A declining Covid-19 caseload and an inclination for travel have led to a sharp recovery in intercity bus travel on the majority of Indian routes. The upcoming Ganesh Chaturthi festival is now shaping travel demand, according to redBus information.
The information projects more than 7 lakh bus seats to be booked for the period, with Gujarat and Maharashtra witnessing a huge raise. The bookings peaked a week just before the festival, which starts on September 10, against 5 days last year, suggesting a higher certainty for travel.
The second Covid-19 wave has led to a behavioural shift, primarily due to a larger regard for security requirements, unrestricted travel across states, and a massive vaccinated population. The redBus information projects about 63 per cent of general bookings from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities, implying a larger degree of digitisation.
redBus, the country’s biggest on line bus ticketing platform, stated more than 2,500 private bus operators and 21 state regional transport corporations will run 42,000 services along 53,600 routes throughout the upcoming festival.
The redBus information also indicates Hyderabad and Bengaluru to be India’s most sought-following route throughout Ganesh Chaturthi. Bengaluru is also driving the demand for travel across India.
Nearly 54 per cent of the bookings are for intra-state travel, even though the remainder is for interstate travel. Air-conditioned buses make up 73 per cent of the bookings.
Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka are the 5 states with higher travel demand throughout Ganesh Chaturthi.
The reopening of borders involving states that see higher bus travel, such as Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh is also driving the demand.
In Maharashtra, the Mumbai-Kolhapur and Pune-Nagpur routes are the most booked. Around 52 per cent of the travellers booked tickets for travel involving Tier 1 and Tier 3 routes.
redBus CEO Prakash Sangam stated a robust underlying demand for travel has emerged following the second Covid-19 wave. Sangam sees this trend continuing to the finish of the festival season, with the peak throughout Dussehra and Diwali.