Bus operators complain of dipping ticket sales
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, AUG 13
While bus operators complained of dipping ticket sales, some of the pharmacies in the city which received the hard-to-find protective masks did some brisk business even as Students Cell of Goa Pradesh Youth Congress demanded that the government should subsidize masks to students.
Even as people find themselves in the grip of swine flu in Goa, it has slowly started taking its toll on the bus travel business which is looking at dipping ticket sales to the extent of 10 to 20 per cent on the Pune-Goa route .
Paulo Travels Manager Santosh Sawant said passengers fear travelling to Pune as a result of which there is a 10 per cent reduction in their ticket sales. We operate four buses on the route which includes three Volvos, he stated.
Neeta Travels too which operates two Volvo buses confirmed ticket sales had dipped. In a bus of 45 seating capacity we see only 20 to 30 people traveling these days, a ticket counter staff stated.
However, bus operators said buses coming from Pune to Goa were getting enough passengers and by Ganesh Chaturthi expect there will be a rush for tickets.
Looks like business will take a beating as long as swine flu continues to afflict people, a bus operator said. Another bus operator said he may think of canceling a few trips if there are no enough passengers.
