Erratic bus timings lead to long waits at Pune's stops

Commuters facing tough time as PMPML buses arrive late

The erratic time schedule and gap between one bus and another is testing the patience of the city’s bus commuters. The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) has affixed schedules at various bus stops, but daily commuters are not benefiting from it, as quite often, the buses don’t arrive as per the schedule.

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Senior citizen Yogesh Rokade, who commutes from Kothrud to Narayan Peth, said, “I check the bus timings and then come to the bus stop so that I don’t have to wait there for a long time, but the bus never comes on time. The delay forces me to take other means of transport. But after the increase in the auto rickshaw fares, commuting in an auto has become unaffordable, so now I have to wait for the buses.”

Jugal Rathi, president, Pune Mahanagar Parivahan (PMP) Pravasi Manch, said, “There are lots of problems in the timings of the buses. They never come on time in any area. It is not about any particular area or route, but in almost all the areas the problem prevails.”u00a0PMPML sources pointed out that of the 1,500 PMPML buses, 200 to 250 buses are parked in the depots for maintenance work most of the time.

Rathi added, “There is no proper time table that these authorities have in a printed format. If they feel that all the buses run on time, they should have it in a printed format to help passengers. I feel that the authorities are not interested in the making an updated time table.” “More than 30 to 35 per cent of the buses are not working and that affects the frequency,” said Rathi.

Madhuri Jadhav, a frequent traveller, said, “I travel regularly from Nigadi to Swargate and face the problem of buses not arriving on its scheduled time. I tried to alter my timings, but I still have to wait for an hour. I have also lodged complaints regarding the same, but to no avail.

Officialspeak
Sunil Gavali, traffic manager, PMPML, said, “The timings written on the bus stop are correct, but the buses get late because of traffic. This affects the schedule of the buses.”u00a0

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