BMTC Kendra Sarige buses from today

BMTC Kendra Sarige buses from today
DH News Service, Bangalore:
It is an initiative to ease traffic congestion in Bangalore. But more importantly it is the first move to set up an organised structure with inter-departmental co-operation for the Bengaluru 2020 agenda.


Hoping to avoid traffic snags for a population of 85 million and make the capital of the State a more investor-friendly destination, the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Developmental Task Force (ABIDe) has begun the utopian journey for a superlative cosmopolis.

Starting Tuesday, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) under the Agenda for Bengaluru Infrastructure and Development Task Force (ABIDe) initiatives will be launching a bus service on 10 identified arterial roads that connect Bangalore centre with the suburbs and satellite towns. Calling it the “Big-10,” the bus service will complement the current buses on these roads. BMTC is also set to launch a new bus service that shall ply on the roads in the centre of the city, alone.

Air-conditioned buses

The new set of air-conditioned buses, Kendra Sarige buses will be inaugurated by the Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa. The city centre specific buses that run in opposite directions, clockwise and anti-clock wise, will start from The Hotel Oberoi, go round the City and end the journey at the Trinity Circle. In the reverse direction the bus will operate from Hosmat and go around the city before halting at the Taj Residency.

Calling it the HoHo (Hop On Hop Off) buses, BMTC plans to introduce these buses for a pilot period of one week to gauge the demand for these buses. While the timing for these bus services are yet to be finalised, for Tuesday alone it will ply on the roads at 10 am in the morning.

The buses that are to connect the city centre to the arterial routes will bear a distinct numbering that shall be origin oriented. The current system of numbering in India is destination oriented. ABIDe hopes to phase out the existing haphazard numbered buses and follow the new pattern for convenience of Bangaloreans.

Decongesting

The main aim of the task force lies in decongesting the city and improving the public transport system. With a hope of discouraging commuters from using their personal vehicles, ABIDe has tried to plan the public transport in a more efficient manner.

For easing the traffic, the task force has also identified vacant land under the BBMP name for parking areas at a later stage. “Parking areas have been identified by us and are within a walking distance of every junction for people to park their vehicles and use the public transport,” said a member of ABIDe.
ABIDe, in its guiding principles, has laid its emphasis on an efficient use of financial resources. In a meeting with the media, the task force explained the need to bifurcate the available resources for new projects and the regular maintenance. “What we see with the BBMP, most resources are earmarked for newer projects and the maintenance of existing infrastructure is left in the dark,” said a task force member.

Budgetary allocation

In a letter addressed to the CM this month, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar has asked for more budgetary allocation for the “integrated development” of Bangalore.

The letter asks the State government to consider allotting Rs 2,700 crore for various blueprint projects under different departments involved with ABIDe for infrastructure development of the city.