Commute

Is the Small Bus an opportunity or a liability for cash-strapped Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) in Chennai? All comments made by MTC on the question give the impression that the Small Bus service is a drain on the finances of the Corporation. The bus corporation says not many people are using it, and therefore it is being curtailed or withdrawn, while people say the service is not reliable and often simply vanishes without notice. This report in The Hindumentions some problems in the service, although it does not contain new information on what the present situation is on the ground. Failed connections The…

Newspapers are reporting that the Karnataka government is considering handing over BMTC's 1000 AC buses to other Road Transport Corporations (RTCs) due to profitability concerns, and also adding 3000 regular buses to all RTC fleets. Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV), a collective that campaigns for better BMTC services, welcomes the move to rethink the presence of Volvo AC buses and replace these with ordinary buses. The decision will greatly help urban poor commuters and the corporation itself. We, however, would like to emphasise that no buses should be taken off the roads until new ones are added to the fleet.…

Thirteen new CNG stations by GAIL Gas are expected to become operational in Bengaluru in a few months, said the company's Chief General Manager (CGD) Vivek Wathodkar. This would take the total number of such refill stations by GAIL in the city to 22. Speaking at the Elite Fleet Operators Meet on June 18 at Taj Vivanta on MG Road, Wathodkar said the company was planning to set up 100 CNG stations in Bengaluru in the next 2-3 years, and highlighted the necessity of CNG. The meet was organised by Maruti Suzuki India Limited in association with GAIL Gas Limited,…

Despite the obvious damage it would cause to Bengaluru’s environment and ecology, the elevated corridors project had got Environment Clearance (EC) in no time. As citizen groups have appealed to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) to scrap the project, in this series, we look at how the project had got EC even as it avoided a rigorous environment impact assessment. EC is issued based on an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report that the project proposers submit. In the case of elevated corridors, the project consultant AECOM ( on behalf of the proposer Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd) had submitted a…

After a failed attempt last year, the BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) has relaunched its online service to issue bus passes to students. From now, the application process for student passes will be completely online, and no physical application forms will be available, says Deepak N, Public Relations Officer at BMTC. The 'smart card' bus pass issued online, would have the photograph and name of the student, along with a unique identification number encrypted into an electronic chip. The chip will also have data on the bus route taken by the student to and from school, and validity of the…

Chakri S is a regular user of the Hyderabad metro, the city’s largest ever infrastructure project. He finds it more convenient and cheaper than using the city bus. But Chakri is one of the lucky ones. As experts are pointing out, the Metro, planned in 2004, has been unable to keep up with the rapid growth and expansion of the city which has nullified some of the original assumptions that went into drawing up the metro routes. “For example, the Miyapur line should be extended upto Patancheru/Lingampally where there are a large number of factories,” said Chakri. “Similarly, connecting HITEC…

Every day at the main city bus stand in Dimapur, just across the Nagaland State Transport office in the heart of the city, you’ll find a large number of people waiting for the city bus. As the bus arrives, people rush in, in hordes. One really needs to have the physical strength to be able to aggressively push his/her way inside. Although the city bus comes in at an interval of about 5-10 minutes, this is the scenario every time. It is not uncommon therefore to meet young working women like Chumbayala and Agnes, who have been waiting for quite…

This Sunday, more than 3000 cyclists participated in a ride to mark the World Bicycle Day that is observed on June 3rd. The cyclists gathered in front of the State Central Library at Cubbon Park to make a call to motorists to keep them safe on roads. The event was organised by the citizens’ group CiFoS (Citizens for Sustainability) in association with various government departments. It marked the launch of an year-long campaign #ABetterBangalorean, to sensitise motorists to not harass cyclists and to ensure their safety. The event started at 6 am on Sunday, with cyclists being provided free T-shirts…

One fine morning around mid-March, we, the residents of ST Bed Layout in Koramangala, suddenly found the Maharaja Junction bridge, our main link to the outside world, demolished. On asking around, we were given all kinds of reasons, none of which seemed to justify the demolition. The bridge, which covered a major storm water drain (SWD)/rajakaluve, used to be in good condition. However, we were told that a new bridge was being built, and that it would be completed in around 45 days. We saw a lot of construction activity around the area, and hoped that BBMP would complete the…

According to a Brookings analysis of data from Oxford, Chennai was amongst the cities that had the slowest employment growth rate: 2.5% in employment in the two years 2014-16. The GDP per capita, according to the same report was 5.1%. A city’s economy encompasses a wide array of factors that contribute towards it, but a key aspect is working citizens and businesses operating in various areas in and around a city. For any bustling metropolis, a good public transport system is therefore vital to its economic growth. How does public transit impact and contribute towards the economy? As Eric Jaffe,…