Bangaloreans making bus a habit

Bangaloreans making bus a habit

Today is only the second bus day, and it is catching on as employers and residents back it to the hilt

Sunitha Rao R. Bangalore



It looks like buses are returning as the favourite transit mode in Bangalore. The second Bus Day, scheduled for Thursday, has stirred tremendous enthusiasm across the city with several Residents' Welfare Associations (RWAs) and software firms vowing to make the occasion a big success.
RWAs of Sarjapur, Bellandur, Ibalur, HBR Layout and Jayanagar have joined the Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA) to urge residents to be part of the Bus Day initiative.
"The Bus Day is a unique platform for us to promote mass transport. Usage of mass transport will decongest the traffic on Outer Ring Road, especially in Marathahalli and Sarjapur Road. A majority of companies on Outer Ring Road fall under our localities and traffic congestion has been our perennial worry," said a spokesman for the Federation of Residents' Welfare Associations of Ward No 150 (FORWARD 150), which includes the RWAs of Sarjapur, Bellandur and 40 other areas.
"We are working closely with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). A fortnight back, we successfully increased the feeder service of Big 10 to our areas," the FORWARD 150 spokesman said.
The BMTC has also broadened its corridor for the Bus Day this month. A senior BMTC official said that feedback from the February 4 Bus Day had led to the augmentation of the fleet and the increase in the number of corridors to be served by the corporation.
At routes falling within the Old Airport Road, Old Madras Road, Sarjapur Road, Electronics City and Bannerghatta Road, 150 additional buses will be pressed into service on Bus Day. The last-mile connectivity (to ensure that bus riders do not have to get off at a stop and walk long distances to reach their destinations) has also been ensured by making buses ply on the inner ring road connecting Hosur Road and Sarjapur Road. Clockwise and anticlockwise movement of buses has also been ensured in a bid to encourage more people to take buses.
A BMTC official said, "Bus Day is no more an experiment. We want the city's techies to make lifestyle changes, and we will encourage the use of public transport."
On February 4, when the first Bus Day was observed, state transport minister R Ashoka and his wife Pramila were among those who rode buses