 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (November 2009) |
 |
|
|---|---|
| Slogan | Moving you most economically |
| Founded | 1940 |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru |
| Locale | Bengaluru |
| Service type | Public Transport |
| Routes | 5370 |
| Fleet | 5593 |
| Daily ridership | Approximately 38 lakh (3.8 million) |
| Operator | Government of Karnataka |
| Web site | BMTC |
The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is the agency that operates the public transport bus service in Bengaluru, India. It is a profit making transport sector in India..[1][2][3] On the first of June, 2009, to celebrate their first anniversary, the Government of Karnataka and the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation flagged off a pro-poor bus service called the Atal Sarige. The service aims at providing low-cost connectivity for the economically backward sections of the society to the nearest major bus station.[4][5]
Contents |
History
In 1997, BMTC was formed after the bifurcation with Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation which was running the city buses in Bangalore. To cope up with the expansion of the city the bifurcation was done. The erstwhile Bangalore Transport Service was changed to Bangalore Metropolitan Transport corporation and the colour was changed from red to a blue & white combination.
Though BMTC is bifurcated, it is considered a division of KSRTC. The profits earned by BMTC are used to cover the losses from the NWKRTC and NEKRTC divisions of KSRTC.
Types of buses
1. Blue and White: the old ordinary buses with ordinary fares. Buses introduced after 2001 have pneumatic doors.
2. White and Blue: The Parisara vahini ordinary buses introduced between 2002 and 2008 with pneumatic doors.
3. Blue buses: The new ordinary bus under the JNNURM scheme with low floors and LED boards.
4. Suvarna: The Silver coloured with red lining. They have Re.1 higher for first 3 stages and then are on par with the ordinary.Sport LED boards.
5. Pushpak: Single door bus with no conductors. Driver acts as conductor. Coffee coloured buses with fares similar to Suvarna
6. Vajra: the Diamond Hi-tech buses from Volvo running on IT sector and various residential routes as well. Higher fares about 1.5 to 3 times that of ordinary depending on the route. LED boards for clarity
7. Vayu Vajra: volvo buses to airport operated from 12 routes.
8. Atal Sarige: Low-cost buses with single seats along the windows and LED display.Have a tri-colour outside.
9. Marcopolo: AC buses from Tata introduced on trial basis. running on route no. 258C (majestic-nelamangla) 317A(majestic-hosakote),362B(Shivajinagar-Begur)and 362C(R.T.Nagar-Begur). Proposal to buy 400 more.
10. Big 10 : Brilliantly designed, connects important neighbourhoods, distinct green colored with the Big10 logo on it.
11.Big Circle: Runs on the Outer Ring Road(ORR) of Bengaluru. Distinctly coloured with BigCircle written all over.
Fares
Fares of BMTC are considered to be the highest in the country with respect to the starting stages. However they are not very costly in the later stages. They range from Rs 2/- a km in the first stages to Rs 0.5/- per km as the distance increases.
The highlight of the BMTC is the daily pass provided at Rs.32/- per day. It can be used for travel in any bus except the air conditioned ones. It is valid up to midnight on the day of purchase and available with all conductors.[6]
On producing ID cards (voter's card, driving license, etc), BMTC provides concession of 25% in fares to senior citizens in all types of buses. This came into effect on 01.09.2008.
Children below the age of 12 are given 50% concession.
Major Bus Stations
1. Kempegowda Bus Station: This is right opposite the city railway station. Bus services are available to the entire city from here. BMTC has a depot here(Depot 7).
2. K. R. Market: Another important bus station located in an area with a lot of private bus services. Buses are available to all parts of Bengaluru besides far off Anekal and Hosur.
3. Shivajinagar: Located in one of Bengaluru's commercial area and about 2 kms from Bangalore Cantonment Railway Station.
4. Shantinagar: Near the Central office of KSRTC and BMTC. Tamil Nadu Deluxe buses start from here. BMTC Depot 2 and Depot 3 are located here. It is well connected to South and South East Bangalore and the Majestic and Shivajinagar areas.
