Move to make tourist buses 'colourful' fails yet again; white to continue

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The attempt by some senior officials in the Transport Department to change the mandatory white colour of tourist buses and make them “colourful” has failed again.

At the State Transport Authority meeting held on the 9th, priority was given to the proposal to replace the white colour and restore the earlier multicoloured scheme. However, the move to issue an order, ignoring the Transport Commissioner’s objections, was halted after the election notification

was announced.

The white colour requirement was imposed after the Vadakkancherry bus accident in October 2022, which claimed nine lives, including five students. Officials decided to reconsider the colour rule following complaints that the white colour negatively affected tourism.

Although a similar attempt was made in July 2024, it was later abandoned after it sparked controversy. The controversy arose following the leak of an audio message by a local leader of Kerala Congress (B), who is also a bus owner. In the audio, he claimed that the government would remove the white colour rule before K B Ganesh Kumar stepped down as minister. Following this, the Chief Minister’s Office intervened, and the State Transport Authority did not take up the matter.

Colour change: No study conducted No formal study was conducted before presenting the bus owners’ demand to the STA. The Motor Vehicles Department did not consider that no major accidents had occurred after the uniform white colour was introduced.

In 2019, the High Court had banned using images or graphics on tourist buses that could distract drivers. The department has been negligent in enforcing this ruling.

Following the Vadakkancherry accident, a departmental investigation decided to remove excessive lights, sound systems, graphics, and multiple colours from tourist buses for safety reasons.

Transport Commissioner H Nagaraju said, “There is no new decision or order regarding the colour change of tourist buses.”