Vajra gives auto drop

Vajra gives auto drop

BMTC’s ambitious plan will enable passengers alighting at Devanahalli airport to be dropped at different destinations by Vajra buses, and then be ferried to their doorstep in special, brand-new autos with liveried drivers

By Atul Chaturvedi
Posted On Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Now, there’s more joy for air travellers taking BMTC’s ‘Vajra’ bus shuttle service from the Devanahalli airport to different destinations in the city. You won’t anymore need to trouble your driver, or spouse, or friend to pick you up from the Vajra alightment point. Instead, a special auto with a liveried driver, sporting the red Vajra hues, will be on call to drop you to your doorstep.

While boarding the bus at Bengaluru International Airport, you have to specify that you need an autorickshaw for that last stretch home.

For this service, BMTC will charge an additional Rs 40 alongwith the bus fare.

Once your alightment point arrives, all you have to do is hop into one of these special autorickshaws and arrive home without raising a sweat. A small proviso: your home, or office, should be located in a 3-4 km radius of the alightment point.

At journey’s end, you give your bus ticket counterfoil to the autorickshaw driver, who will present it to BMTC for reimbursement.

The undertaking’s ambitious plan involves a tie-up with around 500 autorickshaws, which will be provided with parking slots near Vajra stops.

These GPS-fitted autos (in mint condition, in case you had a doubt) will be linked to a BMTC control room.

The plan, rather prosaically titled ‘Auto-Home Connectivity’, is the brainchild of Upendra Tripathi, who was the BMTC chief till recently and is currently principal secretary in the transport department. A meeting to fine-tune the modalities of the plan was held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Naveen Kumar, Deputy Controller of BMTC. If all goes well, the ‘auto-to-home’ plan could come into force by year-end, or even earlier.

Under the plan, the auto driver will get around Rs 15 from the Rs 40 collected from the passenger by BMTC. BMTC Traffic Controller Dastagir Sheriff said talks were on with three autorickshaw unions on various aspects of the scheme, including the auto driver’s remuneration.

Proposed drop points

Electronics City
J P Nagar
Koramangala
Whitefield
Jeevanbhima Nagar
Mysore Road
Kempegowda Bus Station
Hebbal
Kendriya Vihar
Rajajinagar
HAL airport