5. MCTC: Located on Mysore road. Well connected to Mysore road, Vijayanagar and Chamrajpet apart from Market and Majestic. Buses bound to Mysore and ordinary express buses towards Tamil Nadu and North Kerala start from here.
6. Banashankari Bus Station: This is another important bus station located on the Inner ring road. It's well connected to all the areas on the inner and outer ring road.Also it is an important junction on Kanakapura road and hence is well connected to market also. 201,205,500,600 are the important routes which start/pass through Banashankari. From market, all buses between 211 and 217B pass through Banashankari. A TTMC is under construction and hence the depot at Banashankari is closed.
Infrastructure
BMTC has six bus stations in Bangalore. Apart from these, it also has a number of minor terminuses. It has 34 depots spread all over Bangalore(Depot 1 closed for Shantinagar; 2 others also closed because of TTMC construction) out of which 31 are operational. BMTC aims to build 6 more depots on the city outskirts.
BMTC is also constructing modern bus stations at 10 places in its first phase. These will have places to park vehicles and take a bus from there to one's destination. All customer needs will be met at this place. There will be a separate waiting room for Airport bound passengers with the timings displayed. As of now, the TTMC at Jayanagar 4th block has been opened.
Records
- BMTC was the first in the country to introduce intra-city volvo buses. Earlier, they were well recieved on the IT sector routes but are now patronised on all routes in the city.
- It has the record for making profits consistently for years and is one of the few public sector undertakings in Asia to make profits
- It has the youngest fleet of buses in the country due to which the KMPL is also higher compared to other undertakings.
- BMTC is one of the few undertakings to introduce pneumatic doors in India even in it's fleet of ordinary buses to provide safety for passengers. Prior to this, only some luxury buses in Hyderabad had pneumatic doors.
- Operates the longest city bus route in India: Route No.600 (circular bus route) which starts from Banashankari and covers 117kms round trip to reach Banashankari, covering NH-7(Hosur), NH-207(Attibelle to Varthoor), NH-4(Chennai), NH-4(Mumbai), NH-7(Bellary), SH-17(Mysore). It traverses an entire circle to reach Banashankari.
See Also
References
- ^ "Volvo's first city buses in India operating". Volvo Buses. 2006-01-25. http://www.volvo.com/bus/india/en-in/news_and_events/press+releases/NewsItemPage.htm?channelId=1700&ItemID=1387&sl=en-gb. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
- ^ "Volvo to foray into city bus segment in India". The Hindu Businessline. Monday, January 9, 2006. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/02091502.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
- ^ "Volvo intra-city buses to hit B'lore roads on Jan 17". The Financial Express. Posted: 2006-01-11 00:57:28+05:30 IST Updated: Jan 11, 2006 at 0057 hrs IST. http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Volvo-intra-city-buses-to-hit-B'lore-roads-on-Jan-17/152460/. Retrieved 2009-06-23.
- ^ "CM flags off Atal Sarige for the poor". Express Buzz. 31 May 2009 03:32:00 AM IST. http://www.expressbuzz.com/edition/story.aspx?Title=CM+flags+off+Atal+Sarige+for+the+poor&artid=O9Bsi9wfaRE=&SectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&MainSectionID=Qz/kHVp9tEs=&SEO=&SectionName=UOaHCPTTmuP3XGzZRCAUTQ==. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ "‘Atal Sarige’ launched in Bangalore". The Hindu. Sunday, May 31, 2009. pp. 1. http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/31/stories/2009053153650400.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-08.
- ^ http://www.bmtcinfo.com
External links
- BEST PLACE TO FIND BMTC BUS ROUTE
- BMTC official website
- Vayu Vajra Bangalore International Airport Shuttle (Volvo Bus)
- Bangalore Transport Information System
- [1] Vajra routes
|
|||||||||||
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
