Centre for Urban Studies
Payment Banks: A Case of ‘Banks For The Unbanked’
September 1, 2015
“India’s Foreign Diplomacy in Modi Age”- 10th CPPR Quarterly Lecture by Dr. Sanjaya Baru
September 10, 2015Majority of Commuters Express Dissatisfaction over Boat Service, Metro Manorama 1st September, 2015
Metro Manorama 1st September 2015
In Ernakulam district, more than 13,000 people use ferry service. In the study conducted by CPPR around fifty-six per cent of the passengers expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of the ferry service. Presently the water transport department of Ernakulam operates around 59 boats from Ernakulam boat jetty. According to the report, forty percent of the people using the service does not use any other vehicle. Among the total number of people using the service sixty-nine per cent people were going to their work and 14 per cent were students.
Around fifty-six percent of the passengers interviewed for the study expressed their dissatisfaction with the quality of the ferry service. Only six per cent pointed out the safety issues in the ferry service. People using the ferry service from Fort Kochi and Mattancherry are of the opinion that the boat jetty and services there is really bad. Cutting of services, unhygienic condition and low lighting in the boat jetty are the basic troubles faced by the travellers.
Around forty-three percent of commuters were found to favour hike in the current fare structure, if it is used for improving the basic facilities provided to them.
More Than Half The Passengers Unhappy With Ferry Service
03rd September 2015, The New Indian Express
KOCHI: Amidst the public outcry over the standards of water transport in the city in the wake of the tragedy that claimed took 11 lives last week, a study conducted by Kochi-based Centre for Public Policy Research on Inland Water Transport in Kochi in 2012-13 shows that around 56 per cent of the passengers expressed their dissatisfaction over the quality of ferry service.
This includes five percent who were extremely dissatisfied with their experience. Another 29 per cent conceded that they were dissatisfied with the level of service delivery on the ferry system when another 22 per cent chose to remain neutral.
However, only six percent of them had complaints over the safety of the vessels. Though the majority of those who use ferry service are from the lower strata of the society, 43 per cent of the passengers interviewed by the organisation favoured an increase in fare.
The maximum number of samples were chosen from the routes such as Ernakulam-Fort Kochi, Ernakulam -Willingdon Island and Ernakulam-Vypeen as they are among the busiest travel routes.
According to CPPR, the ferry service was used by 13,000 passengers on a daily basis and a sizeable 68 per cent of the ferry users interviewed had less than Rs 10 as their monthly family income.
This includes 19 per cent passengers whose monthly income fell below Rs 5000. Also 40 per cent of the interviewees vouched that they did not own any vehicle with another 31 per cent owning just a cycle. The remaining 29 per cent owned either motorbikes or cars or autorickshaws.
Around 53 per cent responses from amongst the interviewees contended that the frequency of services on various sectors was inadequate and far lesser than the existing demand.
They also opined that it was the lack of adequate number of services, especially during the off-peak hours, that was killing people’s confidence in the ferry system altogether
leading to modal shift among the users.
The authorities had explained that there were not enough passengers for frequent services, some of them had been cancelled. As a result, people who turned up at odd timings had to wait for as much as 30 to 45 minutes to take the next ferry.
To read more about the study we did Click Here
