Kalikavu: The Kerala Transport Department is set to introduce a new bus timing system from November 1 aimed at curbing competition between buses on the same route. Under the proposed system, buses operating on the same route will have to maintain a gap of 5 minutes in urban areas and 10 minutes in rural areas.

Bus operators, however, have raised concerns over implementing the new system without taking the existing service schedules into account.

The trip schedules of private buses and Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will be brought under a digital system. When new permits are issued, the timing of existing services will also be examined before deciding the required interval between buses.

Passengers will be able to check bus timings and live locations through digital platforms such as Kerala Bus and Bus Time. The state currently has around 7,000 private buses and 4,468 KSRTC buses operating services.

Bus operators raise concerns over timing gaps

Bus owners argue that simply assigning a 5-or 10-minute gap to newly introduced buses will not ensure the required interval across all services operating on a route.

They also say that calculating the gap only at the starting point of a route would not resolve the issue. On routes that pass through municipal areas and then continue through panchayat jurisdictions, maintaining different timing standards across each area could prove difficult, according to the operators.

The bus owners also maintain that the schedules of existing services cannot simply be altered.

Existing services could be affected

Bus operators previously had an opportunity to present their schedules and raise objections during timing conferences conducted directly with the authorities.

However, the Bus Kerala software-based system for allocating timings alone could affect existing services and create scope for corruption among officials, the Bus Operators Federation has alleged.

The federation has raised these concerns in a representation submitted to the Transport Minister and senior officials said Hamsa Erikkunnan, general secretary of the Bus Operators Federation.