Hyderabad: Activist Santhana Selvan, popularly known as ‘bicycle mayor of Hyderabad’ has called for expansion of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus fleet in Hyderabad.
Citing the inadequate number of buses, the bicycle mayor urged chief minister Revanth Reddy to deploy 10,000 buses to prevent footboarding-related deaths.
“If the government increases the number of buses, citizens won’t have footboard and risk their lives while traveling,” Santhana Selvan said.
TSRTC data suggests it currently operates a fleet of 2,733 buses in Hyderabad.
He recalled: “Last year, a first-generation college goer, Monica (17), met with an accident and died. She was footboarding because there was a lack of buses.”
“We need more than 10,000 buses in the city to cater population of lower middle class, and poor people who rely solely on public transportation. Students like Monica depend on public transportation,” he said urging the chief minister to increase the fleet of urban TSRTC buses.
Selvan further said, “If there were more buses, today Mounika would have been a graduate earning for her family, instead of leaving her family behind.”
Undivided AP held Guinness Book of World Records for bus fleet
Historically, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) held a record for operating the largest fleet of buses in the world, with more than 22,628 buses. This achievement, recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999, reveals the TSRTC website.
