BMTC to run services from hotels to airport

BMTC to run services from hotels to airport

The Hindu

Aim is to check traffic jams

# AC Volvo buses to ply round the clock in two sectors
# Hotels have been given the option to run their own bus services

BANGALORE: To check traffic jams caused by private vehicles, mainly cars, at the HAL airport, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has decided to run shuttle services from major hotels in the city to the airport.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) M.N. Reddi said that with several cars coming to the airport to drop passengers and pick them up, traffic jams had become common there.

As most of these cars ferry passengers from and to major hotels, the traffic police and the Airports Authority of India (AAI) had decided to limit entry to such vehicles to the airport.

As an alternative, Mr. Reddi said, BMTC would run shuttle services from all major hotels to the airport. Air-conditioned Volvo buses would ply round the clock in two sectors. In one sector, the buses would ply between the airport and hotels such as The Taj West End, Le Meridian, Windsor Sheraton and Towers and Hotel Grand Ashok.

In the other sector, hotels such as The Oberoi, The Taj Residency and The Park on Mahatma Gandhi road would be covered. The hotels had also been given an option to run their own bus services, Mr. Reddi said.

The nitty-gritty of the new system would be worked out at a meeting to be held shortly. Officials from the AAI, traffic police and BMTC would attend the meeting. General managers of all leading hotels would also participate in it, he said.

Passengers could board the special buses at the airport to reach the major hotels, instead of waiting for taxis.