RedBus Report: 20,000 New Routes Booked On Platform In 2023

EE News Desk Jan 12, 2024

redBus unveiled a report of the intercity bus travel landscape, marking the culmination of 2023. 6 crore bus tickets were booked in the first 9 months and on average more than 50,000 buses were available on the redBus platform per day in 2023.

All calculations are as per data on the redBus platform for the calendar year 2023.

The intercity bus network connected close to 10,000 unique cities, towns, and villages across 4.2 lakh unique routes. 20,000 new routes were booked on redBus in 2023. Indians travelled 4.1 crore km every day, with an average of 207 km on a single trip. Some of the longest bus journeys undertaken were from Gorakhpur to Goa which stretches over 2000 km and 60 hours and Satara to Lucknow, which covered similar time and distance.

Online ticket bookings continued to gain traction in non-metro and smaller towns accounting for 53 per cent of bus bookings. Tier 4 towns accounted for 26 per cent; similarly, Tier 2 and 3 towns together accounted for 27 per cent. In 2023, more than 6 lakh travellers from Tier 2 and 3 cities made their maiden online intercity bus bookings through redBus. States like Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh Assam & Chhattisgarh witnessed the highest surge in demand for intercity bus travel bookings from Tier 3 towns.

Interest in electric buses as a serious and viable business took off in 2023. A larger fleet of EVs was deployed for the first time, covering over 600 routes across India and there were more than 400 services per day. In particular, EVs are doing very well on shorter routes, given that they are better suited for them. For instance, routes such as Delhi - Haridwar - Rishikesh, Bangalore-Tirupati, and Hyderabad – Vijayawada, witnessed high growth in the contribution to ticket sales from EV buses. Delhi - Chandigarh and Delhi - Agra routes witnessed a 150 per cent growth compared to the previous year, on the back of EV bus additions. As consumers become more environmentally conscious and the government continues supportive policies, this trend is expected to have strong growth.

The preference for late-night journeys continues, with 76 per cent of travellers opting for buses between 6 pm and midnight. The second most preferred time slot was noon to 5 pm, with 13 per cent of all travel occurring during this time. Additionally, the popularity of AC buses remained high, constituting 63 per cent of all intercity bus bookings on redBus when compared to last year’s 60 per cent.

Over 3.6 lakh people travelled on 10 November - the highest number of people to travel by bus on a single day in 2023. More than 3.55 lakh people travelled on 23 December and over 3.5 lakh people travelled on 22 December, making these the second and third highest numbers of people travelling in a day. However, while both these occasions correspond to festive periods, the 4th highest number of people travelling by bus on a single day was recorded on 2 October.

There is an increase in the number of seats booked to religious destinations. Tirupati and Shirdi take the top positions as the most visited pilgrimage destinations in 2023, followed by Nashik and Ujjain (Mahakaleshwar). Goa topped as the leisure destination of choice, with Pondicherry, Manali and Siliguri following it.

One of the larger travel trends expected in 2024 is that the intercity bus sector is poised to witness a surge in sustainable travel practices. An increasing number of bus operators, both state transport corporations and private entities, are embracing environmentally friendly initiatives. This includes a significant uptick in the onboarding of electric buses.

As travel norms continue to evolve, the bus travel industry will witness a pronounced shift towards seamless and contactless experiences in 2024. Passengers can expect an enhanced focus on technology-driven features.

There will be an increase in pilgrimage-focused travel in 2024, given the initiatives to improve infrastructure for such destinations across the country. While pilgrimage tourism is already on the upswing, it may continue to witness growth across the country through 2024.

The bus travel sector will witness an increased interest in undiscovered destinations. Anticipating this trend, a surge in interest towards offbeat and culturally rich locales is bound to happen. Collaborating with local communities and operators, redBus aims to expand its offerings to include an array of unique destinations.