BMTC bus travel made easy

BMTC bus travel made easy
Friday May 11 2007 10:36 IST

The newly installed BMTC pass vending machine at Kempe Gowda Bus Station

BANGALORE: No more waiting for the BMTC bus conductors to collect your daily pass. Just press a button on the pass-ticket-vending machine, newly-installed at Kempe Gowda Bus Station (KBS), make payment and get your pass in a jiffy.

For making payment, you simply insert the required sum in currency note. More, it comes with your photo embossed on the pass. The machine was developed by Subash Projects and Marketing Limited, a Bangalore-based company at a cost of Rs 5 lakh.

The machine in kiosk also has provisions for issuing tickets from point-to- point. Under trial now, it is open to the commuters travelling between KBS and Vijaynagar. The ticket must be availed of within one hour of its issuance. ‘‘The idea is to lessen conductors’ burden especially in the peak hour,’’ a BMTC official toldthis website's newspaper. He claimed it to be the first of its kind in India.

‘‘ While monthly pass-holders have the photo-identity card, the daily pass issued by conductors and BMTC staff did not have the photograph. We detected many misuse of daily passes. The new system of affixing photo brings to an end any possible misuse,’’ the official pointed out.

‘‘We have installed the machine at KBS on an experiment basis. If proved successful, we will install it at other major stations,’’ he added.