CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO ROAD TRANSPORT AND

AHMEDABAD MUNICIPAL TRANSPORT SERVICE

(AMTS)

1.1 BACKGROUND

1.2 HISTORY OF EVOLUTION OF ROAD TRANSPORT

1.3 ROADWAYS IN INDIA

1.4 DEVELOPMENT OF ROAD TRANSPORT IN INDIA

1.4.l Road construction in India

1.4.2 Highway Development ofNHAI

1.4.3 Public Private Partnerships

1.4.4 Road Transport and the 11 th Plan

l.4.5 Nationalization of Road Transport

1.5 IMPORTANCE OF ROAD TRANSPORT

1.6 HISTORY OF AMTS AND ITS ORGANIZATION

1.7 SELECTION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

1.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

1.9 OBJECTIVES

1.10 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

1.11 CONTRIBUTION

1.12 CHAPTER PLAN

CHAPTER!

INTRODUCTION TO ROAD TRANSPORT AND

AHMEDABAD MUNICIPAL TRANSPORT SERVICE

(AMTS)

l.l BACKGROUND

Transportation is the backbone to the development of urban areas. It enables functioning

of urban areas efficiently by providing access and mobility. Passenger transport has an

overriding influence on the functioning of the city. Demand for transportation is a

derived demand. PopUlation characteristics such as size, concentration, income, vehicle

distribution, economy in terms of location of employment, education and entertainment

activities etc. determine travel demand. The city of Ahmedabad has great importance in

the economy of Gujarat owing to the large concentration of economic activities and their

high growth rates and productivity. The city of Ahmedabad was founded in 1411 AD as

a walled city on the eastern bank of the river Sabarmati, now the seventh largest

metropolis in India and the largest in the state. The urban agglomeration CUA) population

has increased from 3.31 million in 1991 to 4.5 million in 2001 and Ahmedabad is the

commercial capital of the state. Once upon a time it was known as the textile capital of

India, it is also a major industrial and financial city contribnting about 14% of the total

investments in all stock exchanges in India and 60% of the total productivity of the state.

It lies in the cotton belt of Gujarat, 552 km north of Mumbai and 96 km from the Gulf of

Cambay. It has good air, road and rail links with Mumbai and Delhi and can international

airport. It has seven major roadways, one expressway and five rail networks. A new

corridor between Ahmedabad and Pune has recently emerged, connecting the city to four

other metropolitan cities of Vadodara, Surat, Mumbai and Pune. The greater Ahmedabad

Urban Agglomeration covering an area of about 4200 sq. km. An area of 190 square

kilometers under the jurisdiction of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation CAMC). The city

is governed by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation CAMC), established in July 1950. It is

a huge organization with over 40,000 employees. It provides a number of urban services

such as water supply, roads construction, sanitation, primary education, city transport

etc. The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service is the body of AMC. AMTS is

expected to perform on self financing basis.

2

1.2 HISTORY OF EVOLUTION OF ROAD TRANSPORT

The bus is a neologic version of the Latin Omnibus, which means "for all". Thus

meaning of bus is "vehicle for all". The first public transport system for general use

originated in Nantes, Fance in 1826. Stanislas Baudry, a retired army officer set up a

short route between the centre of town and his public baths and used Omnibus to travel

between two points.

There is a claim from the UK where in 1824 John Greenwood operated the first "bus

route" from market street in Manchester to Pendleton in Salford. In 1828, Baudry went

to Paris where we founded a company named as "Enterprise Generale des Ombinus de

Paris". His son Endond Baudry founded two similar companies in Bordeuax and in

Lyyons.

A London newspaper reported in July 4, 1829 that the new vehicles, called the Omnibus,

commended from Paddington to the city. This bus service was operated by a George

shillibeer.

In New York, Onmibus servIce also began in 1829, When Abraham Brower, an

entrepreneur who had organized volunteer fire companies, established a route along,

Broadway starting at Bowling green other American cities soon followed suit :

Philadelphia in 1831, Boston in 1835 and Baltimore in 1844. The great limitation of this

onmibus was that it was too slow.

Motorized transport developed in 1905 having more speed than usual omnibus. The

motorized system proved miracle in revolution of road transport. A series of technical

improvement took place during early 1920s, mono co que body construction in 1931,

automatic transmission in 1936, the diesel engine bus in 1936, the fist acceptable more

than 50 passenger bus in 1948 and the first buses with air suspension in 1953.

