Give us more space and we will do better: BMTC chief

Give us more space and we will do better: BMTC chief
The Times of India

Bangalore: By March 31, there will be 25 Volvo buses plying on the city roads. That’s one promise Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) managing director Upendra Tripathy found difficult to keep. Excerpts from an interview to the Sunday Times of India where he talks about Volvo buses and other plans:
There are only seven Volvo buses on the roads. You had promised 25 by March- end.

We couldn’t keep our deadline. By the first week of April, 25 Volvo buses should be on the roads.
You said that for the introduction of Volvo buses the city needs dedicated road space. Do you see that happening?
We’re looking at the possibility of traffic light synchronisation — a system where when the bus is at 60 feet before a junction, a signal is transmitted to the traffic lights and it gets cleared immediately. However, a freeway for buses is a better long-term solution.

What about the Global Positioning System (GPS) system which BMTC buses were supposed to have?
Of the 4,000 buses, 1,200 have GPS installed. Recently, the GPS helped track down a bus that was being stolen. We’ve added 570 more buses and are working towards the 100-pc goal.

Is GPS helping you manage traffic better?
GPS enables congestion mapping and is therefore beneficial. Our trunk and grid routes have been covered by GPS. Our billing parameters are also guided by it since 40 pc of the buses are rented from private operators. BMTC finds it financially viable.

Commuters also hope for Passenger Information Systems (PIS) at every bus stop. When will that happen?
We placed an order on March 27 for four such systems. The PIS will provide information about buses on the route, time of arrival and other passenger-friendly services. In two months, you should see them at major bus stands.

The city is practically crumbling for want of infrastructure and transport has a huge role to play. What is the BMTC doing to improve it?
Ideally, there should be a bus stop every half a kilometre, but with all the one-ways, it makes our task difficult. We are doing our best along with the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) and traffic police to work towards that goal. Do you know that BMTC transports 56 pc of the city’s population (32 lakh) using only 4 pc of the road space? Give us more road space and we can do better.

But most of the road space has been taken up by private vehicles due to lack of connectivity and frequency of BMTC buses.
Steadily, things will improve. We have one of the most passengerfriendly bus services in the country. Changes don’t happen overnight.

Tracking theft On March 24, vehicle number KA 05 B 6238 was reported missing from the Peenya depot. Within 10 minutes of the GPS control room being alerted, the vehicle was traced 200 metres south-west of BSM Extension where the vehicle had been reportedly abandoned at 2.53 am. The bus had been hired by BMTC from Amanath Travels. This is the second such instance where lost or stolen buses was tracked down by the GPS since it was installed in BMTC buses.