Ahead of the long weekend approaching, private bus bookings in Mumbai and across Maharashtra have surged. To meet this rising demand, companies plan to offer 4,571 bus services, a notable increase from last year's Independence Day weekend.
Reservations have significantly increased from August 17 to 19. A representative from redBus, a leading online ticketing platform, noted that the most popular inter-state routes are Mumbai-Indore, Pune-Indore, Pune-Bangalore, and Pune-Hyderabad, while key intra-state routes include Mumbai-Mahabaleshwar, Mumbai-Kolhapur, Pune-Nagpur, Nagpur-Pune, and Mahabaleshwar-Mumbai.
An operator based in the western suburbs stated, "We are working hard to ensure we have enough vehicles to handle the growing passenger volume. The rise in bookings indicates a greater trend of people taking leisure trips and returning to their hometowns for the festivities."