By D.Dhanuraj
The other day when my brother failed to pick me from airport on my way back to Cochin from Delhi, i decided to try out Bus trip from airport. i came out of the airport and looked for sign boards which show the departure time for the buses from airport. i was under the impression that the newly introduced low floor buses that ply between Airport and Aroor would have improved the situation. Unfortunately, i could not find any sign boards there. i was stuck for a moment; what is next?
i could see a regular KSRTC bus waiting on the bay. i went and asked the conductor about the low floor bus. He was not so enthused by my question. He replied that his bus would be starting at 5 PM. Oh, i forgot to mention when did a land in the airport. i had come out of the airport at 4.30 PM !i found that that bus was going to Allapuzha via Vyttilla. I was happy that i could get down at Vyttila to change the bus on my way to home. i thought of waiting for some more time before i get into bus. i was still looking for the low floor bus to come for two reasons; i have not traveled in low floor bus and as a typical Malayali, i was more interested to take it from airport! i was surprised by the fact that no one has any idea about when the bus comes and leaves the airport. when i asked a few staff members of airport,they did not have any idea about it.
when KSRTC bus to Alapuzha was started, i could understand that it is arranged at the convenience of staff of airport than looking at the passengers flow at that time. between 4PM and 5.30 there are many domestic flights landing in airport and i understand most of the passengers are to nearby districts like Kottayam and Allapuzha and even Pathanamthitta. They are in dire needs of transport arrangement like buses. it is high time that there is a coordination amongst the airport authorities and transport department. i am sure low floor buses would not run on loss in that case!
2 comments:
Dear friend,
The airport company is a business firm, not a service provider to passengers.
They are running pre-paid taxi service fromwhich they cud get high revenue and therefore, they are not at all interested in bus service from airport.
i am sure when the accessibility and better transport system are to the airport, revenue generation will increase. what will happen when an IPL match is held in Cochin? there will be cricket lovers coming from other states also. not every one can take the taxi nor it is good for city traffic. this is nothing new but practised across the globe.
Post a Comment