HRTC gets service oriented

The HRTC taxi service in Shimla connecting The Mall with various suburbs of Shimla is a real blessing. Without doubt we should complement the people who designed this service and have made it accessible for common man to reach the Mall.  I recently got the taste of the service while travelling from Chakkar. In the past, travelling from areas such as Panthghati, Chakkar, New Shimla to the Mall was always being on a mission.

Imagine you just had your Sunday lunch and now you want to go to the Mall to meet your friends. It certainly is a difficult proposition for lazy bones like mine to getup and catch a bus where in most likely circumstances I will not get a seat.   This service atleast gives me a positive reinforcement to execute the plan.

Moreover Rs 20 from New Shimla to the Mall doesn’t seem to be expensive as one would spend more than this amount if travelling in bus or own vehicle. Another first with service is the introduction of electronic ticket vending machine by the corporation. The driver acts as a conductor and provides an electronically printed ticket instead of the pre-printed one which is then punched by the bus conductors.

The transport corporation is now planning to introduce electronic ticketing machines in all its local buses as well as inter-city buses. This would certainly prevent cheating on part of both the conductor and the commuter. The tickets printed from the machine are specific and provide details of fare as well as the name of the destination unlike the old tickets. So a passenger, who does know the cost of journey, cannot be overcharged by the conductor. Similarly a passenger cannot dupe the conductor.

In spite of the upsides there remains apprehensions such as paper roll getting stuck in the machine or how the conductors will provide tickets in over crowded bus running in the Shimla town. Since the new system is yet to be introduced the downsides will come to be known only with time.