Air-conditioned buses to ply on 10 routes

Air-conditioned buses to ply on 10 routes
The Hindu

Plan to motivate more people to switch over to public transport

BANGALORE: It may take months more to actually happen, but air-conditioned Volvo buses are to be operated on select city routes by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC).

Till now, such buses have been mostly used on long-distance routes.

The idea is to motivate more people to switch over from personal transport by providing public transport of comparable comforts, the BMTC Managing Director, Upendra Tripathi, said.

The projection is for two-wheelers on the roads covered by the air-conditioned to be reduced by five per cent and cars by at least two per cent.

The BMTC has identified 10 routes to start with and these buses will have limited stops and thus less travel time. For example, travel from Kempegowda (City) Bus Station (KBS) to the airport is expected to take just 40 minutes, the same as if one were to drive in a car.

The longest circular route, from Banashankari to back there, may take more than two-and-a-half hours, but the distance covered will be considerably longer. The routes range from 10 km between KBS and Banashankari to 29 km between Srinagar and Domlur. The Banashankari circular route will be operated on a split-level, from Banashankari to Marathahalli, from there to Hebbal and then to Kalyan Nagar. The fares range from Rs. 10 to Rs. 65 (for the Banashankari circular route). The Government has sanctioned Rs. 15 crores for the BMTC to acquire the buses for the service.