Bus services were a focal point in the American Civil Rights movements of the 1950s

and 1960s in the U.S. In the period after the American Civil was ended in 1865, racial

segregation in Public accommodations, including public transport such as rail and bus

services was enforced through Black Codes and Jim Crow laws in the south.

Table 1.1 shows the chronological history of transportation indicating the history since

invention is elaborated as under.

3

Table 1.1

The History of Transportation

Fixed wheels on carts are invented - the first wheeled vehicles in 3500 Be

history. Other early wheeled vehicles include the chariot.

13500 Be I River boats are invented - ships with oars

12000 Be I Horses are domesticated and used for transportation.

1181-234 liThe wheelbarrow is invented.

I

1

770 I Iron horseshoes improve transportation by horse

1492 Leonardo da Vinci first to seriously theorize about flying machines -

with over 100 drawings that illustrated his theories on flight

Comelis Drebbel invented the first submarine - an human oared 1620

submersible

1662 Blaise Pascal invents the first public bus - horse-drawn, regular route,

schedule, and fare system

1

1740 I Jacques de Vaucanson demonstrates his clockwork powered carriage

1783 First practical steamboat demonstrated by Marquis Claude Francois de

Jouffroy d'Abbans - a paddle wheel steamboat

1

1783 I The Montgolfier brothers invent the first hot air balloons

1

1787 IISteamboat invented

I

1

1769 Irirst self-propelled road vehicle invented by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot

1

1790 IIModem bicycles invented 1

1801 Richard Trevithick invented the first steam powered locomotive

(designed for roads)

1

1807 I Isaac de Rivas makes a hydrogen gas powered vehicle - first with

4

I I internal combustion power - however, very unsuccessful design

1807 First steamboat with regular passenger service - inventor Robert

Fulton's Clermont

1814 George Stephenson invents the first practical steam powered railroad

locomotive

1

1862 I Jean Lenoir makes a gasoline engine automobile

1

1867 IIFirst motorcycle invented

I

1868 George Westinghouse invents the compressed air locomotive brake -

enabled trains to be stopped with fail-safe accuracy

1

1871 IIFirst cable car invented

I

1885 Karl Benz builds the world's first practical automobile to be powered

by an internal combustion engine

1899 Ferdinand von Zeppelin invents the first successful dirigible - the

Zeppelin

1

1903 1 The Wright Brothers invent and fly the first engined airplane

1

1907 1 Very first helicopter - unsuccessful design

1

1908 I Henry Ford improves the assembly line for automobile manufacturing

1908 Hydrofoil boats co-invented by Alexander Graham Bell & Casey

Baldwin - boats that skimmed water

1

1926 I First liquid propelled rocket launched

1

1940 IIModern helicopters invented 1

1

1947 IIFirst supersonic jet flight 1

1

1956 1 Hovercraft invented

5

1

1964 1 Bullet train transportation invented

1

1969 1 First manned mission (Apollo) to the Moon

1

1970 IIFirst jumbo jet

1

1

1981 IIspace shuttle launched

1

1.3 ROADWAYS IN INDIA

Roadways in India have come a long way. Starting from the pugdandies (a small path

created naturally due to frequent walks) of earlier times to the present-day Rajpath of

delhi , the country has crossed many spheres of road travel. The 'thread that binds the

nation together' is truly a deserving metaphor for a road network that is one of the largest

in the world. Its grand system of national highways, state highways and the roads that

run endlessly within cities are marvelous.

India has its well-connected transport network since the time people started keeping

records. The great Indian epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata mention chariots and

carts embellished with various gems and precious metals. The Pushpak Vimana or the

bejeweled chariot, which was in Lanka, the kingdom of Ravana, is described in detail in

the Ramayana. Horses, asses, and mules were used to draw these carts.

Some 2,500-10,000 years ago, our ancestors traveled through woods on hunting sprees

and left traces of their mud tracks known as pugdandies-the most ancient trace of roads.

Harappan and Mohenjodaro civilization, which dates back circa fourth millennium BC,

provides ample understanding ofroads.

The Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) brought out a book in 1963 which states,

"The streets were laid out in regular order and ran in straight lines. The main streets were

aligned from east to west or from north to south crossing each other at right angles.

