Bus industry counting on expressways for 2x growth in seat bookings: Report

The Rs 2 lakh compensation will have to be paid to the Mumbai man by Mantis Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Paulo Travels Pvt. Ltd and Myron Pereira, who is the acting CEO of the latter. (Representational Image).

The expanding national highways network has reduced the travel time by bus while increasing seat bookings, a report has said.

A 60 percent increase over the last decade expanded the national highways to 1.46 lakh km in 2023, online bus ticketing platform redBus, which is part of MakeMyTrip group, said in its report. The expansion resulted in a considerable reduction in travel time by buses, according to the first such report by redBus.

As more expressways develop in the country, the bus industry estimates a 200 percent growth in bus seat bookings, the report said.

It cited the example of the Nagpur-Mumbai stretch of the Samruddhi Expressway which cut the travel time by almost three hours and led to a 215 percent growth in seats from 2022 and a 16 percent reduction in the ticket price.

The continued pace of infrastructure development would further reduce travel time, increase seat bookings and lower the cost of travel, the report said.

There has been rapid growth in greenfield high-speed corridors, with more than 3,000 km of these roads completed.

Various flagship expressway projects have been undertaken and are ongoing including the Samruddhi Expressway, Raipur-Vishakhapatnam Economic Corridor and Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway.

With over 66.71 lakh km, India has the second largest road network in the world.

Four-lane plus national highway network has seen exponential growth, expanding to more than 46,000 km in the last decade, it said.

Ticket to ride

The report, which looked at online bookings, also tracked bus travel trends for the November-December 2023 period.

Gross ticketing value in November-December stood at Rs 36.37 billion as 36.06 million passengers took the bus.

While Fridays attract the highest number of travellers, more people travel on Thursdays than on Saturdays or Sundays. The least travelled day is Tuesday.

Sixty-two percent of the passengers opted for AC buses, a clear preference for comfortable travel. While 50 percent preferred sleeper buses, 33 percent chose hybrid options.

In terms of occupancy, Maharashtra and Goa topped the charts with 82 percent bus occupancy, while Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh saw the lowest at 67 percent. The country-wide occupancy rate was 77 percent.

Metros contributed 33 percent to bus bookings in November and December, while other areas accounted for 67 percent, showcasing increased digital penetration into non-metro areas.

Young travellers dominate the bus market in terms of bookings, with 29 percent of passengers aged between 18-25 and 39 percent aged 26-36. Also, 33 percent of all passengers were female and 52 percent of bookings were for solo travellers.