Planning a road trip? Do your budgeting again as it is costlier now 

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Now that the second wave of Covid-19 is ebbing, are you yearning for a vacation? Well, road trips are considered a better option, compared to more crowded road and rail modes of transport, to reach your destination.

The flipside, however, is that if you opt for your personal car or a rented cab, it can surely burn a bigger hole in your pocket.

Chalking out a plan

Take the example of the Delhi-Dehradun trip. The distance from New Delhi to Dehradun is approximately 250 km and it takes around six hours via road.

If you opt for a bus ride —smaller and hence a little less risky than an aeroplane or a train— the ticket could cost you around Rs 400, several travel sites show. If you are travelling with your family of four, a one-way trip would cost you Rs 1,600.

If you opt for cabs, a Delhi-Dehradun trip, pick-up-drop included, for four people and driver (4+1) would cost around Rs 2,499, according to Delhi Travel Services, an online cab-booking portal.

According to a Hindustan report, bus and cab fares have increased since May amid the Covid restrictions and repeated hikes in fuel prices.

Rise in fuel prices

Petrol prices rose across the country once again on Friday. In Delhi, it rose by 35 paise per litre to Rs 99.16, while diesel price remained unchanged at Rs 89.18 a litre.

The petrol prices had already crossed the Rs 100 per litre mark in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Not just the fuel price rise and Covid restrictions, new toll taxes are also making road trips expensive.

Take FASTag electronic toll collection system, which has been implemented on the Noida-Agra Yamuna Expressway from last month after multiple delays. Earlier it was supposed to start on April 1.

Also, in the latest hike, people travelling from Delhi to Dehradun via Meerut have to pay more at Sivaya toll plaza from July 1. The National Highways Authority of India has approved a hike of up to Rs 40 in the toll tax at the Siwaya toll plaza on NH-58 in Meerut, Live Hindustan reported.