Small deviations from this general plan exist, but they are very rare. The minor streets

were laid parallel to the main streets. The main streets were of considerable size. The

biggest street so far excavated is about half a mile long and about thirty-three feet

wide ... " It is interesting to note that in Harappan culture there was no use of bitumen for

making roads, though in Babylonian civilization one find ample evidence of the use of

bitumen in road construction.

6

In the Atharva Veda, we find references to road construction and information on

precautions to be taken. There is mention in KautiIya's Arthasashtra about mechanism of

roads for chariots and stresses upon the traffic rules and road safety. From the 6th

century to 4th century BC, there was development of small independent states in several

parts of India. With the development of culture and trade, cities like Vaishali, Sravasti,

Rajagriha, Kurukshetra, and Ujjaini had roads to facilitate socio-economic intermingling.

Ujjaini, capital of Avanti, was an important trade center and connected with northern

trunk routes to modern Bharuch, an important seaport.

Development of roads took a new turn during Mauryan rule in the 4th century. The

administration constructed Rajpath (high roads) and Banikpaths (merchant roads).

Megasthenes, the Greek traveler, wrote that the Mauryan Empire took a big stride to

develop roads for communication. He recorded a Rajamarga or the king's highway,

which was also a trade route and a precursor to the modern Grand Trunk Road.

It was nearly 22 krn wide and 2,400 km in length with a pillar every 1.8 krn. It had trees,

wells, and rest houses on either side. Any traffic jam on the Rajamarga was liable to

punishment! And, of course, it goes without saying that maintenance of roads was a

significant feature of a Mauryan administration. This tradition continued and

Chandragupta's grandson, Ashoka, who was a great and compassionate ruler,

strengthened the system immensely. He erected huge monoliths across the country and

ensured that there were good roads for his men to travel upon. He had given special and

very strict instructions that there should be a banyan tree (Ficus bengalhensis) every 1.5

krn and also well-maintained rest houses and watering stations. There is story that many

centuries later a king wanted to remove one of Ashoka's roadside pillars. He had to use

2400 men to lift it. Judging by the weight of the pillar the road must have been

sufficiently strong and wide to bear its weight. In Mauryan day's, roads played a key role

in military operations to keep the vast country united.

Records reveal that during the Gupta era there was also a road connection with South

India. There were three major routes-one was a connection with Northeast India via

Didisa, the other cOimected to the seaport of the Western coast and the third connected to

Pratisthana, the capital of Satvahana Empire. There are also evidences of a route

facilitating trade with Iran and China.

7

If kings and emperors built roads, there are also stories of how saints traversed these

roads to prove their existence. Sankara, a great South Indian philosopher, traversed the

whole length and breadth of the country setting up five very pilgrimage centers. He did

all his traveling before the age of 32, when he died. So that is eloquent of how many

roads must have been there for his entire journey was accomplished on foot.

The Mughal era was the golden era for roads as the whole oflndialndia was effectively

connected to control the vast empire. With the advent of the British, a new awakening

dawned uponlndialndia. The Eastlndialndia Company revived ancient routes and

renovation was initiated. The technology of the West came into play and linkages were

well established which provided the British the inroad to rulelndialndia for over two

hundred years.

Thus, one can see that since ancient times roads were stressed upon. Roads also worked

as inroads to the development of civilizations, and provided human beings a corridor of

communication for venturing out to newer frontiers of achievements.

In the nineteenth century, the old modes of transport, the cart and the carriage, were still

used. The new additions, especially in the north oflndialndia, were all horse drawn. They

were the tonga, ekka, and shikram (a box-like four-wheeler). Carriages on the European

pattern also came into use such as the landau, buggy, trap, phaeton or Victoria. Hand­

drawn and hand-pushed carts were also used for conveying people. The palanquin and

dolie carried by men were also used as transport for people.

Today, alternative modes of transport are on the anviL Yet, amidst all this, Road

transport is still the dominant mode of transportation - both for moving goods and

passengers. India has a huge network of roads comprising of National Highways, State

Highways, Major District Roads and Village and other roads .In fact, it is the third

largest road network in the world covering a total length of 33,00,000 krn.

The road network is assuming a pivotal role in the movement of goods and passengers.

There has been a substantial shift in the mode of transportation from Railways towards

the road sector. While the Railways handle only 40% of the freight and 20% of the

passengers load, 60% of the goods and 80% of passenger's movement takes place

through roads. It is anticipated that the function of the road network will further increase

in the foreseeable future.

