Karnataka : As voters head home for polling day, bus bookings, fares go up

With elections round the corner, bookings on KSRTC and private buses two days prior to the voting day and days following it are seeing a significant increase. Data accessed by DH from the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) showed a rise of close to 40% in bookings for May 9, a day before the elections.

KSRTC has received close to 1,317 advance bookings for May 9 night. For any other weekday, the number hovers anywhere between 800 and 900, officials told DH.

Senior KSRTC officials added that post-Covid, advance bookings have gone down and they expect more people to turn up close to the polling date.

Private bus operators also acknowledged a rise in bookings and as a result, fares have gone up sharply. Some private operators have increased fares by as much as 50%. "There has been a drastic increase in bookings and many buses are getting full soon. For instance, a non-AC sleeper class from Bengaluru to Mangaluru costs close to Rs 750 on weekdays. This has now increased to nearly Rs 1,150 owing to demand," a private bus operator said.

Yet another travel operator said bookings to Kundapura, Mangaluru, Shivamogga, and Sringeri were high. He added that the demand for travel on May 8 was also picking up.

A few political parties make bulk bookings on KSRTC and private buses to ferry voters to their constituencies. "We book at least a month in advance to make sure voters reach the polling booth. This usually happens in districts and sometimes in urban areas where voters live some distance away from polling booths," a source, who makes such bookings said.

A few techies and private firm employees have urged their managements to provide an extra day work-from-home option to make their travel less tiring.

"We will have to travel two nights straight to be in office after voting. Hence, many of us are requesting work from home for a day or two," said Sapna K, a native of Dakshina Kannada and an employee with a private firm in Electronics City.