Bengaluru: Though BMRCL has spread its Namma Metro services to various parts of the city, last mile connectivity continues to be a problem for commuters, thanks to poor BMTC feeder availability. The 42-km long Metro Phase-1 has been thrown open to public, but at various stations commuters have to wait for long for buses.
"Usually the last station on the line has space for large bus bays. People coming from city outskirts like Tumakuru, Kanakapura, Mysuru Road and Old Madras Road can take a bus until the final metro station. However, the last station on Green Line, Yelachenahalli, there is no bus bay," pointed out Srinidhi, a member of Advocacy Group Praaja RAAG
"There are no bus bays in points close to BMTC TTMCs, like Banashankari and Jayanagar. Majority of the South Bengaluru metro stations have no integrated bus bays," Srinidhi said. He also pointed out that stations close to schools and colleges such as National College station and RV Road station lack a place for the buses to pick up or drop students.
"J.P. Nagar Metro Station on the south line has its entrance on the Outer Ring Road. There are no bus and auto bays or space for private vehicles to drop metro passengers at the gate," said Sanjeev Dyamnavar, transport expert.
BMTC shuttle buses have four bus routes stopping at J.P. Nagar Metro station at a frequency of 10 to 40 minutes, but due to lack of bus bays commuters have a tough time.
On the North line, metro stations such as Peenya, Peenya Industry, Yeshwanthpur, Soap Sandal, Nagasandra, Jalahalli and Dasarahalli are located on Tumakuru Main Road and Bangalore- Mumbai Highway. All these stations lack bus bays and commuters have to struggle for last mile connectivity.
A recent survey by World Resources Institute (WRI) revealed that many commuters were not using MG and Baiyappanahalli Metro stations, due to lack of connectivity. Deccan Chronicle has learnt that despite BMTC officials writing to BMRCL for building bus bays at Metro stations, not much has been done.
Feeder buses touch only 50%
Out of 40 Metro Phase-1 Stations, only half of them (20) are connected by Feeder services, as per a BMTC document released on June 16. Shockingly, eight stations on the Purple Line and 12 on the Green line do not have any contact with BMTC shuttles, be it as a start or drop off point, or even en route.BMTC claimed last week that 13 feeder routes are being run on the Green Line and 16 on the Purple Line. Given that, the north south stretch has more stations, one would expect more feeder routes for the same but that is not the case.
"We are working to add feeders in collaboration with WRI on the North-South line. On Tuesday, we are going to personally assess routes that can be added on the Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli stretch," a BMTC official said.
"Many of the existing feeder routes are random at best. Some are outdated, as they were designed when Reach 1 was completed. For example MF-4, which connects MG Road Metro Station to Silk Board, does not make sense. That is not even a shuttle, but a regular long distance bus," said Srinidhi.
He pointed out that other services like MF-7 from Nagasandra to Byadrahalli are also old feeders, featured on the latest North South Feeder list.
Surprisingly, some useful feeders on the Purple Line have been scrapped. The feeder service from SV Road Metro Station to Bagmane Tech park, used by techies and nearby residents was stopped.
Purple trumps Green
The ridership on the Purple Line continues to be greater than the recently inaugrated Green Line.
BMRCL officials had expected that Nagasandra-Yelachenahalli with 23 stations and covering 24.2 km, would see higher patronage than Mysuru Road-Baiyappanahalli line, having 17 stations and covering 18. 1 km. However higher number of stations have so far not ensured greater footfall. On June 19, 1.84 lakh commuters used the East-West Corridor while at North-South it was 1.17 lakh people.BMRCL MD Pradeep Singh Kharola said, "When the East-West line was launched, it took some time for people to get used to it. Though there are more stations on the Green line, it will take a while for people to become adjusted to the newly launched section."
