Civic Agenda 2: BMTC Is Confident Of Road Ahead

Wheel power & profit all the way
Though Fleet Patrol Is Out Of Gear, BMTC Is Confident Of Road Ahead
The TImes of India


Bangalore: From the colloquially known BTS (Bangalore Transport Service) to the urbane BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Service), mass transport has travelled across kilometres of change. Ferrying some 29 lakh passengers a day, BMTC, as one of the stakeholders of BATF, raked in a profit of Rs 77.39 crore in 2003-04.

Smooth drive

A citizen report card by Public Affairs Centre (PAC), has rated BMTC’s citizen satisfaction northwards by 90 per cent. The traffic revenue per day has attained Rs 135.98 lakh (November 2004) from Rs 48.70 lakh in 1999. The rate of accidents stood at 301 (November 2004) as opposed to 447 in 1999.

BMTC currently operates 3,793 schedules with a fleet strength of 3,899 buses through its 24 bus depots, three major bus stations, 26 sub-stations and a central workshop.

Many citizen-oriented programmes were planned and introduced, almost on time from 2000 to 2004. The daily and weekly pass system at a cost of Rs 25 and Rs 150 were brought in force primarily to experiment with newer ways of garnering revenue. For the regular commuter it meant easy economic travel. BMTC also introduced five Sarathi patrolling vehicles to monitor the bus operations on the route. These patrolling vehicles are provided with mobile phones, wireless, public address system and first-aid equipment. They are meant to ensure proper operation of services and for exigencies like accidents and traffic snags.

Grameena Sarige services: 134 buses were introduced to provide transport facilities to suburban areas and villages bordering them. The Outer Ring Road, Bigger Outer Ring Road (supposed to be the largest urban mass transport route in the country) and Inner Ring Road services were started few months ago connecting commuters from south to north and east to west. BMTC has introduced E-kart system for easy availability of buses on casual contract for short durations on hourly basis.

Rear view

The hyped Sarathi, say commuters, operates one fine day and not on regular basis. So, it is absolutely pedestrian to find men occupying seats reserved for women, no accountability for rude and rash drivers or empty first-aid kits in the buses. Accident rates, despite BMTC’s figures of reduced rates, are still alarming.

In 2004 alone, fatal accidents drew public wrath. Cases of petty thieves and criminals operating while in transit, were apprehended by the police.


WHAT’S IN STORE

• Online GPS system for vehicle monitoring: After experimenting the GPS-based off-line vehicle tracking and monitoring system, BMTC is exploring the introduction of online GPS-GIS system on all the 3,400 buses through BOOT system and on pilot basis, 500 vehicles have been taken up. There are plans in the near future, to have electronic ticketing machines in the buses to issue tickets to the passengers.

• Construction of depots at Yeshwanthpur, HSR Layout, Saneguruvanahalli.

• 549 new buses to be added.

• Maintain vehicle utilisation of 230 km per day

• Construction of bus stations at Koramangala, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Kadugodi.

•Introduction of passenger information system and IVRS system.