Pune: When Khadki resident Samshad Ali returned to the city from Delhi on Sunday, he ended up not only waiting for almost an hour to exit the airport but also paid a cab driver Rs570 as fare to reach home. The working professional said his experience highlights how the lack of accessibility to feeder buses from the airport to the nearest Metro station is a major obstacle to public transport use. Ali told TOI, “I could have easily taken the feeder bus to Ramwadi Metro station and reached Khadki seamlessly. However, despite waiting for 45 minutes, I couldn’t spot the bus. If there was a system where the bus was allowed inside the airport premises as earlier, I wouldn’t have had to spend so much on a cab.” With Metro ridership soaring at present, Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has urged airport authorities to let their feeder bus service connecting to Ramwadi Metro station enter the premises for passenger pick-ups. PMPML chairman and managing director (CMD) Pankaj Deore told TOI that a letter will be soon written to the airport authorities in this regard. “We also intend to speak to senior airport officials about it. Passengers will use feeder buses only if they are visible,” he said. Officials further informed that the route between Ramwadi Metro station and Pune airport was changed from July 26 onwards, due to lack of passengers and low revenue. “The route was recording very low passengers and revenue was not good. So, we tweaked the route. Now, buses run from the railway station to the airport, covering Ramwadi Metro station on the way. A total of seven buses ply on the route, making 108 trips in total each day. In Aug, 53,783 passengers used these services,” another senior official said. Shivajinagar resident and regular flyer Sachin Padhare said, “After the bus route was changed, we don’t see the buses easily. The major flaw of this service is that the buses are not allowed inside the airport. With Metro now extending to Pimpri Chinchwad, many flyers who travel often and don’t carry much luggage would benefit from such feeder services.” London-style double-decker bus trial to start in Sept PMPML CMD Pankaj Deore said feasibility testing for double-decker buses in Pune will start later this month. “We are looking to start the service connecting key IT hubs like Hinjewadi, Kharadi, Magarpatta, etc. One of the buses, manufactured on the lines of London’s double-decker bus by Chennai-based Switch Mobility, will come to Pune in Sept, and a month-long trial run will start. We want to check how these buses are running in the city, which routes are good for them, etc.,” he told TOI. Talks about PMPML starting double-decker buses have been on since 2018. In 2022, officials said that they would talk to Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) in connection with the service. PMPML used to operate these buses several years ago but stopped the service in 1995. “Based on the feasibility study and route survey, we will be able to come to a conclusion on the number of buses needed and on which route they should operate. We are keen to re-launch the service,” Deore said. PMPML passenger traffic dips during Ganeshotsav this year During Ganeshotsav this year, around 97.53 lakh commuters used PMPML buses. Compared to last year’s festival-time footfall (1.23 crore), passenger traffic dipped by around 20%. “This dip is mainly due to use of private vehicles and Pune Metro services, too. We are looking at ways to increase passenger traffic,” a PMPML official told TOI. Amid recent complaints about bus drivers using mobile phones and headphones while on duty, another PMPML official also said such drivers will face suspension henceforth.