8

Though the National Highways constitute only 2% of the entire road network, they carry

about 40% of the freight and passengers. The National Highways cover a length of

52000 km and pass through every state of India. They are the vital lifelines of the

economy making possible trade and commerce.

The National Highways besides connecting the major cites, i.e, Delhi, Mumbai , Chennai

and Calcutta link a number of other important towns and commercial hubs .The National

Highways pass through the following cities and towns: Delhi, Mumbai, Calcutta,

Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Kullu, Shimla, Jammu, Kangra, Amritsar, Agra,

Lukhnow, Gorakhpur, Bagdogra, Guwahati, Jorhat, Patna, Ranchi, Varanasi, Allahabad,

Kanpur, Jaipur, Gwalior, Jodhpur, Udaipur ,Bhopal, Vadodara, Jamnagar, Rajkot,

Bhavnagar, Aurangabad, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Bhubaneswar, Indore, Vijayawada,

Vishakhapatnam, Tirupati, Banglore, Manglore, Coimbatore, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai,

Thiruvanathapuram, Madras, Bombay and Trivandrum.

There are 259 National Highways on the basis of their route numbers. However, the

construction and upkeeping of roads is one of the country's most continuous and

expensive tasks. Driven by the ambition to connect the various regions of the country

with high quality motorable roads, the Ministry of Surface Transport so far has laid down

a stretch of 52,0 I 0 km of national highways in the country distributed over various

states.

1.4 DEVELOPMENT OF ROAD TRANSPORT IN INDIA

1.4.1 Road construction in India

Development of the road in India was neglected due to various reasons in the first aspect,

central and state government did not appreciate the need and importance of the

developing the road system. There was also a shortage of road building materials such as

road rollers, JCB earth movers, tar, cement, etc.

The first five year plan introduced in 1951, there were over one lakh sixty thousand kms

surface roads. In 1959 Hyderabad plan was adopted. The plan was formulated a 20 year

period the total length to be reached was 6,48,000 kms. Unsurfaced roads, the target of

this plan was to bring every village in a well developed agriculture area within 6 kms of

metal road and 2.5 kms of any road. The third plan at this objective for road

development. The cost of the road development programme includes in third plan was

9

Rs. 830 crores. consideration was given to road development in rural area and border

road.

There after in next three plan planning commission provided Rs. 8600 crores for the road

programme and the road transport. In 7th plan outlet was Rs. 5200 cr. on road

construction but actual expenditure was Rs. 6300 cr.

Table: 1.2

Road constructions progress

(000 kms)

Type 1950-51 1970-71 2001-02

Surface 160 400 1420

Un surface 240 520 2480

Total 400 920 3900

The Indian road network is the largest in the world. Indian roads can be put in the three

categories national highway, state highway, district and rural road. The national

highways have a road length of any 65600 kms. or it can be said just 2% of the length of

the total road system but they carry nearly 40% of the routes and traffic national highway

system is a primary grid which under the direct responsibility of the central government.

There are rural road constructed under the minimum needs programme, rural landless

employment insurance programme, national level rural programme and command area

development. Under all such programme the aim of road construction is to link villages

with different parts of the rural areas.

Though much has been achieved, a lot more has to be done to improve road system in

India. Only half the road length in the country is provided proper surface. Even in the

case of national highways 30% of the road length has the single lane road pavement 36%

villages in country do not have road connection and 65% of the villages suffer from all

weather road.

10th plan (2002-07) national highway development project for improving the mobility

easy accessibility, it was felt that roads construction should be paid more attention. The

planning Commission accepted National Highway Development Programme (NHDP)

10

and Prathan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana (PMGSY) for rural roads. It can be said that it

was the most important, ambitious and most useful project launched after independence

and the project that would cost the government nmning into lakh crores. In doing so, the

main idea is to connect four major cities, Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chelmai.

In the phase to the north-south, east-west (7320 km) that links Kashmir in the north to

Kanyakumari alongwith the diversion from Salem to Kochi and Silichar to Porbandar in

the west.

Third aspect was connecting the ports and other projects with the road length of 1157 km

and in the third phase 40 IS km length of road was meant for four lane roads of which

4000 km in the year 2005 approved at an estimate cost of Rs. 22000 crores.

By the end of the year 2005-06 nearly 6300 km ofroud under NGDP nearly 5100 km lie

on the golden quadrilateral was completed and another 6200 km was under construction.

