My daily journey from my home at Kaggadasapura, C V Raman Nagar to my office at Seshadripuram starts at 8.30 AM in the morning. The distance is about 15 kilometres. I generally take 40 minutes on my two wheeler to reach office. Traffic condition deters me to take out my four wheeler and I find my motorbike more convenient.
I had never considered public transport as an alternative. The ‘Bus Day’ initiative intrigued me and I wanted to give it a try.
My travel to office can be summed up as follows: I started off at around 8.20 AM. Fifteen minutes of walking, one bus change at Shivajinagar, 10 minutes of waiting and 85 minutes of travelling by BMTC buses. This sums to 110 minutes. Total bus fare Rs 18.
On the way back, my route was Seshadripuram-Majestic-Domlur->CV Raman Nagar. I had to change three buses to reach C V Raman Nagar (DRDO) bus station and then had to take an auto to complete the last leg of my journey. Total time taken was 110 minutes. Total fare paid was Rs 65 as I chose the luxury of Volvo buses.
Hence, to sum up my ‘Bus Day’ journey, it took almost four hours of my day time to commute to and fro home to office at a total cost of Rs 63. On my two wheeler, it takes less than two hours costing approximately Rs 35!
But on the flip side, I walked for almost 30 minutes, found time to read a novel and not having to be on the driver’s seat, the journey was stressless. These were some of the good points.
On the other hand, lack of bus shelters at so-called bus stops, lack of proper information like route and fare charts on buses, one way traffic regulations, dusty and bumpy roads along the metro alignments, and lack of feeder bus/auto service(share basis) from major arterial roads to interior residential zones like C V Raman Nagar are some issues that made my bus ride a not-so-comfortable experience.
These issues need to be taken care of to make bus journeys in Bangalore smoother and usable. My ‘Bus Day’ journey was definitely not very stressful, but it did consume double of my time and money.
Yes, I can afford a ‘Bus Day’ once a month but BMTC needs to look into finer details to make public transport popular amongst the masses. ⊕
- ‘I wish I had started using public transport earlier’
- From BTS to BMTC – lots to celebrate
- Bengaluru’s first Bus Day gives fillip to public transport
- ‘Not to worry! Sir, this is just the beginning’
- ‘I wish I had started using public transport earlier’
- From BTS to BMTC – lots to celebrate
- Bengaluru’s first Bus Day gives fillip to public transport
- ‘Not to worry! Sir, this is just the beginning’
Related Articles
‘I wish I had started using public transport earlier’
From BTS to BMTC – lots to celebrate
Bengaluru’s first Bus Day gives fillip to public transport
‘Not to worry! Sir, this is just the beginning’