As Pune continues to advertise public transport as an answer to rising visitors congestion and air pollution, many PMPML commuters say town’s bus service is struggling to satisfy passengers’ expectations. From frequent breakdowns and app fee points to non-functional charging ports and poorly maintained AC providers, every day travellers throughout a number of routes have highlighted a spread of points affecting their commute.
One of the frequent complaints is the frequent breakdowns. Madhuri Netake, an everyday commuter between Warje and Shivajinagar, says, “Throughout very tight schedules, I can not depend on PMPML, as many occasions I’ve seen buses break down. Even at occasions there are experiences of fee gateway failures or delayed ticket technology.”
Sashikant Sagvekar (48), who recurrently travels between Alandi and PMC, stated commuters are sometimes compelled to attend for lengthy intervals on account of inadequate buses on the route. “The frequency of buses on the Alandi-PMC route must be elevated. Throughout peak hours, commuters are sometimes left ready for lengthy intervals. AC buses are additionally not often obtainable, making journey uncomfortable, particularly in the summertime,” he stated.
Passengers have additionally raised considerations in regards to the uneven distribution of electrical buses. Satyam Suthare, a Class 12 pupil who travels between Bhugaon and Deccan, stated EV buses are largely absent from his route. “Electrical buses are hardly seen on the Bhugaon-Deccan route. PMPML ought to introduce extra electrical buses on this space in order that college students and every day commuters can profit from a cleaner and extra comfy mode of transport,” he stated.
Upkeep-related points emerged as one other main concern amongst commuters. Om Gaikwad, who commutes from Hadapsar to Deccan, stated a number of amenities marketed by PMPML are sometimes unavailable in apply. “The charging ports on buses don’t work. The situation inside some buses can be poor, with soiled seats and even mosquitoes. At occasions, the AC stays switched off regardless of the bus being marketed as an AC service,” he stated.
For working professionals who rely on public transport on daily basis, punctuality stays a major problem. Siddhi Choukekar (27), who travels between SNDT and Swargate, stated delays and overcrowding incessantly disrupt her routine. “Punctuality is a serious challenge. Buses typically arrive late, which impacts office-goers and college students. Overcrowding is one other problem, and amenities akin to charging ports and air-conditioning incessantly don’t operate correctly,” she stated.
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Related considerations had been echoed by Puja Bhingare (33), who commutes between Deccan and Deshmukhwadi via an AC bus. In keeping with her, overcrowding mixed with malfunctioning air-conditioning creates an uncomfortable journey expertise. “The charging factors in AC buses are sometimes non-functional, and overcrowding is frequent. The state of affairs turns into worse when the AC stops working. Because the doorways and home windows stay closed, passengers are left travelling in extraordinarily uncomfortable circumstances,” she stated.
Mahesh Awhad, the Chairman and Managing Director of PMPML, stated, “PMPML has been repeatedly working for normal upkeep to deliver breakdowns to at the least minimal. However there are situations the place we see them. Particular directions have been given to personal distributors as effectively, and we additionally penalise them. Round Rs 33 lakh was the penalty imposed in March, whereas Rs 42 lakhs in April this 12 months amid recurrent breakdowns, and decrease than this in Could.”
“There are areas like cantonment boards, or close to Sancheti hospital in Pune, the place the community protection is weak and on account of this, there are situations of fee failures. We’ve got requested the software program supplier for an audit to work on this and recognized this problem occurring solely on account of community outage and never due to a software program glitch,” he added.
“As per worldwide norms, each lakh of inhabitants ought to be served by 60 buses. Pune’s inhabitants ranges between 1.03 and 1.04 crore, which suggests we ideally want 6,228 buses. We at the moment have a fleet of 1,961. In different phrases, we’re working PMPML at roughly one-third of the required capability,” he stated.
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To bridge the shortfall of over 4,000 buses, Awhad has outlined a phased procurement plan. “A complete of 1,500 new buses, comprising 1,000 owned by the organisation and 500 beneath the GCC (gross value contract) mannequin, will likely be added to the PMPML fleet by the tip of 2026, lifting the whole fleet dimension to round 4,500. Moreover, one other 1,000 buses are set to hitch the fleet by 2027 beneath the central authorities’s PM e-Drive scheme,” he added.
Breakdown Information shared by PMPML
2024 Annual complete:
– PMPML-owned | Non-public vendor
– 6,261 | 14,762
2025 Annual complete:
– PMPML-owned | Non-public vendor
– 5,052 | 13,698
2026 until Could:
– PMPML-owned | Non-public vendor
– 1,940 | 7,408
Non-public vendor buses accounted for 70% of all breakdowns in 2024 and 73% in 2025.
PMPML present bus fleet: 1961.
– CNG buses: 1,209
– Electrical buses: 535
– Diesel buses: 217
– Of the whole bus fleet of 1961, 684 buses are run by PMPML, whereas 1,277 buses are operated on a contractual foundation by non-public distributors.
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