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Where BMTC may be going wrong
murali772 - 4 April, 2013 | Bangalore | BMTC | Bus | Privatization | Citizen Reports | monopoly | outsourcing | Routing | privatisation | direction-oriented | destination-oriented | profit-oriented
Today's ToI, has reported that "the BMTC will roll out new services on Thursday, Bus Day, reducing the number of times you change your bus while travelling" . For the full report, click here.
Yesterday, I made a trip to Mysore to attend a family function - a 'cousin-in-law' lives there. I chose to try and use public transport as far as possible. Overall, I made 11 (sub)-trips, 1 by walk, 2 by auto, 1 by personal transport (car), and the rest 7 by bus. Some details pertaining to each are listed below:
1) Home in S T Bed layout to Egipura jn, by walk - 5 minutes.
2) Caught the BIAL-7A (which leaves HSR laout at 7.40AM) at around 7.55 AM to reach Domlur, paying Rs 25/- for the ride.
3) After a 5 minute wait, caught a 335E (Vajra) to reach KBS (Kempegowda Bus Station) at around 8.40AM, paying Rs 45/- for the ride.
4) Almost immediately, got on to a "shuttle" to reach the Mysore road Satellite station at around 9.15 AM, paying Rs 10/- for the ride. The station is looking generally orderly. I used the toilet (no:1 job), paying a Rs 2/- charge for the same. Though, there appears to be somebody cleaning up periodically, the upkeep could certainly be a lot better. But, even to begin with, the ventillation for the toilet area appears to be pretty poor, which I would consider a serious design deficiency. KSRTC/ BMTC authorities could certainly take a lesson from their Kochi counterparts in this respect - check this.
5) Got onto a waiting 'Airawat' that left at around 9.40 AM. The ride fare was Rs 265/-. Midway, it stopped at Kamat restauarant, which had decent toilets, and served a decent fare. For Rs 45/-, I had a single idli (it came in the form of a 'kadabu') and a cup of coffee for Rs 45/-. Reached Mysore city bus station at around 12.15 PM. The toilet here too suffered from almost the same problems as at the Satellite station.
6) Took a pre-paid auto to Sreerampuram 2nd stage (function venue), paying Rs 121/- for the ride (must have been around 8km), including a Rs 10/- tip.
7) On the return, got a ride in a relative's car upto the Mysore city bus stand.
8) Again, there was a waiting Airawat, which reached me to the Mysore road Satellite station by around 6.15 PM, for a fare of Rs 265/-.
9) Again, there was a shuttle waiting to take off in the adjoining bay, and it reached me at KBS by around 7PM.
10) At KBS, I had a choice of three 335E's, all with engines on, and ready to take off, and the conductors vying with each other to attract customers. When I asked a conductor, which one will take off first, he candidly said "whichever fills up first". Perhaps, the regular commuters know the game, and immediately the driver took the seat in one of them, and started inching the vehicle forward, a whole lot of them charged in from all over, almost filling up the vehicle. 335E is a well served route. For all of that, by the time the bus reached Mayo Hall (where I got off, paying Rs 35/- for the ride, to take try the G-2 link to Koramangala), our bus was full - of course, it was the peak hour. So, was another that followed less the some 3 minutes later, which passed by when I was waiting on Commissariat road (just before the Garuda Mall junction) for the G-2. I waited for almost 15 minutes, and gave up. A couple of times earlier also, G-2 has let me down.
11) Took an auto that came by, and reached home by around 8.10PM, paying Rs 70/- for the ride.
Excepting for the G-2 (at sl no 11), the waiting were for very bearable periods, making for a fairly smooth trip overall, even with having to make 3 changes both ways.
The point I am making is that, as long as there is good frequency of services, making changes need not be much of an issue. The problem with BMTC's approach of providing direct (change-less) connectivity is that the frequency will invariably tend to suffer. As such, if you miss a bus, you'll land up with the much costlier option of taking an auto, whereas with good frequency, the next bus will be available to you within 5 minutes.
