Metro, the destination: Still need a car to get there!

The Namma Metro’s Purple Line is already in place, giving Bengalureans some relief as far as long commutes go. The Green Line will open in November, giving the Metro an even wider reach. However, commuters need to drive to the stations and back home, adding to our traffic woes. Only a well-connected feeder service and bus bays with proper signage can give us seamless connectivity and decongest our roads.

The Metro purple line may have arrived, but localities like Cox Town, Cook Town, Ejipura, Domlur and Koramangala have little access to it as they are located in a radius of five to six kilometres from its nearest stations enroute. And although its green line too is expected to be fully operational in a few months, it will make little difference to areas like Girinagar, Basavanagudi and Jayanagar 4th Block unless there is seamless BMTC connectivity to its stations from these localities. To put it simply, the BMTC has a key role to play if the city has to see a paradigm shift from the road to the Metro Rail.

BMTC Feeder Services
Rajeev C, who lives in Domlur, takes the Metro to Mysore Road where he works in a real estate firm. But to do so he drives all the way to the Indiranagar Metro station. “I park in a residential layout as there is no parking space at the Metro station here and then board the train to Mysore Road. We do have bus services to Indiranagar  but no specific feeder services for the Metro,” he points out.

While Rajeev braves the heavy traffic to drive to the nearest Metro station, most others don’t want the trouble. Only those living near major roads and the Central Business District (CBD) have easy access to the Metro but many residential hubs are just too far away. Not surprisingly, the demand for a seamless feeder service is growing now that the Metro is beginning to take shape.

As the city does not have end to end or last mile connectivity , it is necessary to have parking facility at all the Metro stations to encourage more people to travel by it. The BMRCL should have acquired land for parking  when it acquired land for the Metro. Now it must make provision for at least two -wheeler parking and try to convince  property owners of vacant plots to build multi- level parking facilities on a public- private- partnership basis .
    — R K Misra, Urban Expert

Currently,  BMTC offers its feeder services from SV Road to ITPL, from Kengeri to Mysore Road and its surrounding localities, to Vijayanagar and surrounding areas, Vasanthnagar and its surroundings , Cantonment and Cubbon Park.
BMTC is now in talks with the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation over feeders to more areas. This includes aligning the BMTC’s services with the soon-to-be operational green line.

Says a BMRCL official, “We often get requests on Twitter and Facebook for feeder services to certain localities and we pass them on to BMTC. For instance, there was huge demand from Vijaynagar and Nagwara which we communicated to the BMTC, who provided the services. For the green line too, there are adjacent localities with huge potential. However, patterns, habit and preferences of travellers change and we will be able to gauge demand only when the green line is fully operational. Still, BMTC has been working on traffic alignment.”

B.C. Renukeshwar, Chief traffic manager, BMTC,  assures us that there will be additions to its feeder services once the green line is functional. “We have been in talks with DULT and with its inputs, have decided to add feeder services to the Nelamangala sector and Peenya Industrial Area. We are also introducing buses from Goruguntepalya, near the Yeshwanthpur Metro station,” he reveals.

Currently BMTC is providing feeder services over  3 to 4 kms, but I feel it should  go beyond to all directions. For instance, we need BMTC buses running from the MG Road Metro station to Koramangala, Shivajinagar, Vittal Mallya Road and so on. And we also need bus bays for this. But as the BMTC has its own operational problems and expenses to meet, the BMRCL should fund a few feeder buses if it wants more  people to use the Metro.    
    — Sanjeev V Dyamannavar, Traffic Expert

Bus Bays
BMTC’s feeder services won’t suffice, feels traffic expert M N Sreehari, stressing that BMRCL needs to chip in too and establish bus bays for them. So far, he regrets,  it hasn’t bothered to provide bus bays  along with the required passenger information system at the Metro stations. “It is difficult  for BMTC to operate feeder services for the Metro without bus bays at its stations. These bays should have been part of its Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the Metro.

