This bus ride, meant to popularise public transport among those who use personal transport, turned out to be a nightmare for the motorists on Friday as it threw traffic out of gear at many places in the city.
The much-touted ride on the Volvo by Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and his Cabinet colleagues to popularise Bus Day among Bangaloreans turned into a farce with police stalling traffic at major junctions to enable a smooth ride for the Chief Minister, who seemed to be in a tearing hurry to reach Hosur in Tamil Nadu.
The cavalcade
Aboard the Volvo 360B (Kempe Gowda Bus Station-Attibele), as Mr. Yeddyurappa held forth on how BMTC buses had gained popularity following the monthly Bus Day campaign, the police were busy clearing the road so that the VIP vehicle and its cavalcade could zoom along the arterial route.
The 30-km journey, which takes about an hour and a half for the driver, M. Ramesh, on an ordinary day, took less than 30 minutes on Friday. The bus also did not halt at any of the scheduled stops en route.
Of course, no one could accuse the Chief Minister and Transport Minister R. Ashok of a free ride: both paid Rs. 60 each to conductor H. Thippeswamy as against the standard fare of Rs. 50. “We want to promote fuel conservation by encouraging mass transport,” Mr. Yeddyurappa said, explaining the concept of Bus Day.
Meanwhile on another bus route, cricket veterans such as S. Viswanath, G.R. Viswanath, Sunil Joshi and Sudhakar Rao, among others, boarded the bus at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium to travel to Jayanagar and back. Actors like Tara, Yash and Yogesh took off on another route to popularise the event.
The BMTC holds Bus Day on the fourth of every month, which however, was postponed this time as April 4 was a public holiday on account of Ugadi. In all, 28 tickets were sold on the bus even though the number of passengers travelling was far higher. On the return trip, nobody was asked to buy tickets.
Motorists stopped
As the Bus Day entourage, accompanied by at least half a dozen other vehicles, coasted through the major junctions in the city, the rest of the traffic ground to a halt. Motorists were stopped by the traffic police manning K.R. Circle, Hudson Circle, Kengal Hanumanthayya Road, Lakksandra, Dairy Circle, Madiwala check-post and Silk Board Junction, resulting huge traffic jams.
Ironically, many passengers on BMTC buses plying on the route had a harrowing time when their vehicles got stuck. Many got off their buses to watch the drama. Earlier, traffic on Racecourse Road came to a grinding halt when Mr. Yeddyurappa along with Mr. Ashok and BMTC officials boarded the bus. It almost took an hour for the police to clear the jam. But, when contacted, they denied the VIP Bus Day trip triggered the jams.
