Who is behind the one-rupee Volvo ride idea?

Who is behind the one-rupee Volvo ride idea?

From 350 passengers, each Volvo is ferrying 1,000

By Suchith Kidiyoor and
Posted On Saturday, September 13, 2008

It is not transport minister R Ashok or chief minister B S Yeddyurappa, but Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) managing director Syed Zameer Pasha.

A publicity stunt that has paid off in a big way, the offer to ferry city commuters in swanky airconditioned buses was actually conceived to prevent the Vajra Volvo fleet from becoming a white elephant.

Here is the rationale behind the Re 1 promotional offer: It all started at the BMTC office in Shanthinagar a few weeks ago when the officials casually indulged in a brainstorming session on how to increase revenue from the Volvo fleet. Moreover, the fuel efficiency of a Volvo bus was 1.3 km per litre of diesel while that of an ordinary bus was 4.74 km per litre. The question asked was: How to make more people travel in Volvo buses, which the commuters keep away from citing higher fares?

It was at this juncture that Pasha hit upon the idea of reducing fares, a move that would draw more commuters and familiarise them with the airconditioned buses. The idea was chiselled on the lines of the limited period offers made by mobile phone companies to net more customers. The idea was liked by transport minister R Ashok and subsequently the offer came into effect on Thursday.

The one rupee ride has been a surefire success: A total of 70,000 passengers have travelled in the Volvos so far. These buses have become a major hit with school and college students, who have discarded their passes to pay Re 1. “Till now, a Volvo bus used to ferry 350 passengers everyday, but in the last two days, each bus has been transporting 1,000 persons per day,” a BMTC official said.

Pasha added: “The occupancy rate was very low on Volvos and we wanted to publicise the comfort and safety of the bus. With this, Bangaloreans will understand that the BMTC is for the masses.”