The government fees that the north-south and east-west corridors will be completed by

December 2008. But it does not appear this target may be achieved. The phase three, one

is expected to be completed by the December 2009.

Over the above, the government of India has got ambitious plans which are as follows:

(i) Special accelerated road development programme in the northern areas for better

connective with the remote areas of north-eastern reason by 2/4 lane and

improvement on national highway, state road and roads of strategic importance in

the north eastern 8 states.

(ii) Upgrading the national highways, in phases 2 lanes, 4 lane and 6 lane and

development of ring road, by-passes, service roads, etc.

(iii) The project of NHDP is being experimented by national highways authority of

India. The main source of its expenditure is fuel cess which is Rs. 2 per liter on

petrol or diesel. NHAI has got funds from World Bank, Asian Development

Bank, and many other international institution. In further NHAI plans to

implement UHDP through public private partnership.

1.4.2 Highway Development ofNHAI

After independence road transport has taken up a monopoly road in the form of transport

of people and the goods. Road is lifting 80% of passengers and 60% of goods freight and

this expected to rise to 85% and 65% respectively by the year 2009. This will increase

11

the quality and capacity of national and state highways which have continuous traffic and

overall economic growth of the country. One important note is still 15% of national

highways and 75% of the state highways are still single lane road but are being

transformed into double and four lane roads.

With the above figure 20% of National highways are all ready converted into double

lane. 50% of the two lane roads have to be strengthened. 30% of two lane roads are to be

converted into four lane and some specific corridors have to be developed into express

ways.

Road construction in the passed, had been financed by public works departments by the

center or the states. The amount for such project needs very big amount which is beyond

capacity of public sector. Government of India has amended national highways act in

1995 show that private sector can participate in construction, maintenance and road

operation or on BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer). The government has taken certain

steps to attract private sector for the development of highways.

Government has formulate and ordinance for land acquisition for construction national

highway. Once the Government authority declares that the land is required for the

development of national highway. This land is vested with the central government and

negotiated companies.

Government has exempted from forest clearance and from environment.

The government has brought simplification in progress of road construction and

development project costing up to Rs. 100 crores can be approved by the ministry of

surface transport levy as user fee (toll) on the four lane roads including those road also

which are funded by the budget. The revenge generated through user fee will be used for

further road development.

1.4.3 Public Private Partnerships

The projects having a high economic potential, but which may not be commercially

viable, government has decided for such projects on a build and lease basis. A

commercial firm first invests the funds required for the project and then is paid back on

contracted annual sums over a period of time as priority agreed upon.

12

To have the support and participation of the private sector the government has allowed

the national highway authority to take part in the equity of a company promoted by

private or the public sector.

During the tenth plan, private public partnership are more preferred for construction and

operation of highways.

Foreign investment has to be liberalized in the road sector approved to the extent of 74%

is immediately given for foreign equity in the construction of roads and bridges and 51 %

foreign equity in support services to land transport like operations of high bridges, toll

roads and vehicles.

1.4.4 Road Transport and the 11 th Plan

Road highways development in keeping in Vlew the mobility and connectivity an

extended and expanding programme was undertaken phase-wise in which in the third,

fourth and fifth phase four lane of important sections, two lane and six lane of Golden

quadrilateral NHDP were to be undertaken, followed by Phase six NHDP expressways

and phase VII ring rods, bypasses etc. construction was to be undertaken.

Taking into account all NHD programmes, would involve 45,974 kms total length and its

cost would be Rs. 2.20 lakh crores during the eleventh plan. This would need an

extensive public private partnership to take over the work.

Similarly PMGSY programme pertaining to rural roads is being expanded to habitations

and 500 hilly areas and tribal areas with all weather ro.ads by this programme villages

would benefit from markets.

1.4.5 Nationalization of Road Transport

Prior to nationalization there was fierce competition among the private operators. The

services rendered were concentrated only on profitable routes. Further only large cities

and towns attracted the attention of private bus operators and rural areas and tribal belts

were largely ignored whose only motive was to make profit. The conditions and

maintenance of vehicles was poor and the standards of services provided were very low.

The passengers were exploited by the private operators. The rates varied from one

operator to another, one period to another. The conditions of bus staff were miserable.

