In spite of my writing to BMTC several times on this topic, I have never received a response, nor has anything been done.
It was a rainy evening, I came out of Goethe Institut, Indira Nagar, wanting to take a bus home. I knew my route number – 201. But, where was the bus stop? In the rain and the dark, I could hardly see the route numbers on the buses that passed (it didn’t help that the route numbers were not illuminated in most buses.)
There were several stops, but not one had any bus routes on them. I did not know where to stand to get the bus. Ultimately, I had to ask several people (without knowing if the information they gave was accurate) and found the bus stop.
Why, when bus stops devote so much space to advertising, can they not display what I think is vital information for bus users… the route numbers that stop at the particular bus stop? Why has this not been implemeneted? Why do bus commuters not protest against this blatant customer-unfriendly practice?
Also, in many places like Basvanagudi, there is no way of even telling where the bus stop is. Would it be so difficult to put up a sign at the bus stop?
One more letter and email is on its way from me to BMTC, but I fear it will get the same response as all my previous ones… viz, nothing.
Unfortunately the bus stops come under BBMP’s jurisdiction. You’d get the same response from BMTC, if they do respond. There were a few BMTC owned bus stops sometime back in association with BDA on the outer ring-roads, but BBMP stopped them from doing that. There used to be good bus stops ten years back when BATF (a government-citizen collaboration) ensured that the bus stops conform to the standards. But successive governments dissolved such committees and have left everything at BBMP’s mercy. You’ll really have to take it up with them.
Yes, I do know that the bus shelters come under BBMP’s jurisdiction, but I thought that BMTC would at least have a say in the information displayed on them! Alas, my letters/emails to BBMP have gone unanswered. They are just not used to accountability at all. Thank you for the input!
I did get a reply from BMTC:
Hi Deepa Mohan,
Construction / maintenance of bus stop comes under BBMP authority pl. contact them to take necessary action on this
BMTC Team
So, the organization that runs the buses is not bothered about the lack of essential information, and is not willing to do anything about it or take it up with a sister organization…..but asks me, as a lone individual, to take it up with BBMP.