By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Oct. 7: The improved management of ticket services in Gongabu-based New Buspark has eased the process for service seekers.
A passenger can easily notice the counter for his/her destination with the help of digital boards. An individual can then visit the counter and choose their own desired bus and seat through a desktop placed for them.
“When I recall the earlier time when people used to come and force us to their counters or buses, the scenario has completely changed now,” said Krishna Sharma, who had come to the New Buspark on Tuesday to buy a ticket to Mahottari.

The desktop, which is placed in front of every counter, shows the booked seats alongside the vacant ones from which the passengers choose.
“It is easy for us too. We don’t need to argue with passengers over which seats are empty and which have been occupied. It is all shown on the desktop from which the passengers are free to choose,” said an official working at the counter for western Nepal.

Similarly, a help desk of Traffic Police has been established in front of the entry door to the ticket counter. Since the transport operators demand exorbitant fares from the passengers, especially during Dashain and Tihar, traffic police have been kept to tackle such cases.
According to an officer at the help desk, they haven’t received any complaints from the service seekers regarding exorbitant fares as the rates have been set digitally on the counters and traffic police go around keeping an eye on actual fares.

Nevertheless, not all seeking bus tickets arrive at the New Buspark. Bus tickets to different parts of the country from Kathmandu are available in Kalanki, Koteshwor and Gausala, too.
Ticket counters other than New Buspark don’t have such well managed services and passengers are also demanded more fares than that set by the government. The government recently increased the fares of long route buses but still some transport operators are found seeking more.

Traffic Police officers informed that they have established help desks in all the major ticketing spots where passengers can seek help.
In response, transport operators informed that they planned to improve ticketing services in other places too.

“The services in Gongabu have helped both commuters and us. We plan to add more digital services like booking and paying through online medium. We are planning to provide similar services from Koteshwor, Kalanki and Gausala too in the days ahead,” said Yogendra Karmacharya, president at the Federation of Nepalese Transport Entrepreneurs.