The growth of fleet did not match the growth in the demand the dispersal of bus services

was even among the plains hilly areas and deserts. An important argument in favour of

13

nationalization was that the size of the fleet of privates operators was far from optimum

thereby leading to wastage of economic resources and mismatch between demand and

supply of road transport which restrained the growth process in the country. This

argument was countered by the logic that nationalization would harm the

competitiveness in the passenger road transport, introduce an element of rigidity in the

sphere of management of bus routes and stations, lead to the draining of resources by

way of payment of compensations to the owners of private buses, encourage loss making

and lead to unemployment of bus operators. It was also argued that nationalization would

be an economically disastrous move in that the government would need to invest large

sums of money on the acquisition of buses, maintenance of operating staff and creation

of bus stations and workshops.

The arguments against nationalization received considerable support from the contention

that the motor vehicles Act,1939 was already there to regulate road transport. It was the

bus operators who had to operate buses according to the provisions of the said Act and

that only sum additional measures were required to be taken to fulfill the public ends. It

was contended that what was required was control of road transport and not its

ownership. The government of India came out with a moderate approach and suggested a

tripartite scheme for managing passengers road transport according to which joint stock

corporate were to be set up in different states whose shareholders would be the Indian

railways, the state governments and the motor bus operators each contributing 35 %,

35% and 30% of share capital respectively. It was suggested that if individual bus

operators could not buy shares in cash, their buses might be accepted in good condition

in lieu thereof. The profit was to be shared proportionally by three parties. This scheme

was welcomed widely but failed top take off because of the distrust of the private

operators. They felt that their voice would be heard as it was not an argument among

equals. The wind for nationalization was so strong that the government ultimately

decided to nationalize the passenger road transport under the dispensation of the Road

Transport Corporations Act, 1950. Under the Act, the Central Government empowered

the state governments to take over such routes from the private operators as they deemed

fit in the best interest of the public and receive capital contributions from the Central

Government in the ratio of 1 :2. The state government reacted favourably to this proposal

and set up public corporations to undertake this task.

14

Road transport is undertaken by state governments, private travel operators and

cooperatives. After independence most of the states have nationalized passenger bus

transport partially or completely. Today nationalized transport to the extent of 40

percent. State Governments are trying to nationalize more routes. For nationalizing such

services the reasons are:

(i) Road transport is a public utility service and therefore it should be under control

of the state.

(ii) It provides a big amount as lUcome, which can be used for economIC

development purposes.

(iii) By nationalizing, road transport, it can work as a complementary service to the

railways. There would be no competitive better transport services.

There are large scale operating advantages hence it will favour government road

transport corporations- thereby it can provide better facilities and services to passengers

in general and working conditions of its employees would increase.

The above reasons appear to be in favour of nationalization of bus transport as private

operations main desire to maximize profits and would not care for anything else. Over

and above this, by nationalizing the bus services government can achieve any goal (if

they fix) by regulations and control over it.

While Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir,

Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, West Bengal,

Orissa, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh went for setting up the public corporations, Tamil

Nadu promoted government companies to handle the road transport activity. Some union

territories and North eastern states organized the activity departmentally. The city

transport services in some major town is being run as municipal undertakings.

