The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) had, in 2009, planned to add at least 4,300 new buses to its fleet of 5,700 by March 2012 to cater to the increasing travel demand in Bangalore as well as to induce private vehicle-users to prefer public transport.
Ironically, BMTC's fleet strength has increased by just about 400 buses during this period even as the corporation has failed to woo private vehicle-users who were looking for other alternatives in the face of steep increase in petrol prices. The sharp fall in fleet augmentation had a telling effect on the performance of the corporation, whose operational efficiency witnessed a sharp decline over the years.
Ranganath H.S., a BMTC patron, regretted that he has been witnessing frequent irregular services of buses across the city since about two years. Though BMTC got an image makeover about five years ago, it has failed to keep the tempo even as one can witness hundreds of commuters waiting for buses at major bus stations in the evening hours, Mr. Ranganath said.
No procurement
According to statistics available with the corporation, it had inducted over 1,600 new buses to its fleet between April 2004 and March 2008, taking the numbers from 3,300 to 4,800.
These buses were bought out of BMTC's own funds. And, between April 2008 and December 2009, about 1,000 new buses were inducted, funded under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).
The Union Government had agreed to fund buses under JNNURM bearing 35 per cent of the project cost while BMTC bore 50 per cent and the State Government 15 per cent of the cost of about Rs. 300 crore. Not a single bus was procured between January 2010 and June 2011. The corporation inducted 339 new buses, including 51 air-conditioned, in 2011-12, and 170 new buses, including 74 air-conditioned buses, since April 2012.
Even though the corporation could not induct new buses at desired numbers, it did not hesitate to scrap old ones and sent over 400 buses to the junkyard during the last two years. A senior BMTC official wondered about the rationale behind scrapping old vehicles in a situation where no new buses were being inducted and demand for bus services was ever increasing.
Breakdowns
BMTC at one time had the youngest fleet among urban public transport corporations in the country. The average age of vehicles was about 3 lakh km in 2009 and it increased to over 5 lakh km in 2012 because of reduced induction of new buses.
As a result, the number of breakdowns has increased, from 1,865 in 2010-11 to 2,402 in 2011-12. This also led to an increase in the cancellation of services, from 2.5 per cent per cent to 3.2 per cent. These figures are on record and in reality, they are at least 10 times more, conceded a senior BMTC official.
More buses
While BMTC got about 170 new buses since April this year, it is expected to get another 800 before the end of the financial year, said another officer. Non-availability of Euro IV complaint buses during the last two years had been the reason for the decreased induction of buses, he said.
Keywords: BMTC, public transport
One concern here is the fall in mileage. Based on the fleet size and utilisation numbers listed, the drop in mileage roughly translates to consumption of an extra 30,000 liters per day.
Sir, First of all the colour of the buses have to change from the gaudy blue into Karnataka colours of RED and GOLD. After the life span of the buses are over these should be driven and disposed of in the scrap yard. The services have improved vastly but can be further enhanced. The best thing to do would be ply more buses during peak hours, both in the morning and evenings. One other suggestion that I would make is to issue BMTC IDENDITY CARDS to passengers and this should carry a Permanent Number on it. When the conductor issues a daily pass, he will write the number mentioned in the pass on the ticket. When a BMTC ticket examiner checks for tickets it will be obligatory for the passenger to show the daily pass along with his Identity Card. This way the ticket cannot be passed on to a relative or friend as I have noticed on several occasions. This way revenue won't be lost and the BMTC coffers will positively increase.
Forget about fleet, atleast if they can put up hoardings showing the schedule or bus timings at all major bus stops and follow the schedule strictly, then it is more than enough for daily commuters who will be waiting for buses for hours together in a ray of hope that the bus may come. Commuters can adjust their timings as per bus timings and if one bus gets full then they can wait for stipulated time and get in another bus instead of rushing in the same bus.
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