It takes three to five years for the bus industry to get back on its feet
The bus transportation market in Russia has been in little demand for a long time. But in recent years, with the onset of the crisis and a general decline in the population's ability to pay, people moved from trains and planes to buses, and the market entered a stage of active development. What is missing for high quality bus service in our country and how to achieve this, in our material.
Bus popularity
According to the statistics of the international service for the search and purchase of bus tickets Busfor, in the Moscow region alone, the market for intercity and international transportation in 2016 grew by 10 percent in terms of the number of passengers carried and by 15 percent in terms of the number of flights performed. If back in 2013 the railway reserved seat was on average cheaper than traveling in a similar direction by bus, then since 2015 the situation has changed dramatically. As a result, passengers increasingly prefer a bus to an airplane or train to travel around the country and abroad. In addition, the development of domestic tourism directly affects the demand for bus transportation. Ilya Ekushevsky, CEO and co-founder of the online service for buying tickets for bus directions Busfor, adds that budget bus routes to neighboring countries - to Georgia and Armenia - have become more in demand among tourists recently, and bus passenger traffic between Ukraine and other CIS countries has also increased for labor migration account.
Bus travel is expected to continue to grow in popularity as rail fares are unlikely to decline anytime soon and compete with bus fares. In addition, this market is huge, it is represented by thousands of carriers and transport companies, while, according to Rosstat, 74.2% of them are privately owned. That is, the competition even within the market is very high, the players began to realize this and fight for the passenger, improving the quality of services.
Problems to be solved
However, despite the growing popularity of bus travel, this part of the transport system in our country still has its own difficulties. Thus, some of the transactions in this market are not always legal, since bus tickets are sold in most cases only at the box office or at the driver's, that is, for cash and sometimes without checks. Only a couple of years ago, such services as Busfor.ru appeared, where you can buy a bus ticket for an intercity or international trip online, get a check for your purchase and be sure that the trip will take place. But not everything depends on the ticket aggregator.
The second problem is the cancellation of flights without notice. Not all carriers are responsible for fulfilling their obligations, and this casts a shadow on all other market players. “More and more transport companies are already realizing that customer focus in our time is not just an empty phrase, but a competitive advantage. As soon as all market participants begin to approach the fulfillment of obligations responsibly, the situation will change for the better, and even more passengers will come to the market,”Yekushevsky is sure.
The third critical point is security. It is no secret that buses are not the safest form of transport in our country today. The reasons are in the old car fleet, and in the inadequate level of equipment of buses with safety elements, and in the low discipline of drivers. In addition, transport companies do not always comply with the requirements of federal legislation on the purchase of compulsory carrier liability insurance policies for causing harm to the life, health, property of passengers. The industry needs stricter control from both the regulator and the increased responsibility of companies for the life and health of passengers.
Change is inevitable
According to rough forecasts, the passenger bus transport industry can reach a new technological level within three to five years. During this time, a pool of strong players will stand out who are ready to change for new customer requests and time - to buy modern buses, to hire competent personnel. And those who are not ready will naturally leave the market, this is inevitable. In parallel, new channels of communication with customers will be built, of course, online. After all, bus transportation is becoming more and more popular among fans of electronic shopping. According to experts, today the online sales of bus tickets are doubling annually, which became possible due to the emergence of convenient services for buying. “In my opinion, in five years, about 50% of all bus tickets will be sold online,” added Ekushevsky.