15

Table-1.3

Forms of Organization of STUs in India

MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS COMPANIES GOVT. DEPTS

UNDERTAKINGS

I. Andhra Pradesh I. Anna Sathya I. Andaman & I. Ahmedabad

SRTC TCL. Nicobar ST MTS

2. Assam STC 2. Anna TC 2. Arunachal 2. Amritsar Nigam

3. Bihar SRTC 3. Calcutta TCL. Pradesh ST. Transport

4. Calcutta STC 4. Charean TCL 3. Chandigarh TS 3. BEST

4. Haryana ST Undertaking

5. Delhi TC 5. Cholan RIW

CL. 5. Mizoram ST 4. Bhavnagar

6. Gujarat SRTC Muni. Corpn.

7. Himachal RTC 6. Oeeran Chinna 6. Nagaland ST

TCL 5. Jamnagar MTS

8. Jammu & 7. ST Punjab

7. Delhi TOC 6. Kolhapur MTS

Kashmir SRTC Sikkim NT

8. Garhwal 7. Ludhiana MTC 9. Kamataka

SRTC MandaI V ikas 8. Pimpri-

Nigam Ltd. Chinchwad MT 10. Kerala SRTC

9. Himachal 9. PuneMT 11. Madhya Pradesh

Pradesh TOCL SRTC

10. Solapur MTU

10. India TOC Thane Muni.

12. Maharashtra 11. Jeeva TCL

Transport SRTC

13. Manipur SRTC 12. Kadamba TCL

14. Meghalaya TC 13. Kaqttabonnan

TCL 15. N. Bengal STC

14. Maharashtra 16. Orissa SRTC

TOCL

17. Pepsu RTC 15. Marudhu

16

18. Rajasthan SRTC Pandiyar TCL

19. S. Bengal STC 16. Meghalaya

20. Tripura RTC TDCL

21. Uttar Pradesh 17. Nesamoney

SRTC TCL

18. Orissa State

Comm. TCL

19. Orissa R.T.Co.

Ltd.

20. Pandiyan

Roadways CL

21. Pattukkuttai

Ash. TCL

22. Pallavan TCL

23. Rani

Mangammal

TCL

24. Tamil Nadu

Goods TCL

25. Tamil Nadu

Tourism

Development

Corpon. Ltd.

26. Thanthai Periyar

TCL

27. Thiruvalluvar

TCL

1.5 IMPORTANCE OF ROAD TRANSPORT

• • 17

(i) Road transport plays an important role in the overall economic development of

the country by transporting material, goods, agricultural product etc. and makes

the equal distribution in all geographical areas.

(ii) Connects small villages at remote places where other transport means the not

feasible.

(iii) For public transportation within the big cities road transport is the most feasible.

(iv) Industrial development of all geographical areas becomes possible due to road

transport.

(v) It is relatively cheaper mode of transport as compared to other modes of

transport.

(vi) It is a flexible mode of transport 111 the sense of change of routes as per

convel1lence.

(vii) It helps people to travel and carry goods at shorter and longer distance as well as

in remote areas and hilly areas.

(viii) It helps in creation of employment to a large extent for individuals having

technical as well as non technical skills.

(ix) It contributes in living standard of the people in tenns of speedy and comfortable

journey by taking the advantage of development in technology.

1.6 HISTORY OF AMTS AND ITS ORGANIZATION

The Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) functioning under the

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC), is responsible for providing the public

transportation system in the city. The responsibility of providing inter-city stage

operations lies with Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC).

AMTS came into existence on 1 st April 1947 as a voluntary organization with a fleet of

112 buses when the Municipal administration declared nationalization of the private

companies that were playing buses in the city. The AMTS was established under the

provision of Bombay Provisional Municipal Act, 1949, which functions as one of the

main wings of the corporation. It was the first nationalized public transport service in

India. At the time of commencement of AMTS the geographical area of the city of

Ahmedabad was only 15 kms. This organization has completed 62 years of service on

3 1 sl March 2009.

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The organization is under the administrative control of a statutory committee VlZ.

Transport Committee formed by General Board of AMC. However, the financial control

lies with the General Board of the AMC. The AMTS has no capital base and AMC is

providing financial assistance to AMTS, on requirement basis, in the fonn of an interest

- bearing loans. The transport committee comprises of nine members, including

chairman, drawn from various fields, One of then being AMC's standing committee

chairn1an. These members need not necessarily be elected Municipal corporate.

Transport Manager who exercises all administrative and operational powers under the

control and supervision of Transport Committee heads the administration of AMTS. The

transport manager, however, is not a member of transport committee.

1.7 SELECTION OF RESEARCH PROBLEM

Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) came into existence on 1st April 1947

as a voluntary organization. It was the first nationalized public transport service in India.

During this period City'S Municipality limit was 15 km. AMTS serve the citizen for

transportation purpose. This organization has completed 62 years of service on 31 st

March 2009.

Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) is owned by the local body i.e.

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). AMTS is the second largest city public road

transport service in India after BEST in Mumbai. AMTS has made its best efforts to

provide services to all parts of the city of Ahmedabad and in surrounding areas also. But

to keep any service regular, customer oriented, modernized and well equipped, the

regular capital investment is required. Also the recurring expenses keep on increase with

the development of services. Any public service oriented unit carmot service perpetually

by depending only on Govemment grants. The unit has to stand financially on its own by

adopting corporate governance even without the objective of profit maximization. The

AMTS has failed to achieve the objective of modernizing its services by making the unit

financially sound. Even without any much development and modernization it makes

continuous loss for more than fast 10 years. Some steps might have been taken by the

management because despite of heavy loss it is surviving and not only that but some

concrete steps are also taken by the authorities like introducing private buses on the road,

controlling population and a big project of BRTS involving huge amount of investment

of 500 crores.

