Because of the Covid-19 outbreak, there is less than 60% of the typical 95% demand for tourist busses and commercial cars in Mumbai over the Diwali weekend. Next week, bus and automobile companies are looking for more business. At the moment, Goa, Mahabaleshwar, Pune, Shirdi, Kolhapur, and Bengaluru are the most popular travel destinations from Mumbai. The demand for commercial cars was over 100% last year, but the demand for intercity buses was between 95% and 98%. The reduced demand for public transportation is partly due to the availability of private automobiles and the Railways’ special train services.

Mumbai: According to bus and vehicle owners, business is expected to pick up next week. This Diwali weekend, there is less than 60% demand for tourist buses and commercial automobiles, which is a departure from the usual 95%. This is the first time in around seven years.

Of the approximately 15,000 intercity tourist buses, 60–65% are reserved by passengers, compared to about 25–30% of Mumbai’s over one lakh commercial automobiles. Bus operators remarked that this is the first time in the last five to seven years—aside from the Covid-19 pandemic—that the demand for tourist cars has been this low during the holiday season.

It was unanticipated that there were so few reservations for tourist buses and autos this Diwali. There are plenty of seats in intercity buses and commercial automobiles are easily accessible, yet there are just a few locations from Mumbai that people are traveling to, according to Malik Patel of Mumbai Bus Malak Sanghatana.

Approximately 15,000 of the approximately 37,000 buses operated by bus operators are operated as tourist buses. The remainder ferry schoolchildren and corporates. Approximately 3,000 of the fifteen thousand make intercity trips from Mumbai. Goa, Mahabaleshwar, Pune, Shirdi, Kolhapur, and Bengaluru have emerged as the most popular travel destinations from Mumbai, despite the lack of demand this year.

“We hope that people would start planning vacations the next week after Diwali is observed. According to a tour bus and car operator, the market for standard cars and SUVs used as commercial vehicles is only about 25–30 percent, which is extremely low. “It’s possible that owners of private vehicles are taking their vehicles, particularly since Samruddhi Mahamarg and other nice highways are nearby.”

Source-Hindustan times