Why is India's Public System a Mess

Over 70 million people in India use Public transportation.

On the other hand, Indian Railway consolidates 24 million people daily.

In cities, buses are often opted for by the public, because of it's offer unmatched connectivity and also it's affordable form of transit. According to 2018 reports, the World Resources Institute published that 46% of all motorized trips within Bengaluru were on buses.

Buses are a lifeline and useful transportation for the masses.

But there are issues plaguing the public bus system in India. The majority doesn't make profit. Only a handful of the State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) manage to turn a profit. 

One of the major reason for the public transportations to turn in to loss is the fare.

buses require a lot of diesel and the fuel prices aren’t exactly cheap in the country. It’s not subsidised for state-run buses. And above all staffs are to be paid regular salary. 

It's not feasible to just raise fares either to combat this issue. For instance, an IndiaSpemd study that looked at Delhi’s transport system revealed that while the fare should be revised twice a year on the basis of the inflation numbers, it's all involved political pressure.

State governments reimburse the SRTUs for the concessions they dole out. But it’s often not enough. There are numerous delays. And even a gap of a few hundred crores of rupees each year. If you add the rising costs that don’t get tacked on to the fares, you’ll see that the SRTUs are often left with no option but to borrow money to survive. And that comes with an interest cost too which further worsens their situation.

As a result, we get poorly maintained buses.

But we do not have enough buses.

Okay, it’s not like the government has completely ignored it. They’re trying to finalize the reports for FY18 and FY19 now. But it’s still way too much of a time lag.

For instance, India has around 3 lakh buses run by state undertakings. But some estimates say that India needs around 30 lakhs buses to meet the needs of the population. And since we all love comparisons, here’s one — While China has about 60 buses for every 10,000 people, India has a measly 4 buses that serve the needs of 10,000 folks. The bare minimum is 12. So we’re way off the mark.

The introduction of electric vehicles at least helps to sort out the issues of fuel cost.