BMTC

On account of operation of Metro East-West (Byappanahalli to Nayandahalli) corrider, a BMTC press note states that BMTC will operate the following feeder services from 16/05/2016 for the benefit of the passengers travelling in Metro. Sl. No Route No From To Route Total No of Buses Time  Freq. 1 SVR-MF-1 Swamy Vivekananda Metro Station Swamy Vivekanankanada Metro Station Byappanahalli,Mettro Station, Tin Factory, Hoodi, Garudacharpalya, ITPL, Sathyasai Hospital, Kundalahalli Gate, Marathahalli Bridge, Doddanekkundi Bridge, K R Puram Railway Station, Benniganahalli    8   15 Min 2 SVR-MF-1A Swamy Vivekananda Metro Station Swamy Vivekanankanada Metro Station Byappanahalli Metro Station, Benniganahalli, K R…

The National Green Tribunal has delivered a landmark judgment against the massive SEZ project coming up on the wetlands of Agara and Bellandur lakes. The Tribunal has imposed a penalty of Rs 130 crore on Mantri Techzone and Core Mind Software Services, along with passing other important orders related to the case. What's more, they have also pronounced orders to regulate construction near lakes. A picture of the construction on the lake bed as on April 6th 2016. Pic: Shree DN Presenting a detailed report: NGT fines Bellandur SEZ developers; orders demolition of encroachment. Today, with this judgment, as citizens…

This is a story that has passion, action, drama, blood (well, not blood really, but it seems like people are baying for our blood), sweat and tears! Sounds like a Bollywood potboiler? Well, that’s the Durga alarm story for you. It is nothing short of a potboiler, with multitudes of characters, plots, sub-plots and plenty of action. The humble beginnings of the Durga alarm The story quite literally started in 2014, when the first thoughts took shape and it developed, slowly and painstakingly over unlimited cups of tea and brain-storming sessions. Almost 90% of the women who attended our workshops…

Bengaluru has a lot of flights landing and taking off in the early hours of the morning.  But if passengers are looking for Vayu Vajra buses, they will find that at precisely the hours when many international flights land or take off (and in order to get to and from the airport at the right time), there will be no Volvo buses plying. Let me take one example. British Airways out of Bengalurue departs at 7 am. This means that passengers must be at the airport by 5 am at the latest, preferably half-an-hour earlier. Let's say the passenger lives…

On the fourth of every month I need to commute from north to south Bengaluru, to unlock my gate for the BESCOM meter reader and collect my monthly bill. The fourth of each month also happens to be designated as bus day by BMTC to encourage citizens to take to public transport to ease traffic snarls on our jam-packed roads. Although I know the rationale underlying the bus day initiative, this is why we commuters abhor bus rides. 1) We waste time, lots of it, and today time is precious. Just covering 14 km, from Sanjaynagar in the north to…

Open Streets (OMG) is being held today, February 21st, on M.G. Road, Bengaluru. Celebrating Bengaluru OMG aims to revive the long-lost charm of the 'Boulevard of Bengaluru City'. Traffic will be restricted between Anil Kumble Circle and the Brigade Road junction on MG Road between 9 am and 9 pm, opening the streets for festivities that celebrate the city of Bengaluru in all its traffic-free glory. BMTC and BMRCL have extended their bus and metro services respectively, to encourage people to use public transport when commuting to the event. Special arrangements for free and secure parking for bicycles have also…

We have seen a multitude of opinions about Bengaluru’s transport — from introducing commuter rail, to allowing private players to creating a proper Unified Transport Authority to Bengaluru's city transport issues. Each argument has its own merit, but it is for the government to act in responsible, planned manner, to provide efficient transport solutions. Have your say, with a quick survey. And share your views on the matter with the government, by taking action, with the views that you support. Ask the govt to allow private shuttle aggregators The Government and BMTC feel that ZipGo will rob BMTC’s business, because…

"Better than nothing" is not progress. It's just better than nothing. If we set our metrics so low, we can never develop. Take the example of buses. The city needs about 13,000 to 15,000 buses to reach the kind of service levels that are seen in places with excellent bus service globally (1,250 buses per million of population). Also, each year, as the population grows, the fleet strength has to grow by about 200-300. That's the need. The actual fleet strength now is 6,500. And each year, 600 buses are scrapped, so these need to be replaced to keep the…

Half the city of Bengaluru travels using 6,500 buses. The other half uses 55 lakh vehicles. This data points so obviously to what we should be doing, but unfortunately, we insist on spending enormous amounts of money supporting private transport, and less than one-tenth of it supporting public transport and sustainable options. The illogic of financing urban mobility is that it is easy to get 30,000 crores for a full Metro system, or 1,000 crores each year endlessly for road-building, but we struggle to get 50 crores a year for footpaths and refuse to spend 200 crores for a Bus…

With 6,500 buses in its fleet, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) carries 50 lakh people per day in Bengaluru. BMTC is one service, that whether you like it or hate it, you cannot ignore it. While BMTC bus service is appreciated as well as criticised by public, its Managing Director Ekroop Caur talks to Citizen Matters about the future plans for BMTC, challenges ahead and ways of meeting people’s demand. BMTC Managing Director Ekroop Caur At a time when private bus aggregators have made it to the bus service sector in Bengaluru, what initiative has BMTC taken to improve its…