Jan 10, 2006

UmbarThaa Economics

5 comments:

hirak said...

My economic knowledge would overflow a paper cone that carries 2 rupees worth garam-channa.

1)It would help to know what are the regular weekday rates? Different?

2)Are there more # of drops to be made in Bombay and the buses to Pune have only 1-2 pickup points in Bombay? And 1 dropff in Pune?

Kunal said...

Dear Computer-guy blogger,

Do you use the same bus company both ways? The gentle folks over at the Maharashtra ST corporation charge a lot more than the private operators.

- An economist (in training) blogger

Ajay said...

Hirak's theory sounds promising. I've seen that buses charge less from Kothrud than from Pune station or Deccan. Do you alight and aboard at the same places?

- One intro course in Economics

Siddhartha said...

Statement of fact: Have been shuttling only on the Pune Stn.-Dadar-Pune Stn. route almost every week for the last 2.5 years using more often than not the MSRTC A/C buses (which thankfully NOW refer only to Volvo buses as opposed to the beasts made by Tata) and:

1. Never encountered the "weekend window" phenomenon you mention. Rates are same irrespective of the day of the week.

2. Rates on this route are same irrespective of the direction.

3. But yes, the rates do undergo frequent revision. They used to be 190 when I first started out then fluctuated 225-230-235. Now they've settled back down at 200. I was given to understand that oil prices have something to do with it. But that does not explain the recent DECREASE.

A medical guy blogger
(with some economics in my genes if you consider that my father is in SEBI)

Saket said...

My two cents on this. It could also be related to the timing of the bus in relation to the trains.

For instance if most busses from Bombay to Pune are running around the same time as the trains in that direction, then one would want to reduce prices in order to attract more travellers. If on the other hand one knows that there is no other option to go to Bombay around a certain time, you can demand more money bcause the supply is less. Demand and supply logic according to me.