The year 2022 saw a significant rise in inter-city travel across the country. Alongside, it was also seen that the travellers on more than 100 routes preferred inter-city buses over other modes available. This shift is primarily attributed to the emergence of tech based players providing better quality and consistent experience. The inter-city bus segment witnessed significant upliftment thanks to the involvement of cutting-edge technology and private players in space, who standardised antiquated procedures. Besides, most offices began implementing partial or full reporting from the office, compelling working professionals to travel back and forth between their work cities and hometowns.

Manish Rathi, CEO & C0-founder, said: ‘As we continue to expand, IntrCity SmartBus has seen a 20–25%  increase in bookings for both business and leisure travel for the Dussehra long weekend compared to the same period in 2021. In addition, with rising air fares and waitlisting on trains, travellers’ preference for branded inter-city buses has gone up and is now being increasingly considered as equally comfortable and reliable as the other modes. We believe that peak inter-city travel will return to pre-COVID levels in Dec ’22. The upward trend continued with reservations for the New Year’s weekend, and there has already been a surge with more than 60% of reservations made.”

IntrCity SmartBus demonstrated this year’s excellent month-over-month growth with an operational profitability. Technology plays a part in the company’s standard experience for both customers and SME bus operators. Bus companies’ adoption of technology-based platforms is contributing to their growth since the majority of those operating on the top 40 routes have begun collaborating with such platform providers.

“We anticipate that inter-city mobility will improve even further in 2023, surpassing pre-COVID levels. The industry will witness advancements in mobility technologies as well as bus OEMs introducing upgraded vehicles and EVs with greater range on single charge. In accordance with the Government of India’s goal to upgrade the Indian road network to meet top-tier standards through extensive expansions and renovations, we hope to increase the number of buses and routes,” he added.

Furthermore, he said: “With India planning to construct at least 26 green expressways by 2025, we anticipate that expressways such as Mumbai-Nagpur, Delhi-Amritsar-Katra, and Ganga will reduce travel times. While others, such as Delhi-Mumbai and Ludhiana-Ajmer, will allow for the addition of new long-distance intercity routes. On the strength of a strong 2022, we want to expand on all of our current routes across the country and gain a commanding market share. With COVID behind us, we are confident that inter-city mobility will further improve in 2023, and we plan to have a fleet of over 750 buses.”