AC .
*Hyderabad earlier had A/C semi low floor buses branded "SeetalaHamsa" ..All of these were later sent to north east and south east districts of AndhraPradesh to be operated as "Meghamala" - inter city A/C buses . All of them have now been broughtback to hyderabad after converting them as non A/C buses to be operated as "Metro Deluxe"

File picture of a City Sheetal bus heading towards Malakpet 

Metro Luxury

Youngest of the lot, Metro Luxury buses are Hyderabad's first JnNURM-2 buses.Similar to Metro Express buses these halt only at 'high demand'  bus stops in the route and are generally operated on long distance routes. There are 83  VOLVO buses being operated in this brand and have proven to be successful on at least two of the four routes .

Metro Luxury bus parked at Lingampally during shift change  

Pushpak

These are the most expensive buses to commute in the city and the routes and schedules are tailor made to suit passengers travelling to/from the international airport at shamshabad. Currently buses are being operated on five routes . These are the first and only city buses in city to be operated on outer ring road and PVNR ExpressWay.

PUSHPAK buses parked in Ranigunj depot (file picture)

all pictures (unless mentioned otherwise ) in this piece are licensed under the 

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International License

available on Wikimedia Commons

AMARAVATI... Flight on Road !!

                     2015 comes to an end & APSRTC has ended it with a New A/C Class variant. 31st December 2015 was the date when the corporation has Officially announced and in it's own tone, here are the words from the corporation... 



  

 Initially, a fleet of  45 Buses are planned for operation on Various routes.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Scania AMARAVATI. Vijayawada - Hyderabad.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Scania AMARAVATI. Hyderabad - Vijayawada.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Scania AMARAVATI. Vijayawada - Hyderabad.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Volvo AMARAVATI.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Scania AMARAVATI. Hyderabad - Vijayawada.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Volvo AMARAVATI. Hyderabad - Guntur.

AMARAVATI అమరావతి

A.P.S.R.T.C's SCANIA "AMARAVATI" of Vijayawada depot on Hyderabad-Vijayawada Service




           

               As a matter of Special interest for Terrific Lovers of "Z", here are the details of initial deployment of the 45 buses(30 Volvo, 15 Scania)

♼ VOLVO Buses ♼

✇  Visakhapatnam - Chennai : 2 Buses         ✇  Kakinada - Hyderabad : 2 Buses

✇  Nellore - Bengaluru : 3 Buses                  ✇  Nellore - Hyderabad - Chennai : 4 Buses

✇  Tirupathi - Chennai : 4 Buses                   ✇  Guntur - Hyderabad : 3 Buses

✇  Tirupathi - Bengaluru : 4 Bus                   ✇  Kandukur - Hyderabad : 2 Buses

✇  Tirupathi - Hyderabad : 2 Buses              ✇  Visakhapatnam - Hyderabad : 2 Buses

✇  Kadapa - Bengaluru : 2 Buses        

♼ SCANIA Buses ♼

✇  Vijayawada - Visakhapatnam : 2 Buses         ✇  Vijayawada - Hyderabad : 7 Buses

✇  Vijayawada - Bengaluru : 6 Buses

A.P.S.R.T.C's SCANIA "AMARAVATI" of Vijayawada depot on Hyderabad-Vijayawada Service

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Volvo AMARAVATI.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Volvo AMARAVATI.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Volvo AMARAVATI.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Scania AMARAVATI. Hyderabad - Vijayawada.

A.P.S.R.T.C Brand New Volvo AMARAVATI. Hyderabad - Guntur.