Sadly, BMRCL is working on a revenue model rather than a public utility one. It wants to give its space in Byappanahalli for property development but not for BMTC parking bays as the former will fetch it revenue. I hope it rectifies this in Phases 2 and 3,” he adds, warning that the Metro will not be successful unless and untill there are seamless BMTC feeder services to its stations. “ And for that bus bays are a must at each station,” he added.

But the BMRCL argues that it is the origin  and not destination points of the Metro that need bus bays. “We  have  provided bus bays at  the Mysore Road and SV Road Metro stations and not at the Vidhana Soudha and Cubbon Park, which are destination points. Most  people come here to work and so these stations do not require huge parking space for buses," says an officer of the corporation.

Parking
Besides having few bus bays, the Metro has also not provided enough parking for vehicles of passengers arriving to board its trains at its many stations. Paid parking is presently available only at the Byappanahalli and S V Road stations despite the huge demand for it at all Metro stations both on the East West and North South corridors to help people commute to the Central Business District. Many, who drive  five kilometres and more to the stations, have been demanding parking facility at nominal charges for both two and four wheelers in their grounds.

The lack of parking space could cause more congestion in the city as many Metro commuters park their vehicles currently on the roads. Says Mr Virat Goyal, who regularly travels from Trinity Circle to Byappanahalli, “As I have no place to park my vehicle at the station,  I use  the road.”

Admitting that not all stations have facility for parking of vehicles, BMRCL spokesperson, U. A. Vasantha Rao, claims the land is simply not available to provide it. “But space has been provided for parking at around 18 stations and more will get a pay and park facility soon,” he promises, adding that tenders have been called for introducing the facility at the Mysore Road , Magadi Road and Vijayanagar road stations.

One BMRCL official, however, argues the corporation cannot acquire huge tracts of land at an exorbitant price for parking as unlike private parties who charge Rs 20 an hour, it charges merely Rs 30 for the entire day. “As there is little  revenue here, we are trying to provide people with cycles and two-wheelers to help them reach their respective destinations,” he explains.

Update on Green Line
June 8 saw the green line of the Metro take a big step forward with the breakthrough of the Kaveri TBM at the Majestic. With one tunnel of the green line  through,  a train will now be manually pushed through it towards Puttenahalli to start trials on September 15  on this stretch that has been ready for over three years now.  Meanwhile, the Krishna TBM, which is drilling the twin tunnel ,is expected to achieve breakthrough at the Majestic in about two months. The line could be fully operational by November.

Q&A with Ekroop Caur, Managing Director, BMTC

How has been the response of the present feeder services?
The response has been mixed . We have been getting really encouraging feedback from Byappanahalli, but it has not been satisfactory from Nayandanahalli. So we are planning to reduce a few buses from this locality.

Is BMTC geared up to meet the demands from the green metro line?
Yes, we are already working on it. In fact, I have given instructions to my functionaries in the field to study the travel pattern and suggest the necessary changes. Once the green line becomes fully operational, we will definitely have to do a huge re-orientation.

What about the many localities still not connected with feeders?
We have identified a few residential areas and they will soon be provided feeder buses. We will not limit ourselves to the main roads.

What is the major hurdle in providing BMTC feeder services?
Lack of proper bus bays at Metro stations has been the major issue. However, SV Road is an exception as it has provided adequate space for parking of BMTC buses. But at the KBS metro station, the bus bay has not been properly constructed. Passengers need to walk a lot and this may lead to Metro and the BMTC losing their ridership. Ideally, a bus bay should be in front of the Metro station entrance or near  it.

Has there been any major shift or losses in major routes where metro is functional?
There hasn't been a big impact. A small percentage of passengers may be giving up buses for the Metro , but we have been able to balance it out with BMTC feeder services.  Also, you need to keep in mind that many car  and two-wheelers users have started opting for the Metro as well.  We have to wait and see how the future unfolds.