After a gap of almost two years, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is gearing up to relaunch its ‘Bus Day’ campaign. The plan has been mooted by former BJP MLA Nandiesha Reddy who assumed charge as chairman of the Corporation on Thursday. He told mediapersons that he is keen on re-introducing Bus Day, which was launched during the earlier stint of the BJP government.
In 2010, the Corporation started observing Bus Day on the 4thof every month with the aim of appealing to people to shift to public transport. Transport minister, film stars and top bureaucrats were seen travelling in city buses on Bus Day. The Corporation also started introducing new routes that day to drum up awareness.
In due course, officials lost interest. The last Bus Day was observed in December 2017.
Interestingly, in the last nine years, BMTC’s fleet has remained almost the same. In 2010-11, it had 6,110 buses. At present, it has a fleet of 6,486 buses. Ridership has dropped significantly, from 43.50 lakh in 2010-11 to around 36 lakh now.
Revenue Minister R. Ashok defended the government’s decision to lease 6,000 buses in a phased manner. He dismissed allegations that the leasing model will pave the way for privatisation of BMTC. “We are not going to privatise the Corporation. Operating more buses will help people make the shift to the mass transit system,” he said.
