States like Pune, Indore, Trichy, Madurai, and Jaipur were amongst the non-metro cities that topped the chart of online bus ticket bookings in the country, accounting for a staggering 67% of the overall reservations on the world’s largest online bus ticketing platform redBus.
Unveiling the first-ever ‘India Bus Track’ report, redBus delineated the evolving landscape of intercity bus travel in India. One of the most striking revelations from the report is that a significant 67% of online bus ticket bookings were done from non-metro regions and Tier 2 & 3 cities across the country.
“People from non-metro cities like Trichy, Lucknow, Madurai, Pune, Mangalore, Mysore, Chandigarh, Indore, Lucknow, and Jaipur booked the maximum number of online bus tickets from the platform,” redBus CEO Prakash Sangam mentioned to Financial Express.
Rise in rest of India
Highlighting the major trends in the Indian bus industry in November and December 2023, the report underscores a notable shift in consumer behavior, indicating a growing reliance on digital platforms for bus ticket reservations beyond the major urban centers.
While country’s six major centers viz Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Kolkata recorded 33% online bus ticket bookings, 67% of the bus seat reservations came from all other state capitals, UTs, and non-metro cities during the last two months of 2023, the report mentioned.
Mentioning the popular routes from the national capital that recorded a significant shift in online booking, Prakash said,” Routes like Delhi to Chandigarh, Delhi to Dehradun, Delhi to Rishikesh/Haridwar, Delhi to Agra saw a rapid rise in bus tickets. The growth also happened because of the inventory addition on these routes and some of the routes also added EV buses as well.”
These statistics are the testimony of digital infrastructure penetration into the heartland of India as more individuals from smaller towns and cities are embracing the convenience and accessibility offered by online booking platforms.
Many firsts of intercity bus industry
The bi-monthly India Bus Track report is focused on highlighting overall intercity bus travel industry metrics and reflects major trends across multiple geographies and consumer segments
Some of the key facets of the report include, over 36.06 million people travelled across various routes during November and December last year. This resulted in Rs 36.37 billion Gross Ticket Value (GTV) during the same period.
Meanwhile, 4,468 private bus operators extended their services on the platform during these months, connecting 8,530 unique towns in the country.
As per the company’s last year report, redBus clocked 6 crore bus tickets in 2023. while on average over 50,000 buses were available on the platform daily.