They are mostly at the wrong place – just round a corner or a junction, causing traffic blocks; they are poorly designed – instead of being bus bays that curve inwards, they are simply built into existing footpaths; and they are not even used most of the time – people waiting for those infrequent buses (since there are not enough of them for a city as big as ours) crowd into the road, fearing that they may otherwise not be able to board their ride. Yes, we are talking about BMTC bus stops. They should have been part of the public transport solution. Instead, they are part of Bengaluru’s biggest, yet easily solvable, problem.
While everyone is talking about how important it is to leave your vehicles at home and opt for public transport to take the load off the roads and reduce air pollution in Bengaluru, they often forget that there are simply not enough BMTC buses for even the 52 lakh commuters, who use them every day.
Worse, the poor frequency of the buses has many suffering delays to work or elsewhere. Although traffic experts believe the city needs at least 6000 more buses besides the 6500 it already has, the plan is to add a mere 1650. And as many of these new buses will be replacing the old, rusty ones, the BMTC will in effect have added only 700 to its fleet.
The BMTC itself had demanded 3500 buses last year and was expecting at least 2000 more for its fleet, but the recent Budget has merely assured of financial assistance from the government to procure 1000 buses to cater to IT hubs like Whitefield, and the corporation is expected to add another 650 buses from its own resources.
The ideal: The modern bus bay near the Corporation headquarters
Laments a disappointed commuter, Pranesh G. “BMTC celebrates Bus Days but does not take feedback as promised on the demand for its services and frequency of its buses, which could go a long way in helping it improve them.”
Complaints of poor bus connectivity are frequently heard on the Marathahalli to Whitefield route as most BMTC buses in this part of the city make their way to ITPL or Varthur. With few Volvo buses plying here, the wait for one often gets as long as 40 minutes. The story is no different in other parts of the city. Says a commuter, Rajeev K. from Koramangala, “Electronic City and Koramangala are prominent localities of the city, but still the frequency of buses to these parts is pathetic. I have to wait sometimes 45 minutes to get a bus.”
BMTC activist, Vinay Sreenivas warns that before the city reaches a Delhi-like situation, the authorities must wake up and take action. “There is no doubt that we need more buses. The BMTC must introduce smaller mini buses for residential areas and the outskirts and ensure their frequency. If there are more frequent buses, people will use them more irrespective of whether they are Volvos or not. Delhi has a massive Metro Rail network but even so it sees traffic jams frequently on its roads. We cannot therefore hope for much from the Metro ourselves. Buses continue to be the answer and we need to upgrade them,” he underlines.
No AC, just a glass cubicle now!
Now that the government has given the thumbs up for some additional buses for the BMTC fleet, how will the transport corporation tackle the demand? Says Mr Biswajit Mishra , head of the transport corporation’s Intelligent Transport System (ITS), “Rationalisation of all routes will be done. Depending on the necessity some buses will be scrapped, replaced, added and so on. And since the Intelligent Transport System is already into its testing period and will be launched shortly, we will get an accurate idea of the ridership on the various routes, helping us add or scrap buses.”
Welcoming the budget’s provisions, he says the government cannot do much more owing to its own resource constraints. “The BMTC has always been a revenue generating agency but over the years it has faced a financial crunch due to rising HR and operational costs. This is a start and I am sure the government will support the agency more in years to come,” he contends.
Reality check: Only 600 bus stops have shelters
Shifting from Pune to Bengaluru as a new bride, Radhika Suresh was shocked to see the condition of bus shelters in the city. A resident of HSR layout, she once approached a bus shelter near the K.R. Market to find it in a pathetic condition and smelling of urine. Bolting, she decided to wait on the road, braving the hot sun instead.
Deccan Chronicle, which did a reality check on bus shelters in the city, found most in a dilapidated condition with commuters preferring to stand on the road instead. Most shelters also seemed to have turned into unofficial public toilets or a hub of anti-social elements as the alcohol bottles lying around testified.
Sadly, the BBMP is failing in their upkeep although only 600 bus stops have shelters today and around 2200 see commuters waiting for buses in the hot sun. BMTC officials clam they have been writing to the city corporation to install more bus shelters, but so far it has done very little.
But when contacted, BBMP’s finance and IT head, Kumar Pushkar, claimed it was on the job. “At the last meeting we identified 2200 bus stops that need shelters. The tenders have been designed in four packages as it is a mammoth task and no one party can carry out the project alone. Tenders for two packages have been called and they are in the final stages of approval or disapproval. Tenders for the remaining two packages will be called as well,” he assured.
But not convinced, civic expert Vinay Sreenivas says its time the BBMP handed over the shelters to the BMTC for good as it is not able to care for them or install the number needed.
