With fare hike, BMTC helps people maintain better health!

BMTC's fare hike has prompted him to walk two kilometers, rather than paying 9 rupees, says Siddharth, a student who travels regularly in BMTC.

The increase in fares 15 days back was as usual a hole burner in starting stages – fare of Rs.8 has become rs.9 and fare of Rs.9 is now Rs.12/- but does BMTC really think they make money this way?

Consider my own example here. Travelling from Marathahalli to J P Nagar 6th phase, I get direct bus in mornings – but in return I need to change over at the Marenhalli signal for last 2 kms for which the fare works out to be Rs.9/-. On an average of 3 working days, I generally walk down home for the last strech rather than paying Rs.9 and end up saving Rs.27/- which in turn become useful for travelling some other day.

The monsoon being good, weather is cool and it isn’t a sternous job to walk down all the way especially on days where there has been a slight drizzle. This way, a 15-minute fast walk daily provides me an exercise too to keep my legs and body in flexible working condition.

Apart from this, if I form a group of 2 or even 3, I would pay an auto fare of 25/- which is Rs. 2 lesser compared to the bus fare of 27/-. Auto is better than an overcrowded bus.

Considering these two things, it’s high time BMTC realises that it’s not just increasing fares, but proper rationalisation of fares that will help it recover its loss. 

Yesterday when BMTC reduced basic fare by Re.1/-. a loss of Rs.27 crore per day was considered to take place- but what about the revenue leaks it is going through? Hale and healthy humans will definitely walk down rather than waiting for the bus. Of course expenses have gone up, but they must analyse the measures to increase income rather than just increasing fares

Daily pass has been fixed at Rs.60/-. Of course any person who has to change two buses would normally go in for a pass rather than ticket. When there is no need to change two buses, there is no way one is going to get a daily pass, thus BMTC loses out.

Revenue loss from illegal trading of passes at all places. Fares must be such that passes must be used by people who change 5-6 buses and not a person who changes only once. 

This is just another way to analyse BMTC!!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Similar Story

,

High transport costs, low support: The daily toll on commuters with disabilities

Disabled persons spend thousands monthly on commuting in Chennai and Bengaluru, as inaccessible transport and meagre pensions increase their woes.

TMN Deepak, a professor of social work who has a physical disability, commutes from Velachery to Loyola College in Chennai for work every day. He owns a wheelchair cum scooter that allows him to cover short distances comfortably, but he avoids public transport. “Instead, I have had to go for an automatic car, which has increased my overall spend, and I had to shell out an additional ₹2.5 lakh for modifications,” he says. Deepak's monthly petrol costs exceed ₹6,000. “I prefer not to use the bus because of inaccessibility,” he explains, highlighting how the lack of accessible public transport forces…

Similar Story

How OMR residents strive for better last-mile connectivity and improved public transport

Residents of Chennai’s OMR push for bus and metro links; FOMRRA’s survey highlights poor last-mile connectivity and urges MTC to expand services.

As commercial development along Old Mahabalipuram Road (OMR) has surged, reliable public transport has become essential. Yet, daily commuters, labourers, office workers, college and school students, and Resident Welfare Association (RWA) staff continue to grapple with limited access to Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses. For many, reaching bus stops on the main road is a daunting task, especially since interior localities remain underserved and private operators like share autos rarely venture into these areas. The absence of adequate bus stops and the restricted MTC service forces residents into long, difficult journeys. The worst-affected by this lack of last-mile connectivity are…