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Looking to the fact of surviving with the loss and making an effort to bring turnaround in

the management of AMTS, becomes an interesting case of research from the view point

of turnaround management. The reconstruction of AMTS may become a lesson for other

public administration also.

1.8 SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The study undertaken is for analyzing the performance and turnaround strategy adopted

by AMTS only. To study the objectives financial and non financial information of 7

years from 2001-02 to 2007-08 will be studied. The study is also aimed at analyzing

financial performance as well as non financial decision making governance affecting the

functioning of the AMTS. The study also includes the major turnaround decision of

modernizing the bus and road services by introducing BRTS.

1.9 OBJECTIVES

The objectives of the study are outlined below:

I. To study the operational performance of AMTS.

2. To study the financial performance of AMTS.

3. To study the problems faced by AMTS in its operation.

4. To study the process of turnaround management.

5. To analyze the overall performance and suggest ways and means to uplift the

functioning of AMTS.

1.10 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

Every study has its own strength and weaknesses. But it is the fact that every research

opens new doors for further study. Therefore the limitations of every study becomes the

beginning of another study in the same area. Thus limitations make the process of

research ongoing.

The present study has attempted to analyse the public transport undertaking, financial

position, performance in a specific of Ahmedabad Muncipal Transport Services. The

present study was largely concerned with the public level undertakings with the

investment of the government or local body. However once an undertaking develop it

diversity itself and expands both horizontally and vertically. The present study has

following limitations:

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1. The study is limited to a period of7years only (2001-02 to 2007-0

2. The researcher does not know the technical aspects of bus repairs and

maintenance, hence technical aspect of the operation of AMTS which affects its

performance is unexplored.

3. No comparison of AMTS operation and its turnaround management with other

state transport corporation service and private sector is made because it is outside

the perview of objectives of the study.

4. Lacks the human resource aspect of the AMTS and hence no personal interview

and opinion of staff and passengers are included in the study.

5. The study does not evaluate the contribution of AMTS towards usefulness to the

society as welfare service.

The present study analysis the turnaround management of AMTS, i.e. only one unit of

city transport in the city of Ahmedabad. In India there are other big cities also having

city transport like Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi, Chennai and inter comparison of all such

cities may make the study on large scale, which is not covered by the present study. The

study also ignores the analysis and comparison with state undertaking. The performance

of AMTS is studied only on the basis of last seven years only. Hence the analysis and

recommendations are based on the study of the selected period only. The operating

efficiency of any transport undertaking is based on many technical and engineering

aspects also. Such technical aspects are ignored by the present study. All such limitations

of the study can be taken by other scholars for further research.

1.11 CONTRIBUTION

The present study will be help to different parties rel~ated to research, education and

operation. The contribution of the study can be enumerated as follows:

(i) The study will be helpful to research scholars to further investigate into the area

of public road transport.

(ii) The study will be useful to academicians to make the present curriculum broader

by incorporating the present research done in the area of strategic management

and logistic management.

(iii) The present research on AMTS will be helpful to AMTS authorities to introspect

their decision relating to the management and operation of AMTS to make the

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turnaround management more meaningful by utilizing their resources in

maximum possible manner.

(iv) The study also will be helpful to other city transport undertakings to incorporate

the turn-around strategy adopted by AMTS and findings and suggestions of the

present study wherever it is feasible.

(v) Quoting authorities to public under taking will be able frame their granting

policies and utilization of their funds for the welfare of people.

J.l2 CHAPTER PLAN

The entire study of turnaround strategy of AMTS is divided into nine chapters.

1. The first chapter gives brief information about the importance of public transport,

evolution of road transport, history of AMTS and brief area of the study.

2. The second chapter throw light on the literature survey done during the course of

the study on the research area.

3. Chapter three discuses the research methodology.

4. Forth chapter discusses role of strategic management and turnaround

management in service industry

5. Fifth chapter reviews the services of AMTS.

6. Chapter six makes the analysis of operational performance.

7. Seven chapter reviews the financial performance of AMTS

8. Eight chapter discusses the turnaround strategy of AMTS.

9. Evaluates of over all performance

10. Last chapter tenth makes the findings and suggestions