Ganesh Travels vs KSRTC: Pros and cons

Ganesh travels is a leading private bus operator in Karnataka. They operate 100s of buses often to lesser connected cities. I traveled in their bus to Hampi and returned by another Ganesh Travels bus from Badami. This post shares my findings and compares with Karnataka's flagship Govt operator, KSRTC.

Ganesh Travels: Positives

#1 Tracking app: Ganesh travels shares real time tracking link to those who book tickets. This helps know exact location of the bus and plan to reach your pickup point at correct time, than going early and waiting. KSRTC still doesn't offer this.

#2 Flexible routing: For Mangalore to Hampi, Ganesh travels website was showing pickup points like Byndoor, Bhatkal etc, which meant they would go North towards Honnavara, Kumta and then turn right towards Sirsi, Davanagere and then proceed to Hosapete, which is a very long route. But on the day of my trip, after Kundapura bus turned towards Shivamogga, a much shorter route for the destination. I guess they didn't have any booking beyond Kundapura so decided to take shorter route. During return journey as well, the route was supposed to be via Bagalakote etc and the bus was running 30 minutes later-but the bus skipped few spots and came to Badami a bit earlier. KSRTC doesn't do this- booking or no booking they stick to the fixed route and stops- good in a way (if you know the route you can wait without advance booking) but they miss out on chance to save some time and money. Entering a town bus stand unnecessarily will easily add 5-10 kms, 20-30 minutes to the journey, compared to taking the bypass or taking short cut to final destination.

#3 Sleeper+ sitting: Ganesh travels has buses that have both sleeper and sitting- kind of odd but you have a choice- sitting seat or sleeper. KSRTC doesn't have such options- either sleeper or sitting. 

The buses were fairly on time (20-30 min delay only, both Ganesh & my recent KSRTC rides)-but minor delays are common in travel industry.

Ganesh Travels: Drawbacks compared to KSRTC

#1 Extra passengers in driver's cabin: During our return journey, there were 3-4 people sitting in driver's cabin, one person sleeping right in-front of the driver. My guess is staff took some extra passengers and pocketed the money.

Whenever a passenger leaves, one of these folks would come and occupy the vacant sleeper berth- if a passenger had forgotten any valuables, before he/she realizes, informs crew someone else might have escaped with the valuable.

KSRTC never does that.

#2 Pickup points with basic setup: While KSRTC has reasonably well maintained bus stations in all big towns where passengers can wait, use toilets etc, Ganesh travels doesn't have such a setup. Their pickup points are small roadside offices. Some KSRTC bus stops have AC Waiting room for AC bus ticket holders, separate waiting room for women etc- no such thing if you book private buses.

#3 Poorly planned roadside toilet shops= while KSRTC stops at designated restaurants and bus stops, Ganesh Travels would stop by the road side, wake up passengers to go out for recess, claiming next stop will be in Mangalore (Between Badami and Udupi they stopped 3 times each time claiming this is last stop and next is Mangalore). The roadside stops are a problem for women passengers.

#4 Very few bus types: KSRTC has Ambari Utsav, Ambari, Non AC Sleeper, AC Sleeper, Multi axle Volvo, Rajahamsa, Karnataka Sarige etc, Ganesh Travels seem to have just one or two types of buses. Each Route there is hardly 1 or two options, so not much choice.

#5: Inflated pricing: For December 25th night journey, Ganesh travels pricing was almost 2x the normal. Private operates increase rates at will if they see an opportunity. KSRTC is more stable in that aspect and their pricing is competitive and doesn't vary too much for long weekends, holidays.

Overall Ganesh Travels is a fairly reliable operator- but after traveling with them my respect for KSRTC has increased two fold. If I see decent option in KSRTC I would prefer that. Will use private buses only as plan B.

What are your thoughts?

Similar: One night at Krishnagiri * Why I prefer KSRTC *