PANAJI
The State Transport Department has recorded a massive surge of 99.33 percent in the registration of new rent-a-bikes over the past three years, indicating a growing preference among tourists for rental vehicles.
Not just this, with every household owning a vehicle, the public transport system has taken a hit with a decline of 31.56 per cent in its registrations, the Economic Survey reveals.
“The number of vehicles registered under the category “Transport - Motorcycle for hire” has increased by 99.33 percent in 2022- 23 as compared to 2019-20. This is due to an increase in the number of tourists using rent-a-bike facilities. Whereas under the category “Transport, Buses and Minibuses including KTC” the number of registrations has decreased by 31.56 per cent,” it states.
As per the report tabled during the just concluded Legislative Assembly, 29,681 motorcycles for hire were registered as on December 2023 followed by 54,754 goods vehicles, 32,687 taxis and 5,987 buses, minibuses including KTC/government buses.
In addition to these, 3,754 are rickshaws registered during this period while 624 vehicles are in the ‘others’ category.
In all, the number of two-wheelers including privately-owned registered till December 2023 stands at 7,94,021 while 3,31,644 are private cars and jeeps and 3581 are in ‘others’ category. As per the report, the grand total of non-transport vehicles is 12,56,733.
With the government promoting EV vehicles, this number has also shown a tremendous increase during the year 2022-23 as compared to 2019-20. The data reveals that while only 39 EVs were registered in the 2019-20 FY, the numbers rose from 230 in 2020-21 FY to 1,816 and 7,093 in the subsequent years in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively.
“The transition to Green energy/ clean energy and efforts of the government towards it has made it possible,” reads the report.
Further, the number of driving licenses issued (New and Renewal) for the last five years is 1,35,455 of which a maximum of 31,998 was issued in 2022-23 while in 2023-24 (as on December 2023) the number stands at 23,668.