When the "direction-oriented" Big-10 services were introduced, it was announced that all the services along parallel routes will eventually be merged with the Big-10 services to provide for high frequency (I had the suggested as here) for a more comprehensive system, covering the whole city). Unfortunately, however, the BMTC has not only not done that, but seems to be persisting more and more with its "destination-oriented" routing. Apart from the problem of poor frequency that this results in, is the fact of these services catering only to very niche segments, which could result in poor ridership, in turn meaning poor revenue accrual. Here, of course, since it's targeted at the generally well-to-do IT sector employees, they could be profit-making. But, of course, that's going to be at the cost of providing more services to the aam aadmi. And, for a monopoly government-owned service, that is not quite in order, and is not going to be seen too kindly by the populace - check this. In addition to all of these, is the totally confusing numbering - 378-H, 228-J, 61-EP, etc.
Many 'experts' and 'expert groups', including a team from PRAJA-RAAG (the Bus Day concept evolved out of this), have tried repeatedly to engage with BMTC/ KSRTC to improve their services. The services have improved, and they both are supposedly the best in the country in their respective domains. But, Bangalore is a city that provides/ manufactures high quality services/ goods for customers across the world, and at competitive prices. We can no longer accept services that are just marginally better than those in other Indian cities. For that, they need to do a lot lot more. If they can't, they should make room for others - check this.
PS: The Mysore trip (largely by A/c bus) cost me Rs 845/- overall. If I had taken my car instead, the fuel cost alone would have been been Rs 1400/-, assuming a total run of 300km, and assuming my car giving 15km per litre. So, if I were going along-with one other person, perhaps it would have been worth it, considering the flexibility and thereby the time saved. But, going by the reasoning here, by Yajamaru, a car trip would actually have cost Rs 9,000/- - well, good to be aware.
Muralidhar Rao
COMMENTS
BMTC data and response
sanjayv - 3 May, 2013 - 10:00
The CTMO sent me the stage data with this note.
" Pl. find with the attachment which contain the fare stages of 335E and 500CA, so called 500C for your kind information pl.
I calculated the stage distances and lo and behold, the issue is crystal clear.
My reply was as follows and I think it is pretty self explanatory.
Dear CTM(O) sir,
if going by market forces, why the monopoly?
murali772 - 8 April, 2013 - 10:05
It also says that fixation of fares for special and high end buses (like Volvos) is left to the STUs based on "market forces".
In which case, how can the monopoly continue? - provides teeth to my PIL proposal (more here)
BMTC, could be waiting for an PIL!
kbsyed61 - 8 April, 2013 - 20:42
Looking at the way BMTC is going about fares, connectivity etc, it will not be too far when it could potentially be dragged in courts for depriving livelihoods of many residents in the city. It can not remain unconcerned about the common man in not-so rich areas while concerned about A/C services to high end areas. Even there it is making travel by private vehicles a sensible option and pushing city to add more private vehicles, more congestion, more pollution and unsustainable.
BMTC is a public enterprise company and its purpose is to provide the public service. Earning a livelihood is fundamental right of every citizen and for that a decent daily commute system is a must. BMTC can not escape that responsibility.
I already see lot fo activities on ground on that front, PIL for decent PT system in the city and I am also planning to join such efforts to bring BMTC back on road for the Public Purpose.
other contributory factors
murali772 - 6 April, 2013 - 06:42
"Driver fatigue" is one factor that I had not accounted for. If I were to drive to Mysore and back, it would perhaps have taken me the whole of two days to recover from it, of which the 'Nayandahalli' stretch by itself will account for one full day.
On the other hand, equally fatiguing was the horror of a Puneet RajKumar movie, that was screened on the upward Airawat journey, where he is shown to be openly indulging in 'eve-teasing'. Post 'Nirbhaya' incident, I had thought eve-teasing had become an offence. As such, it's surprising that a KSRTC bus is continuing to screen such films. As far as I was concerned, eve-teasing was the lesser of the fatiguing aspects of the movie - it was just plain third rate.
Train with booking would be better for those from Majestic
Vasanth - 6 April, 2013 - 12:06
@Murali Sir, for those travelling to Mysore from Majestic and Beyond (North Bangalore), train would be better as it saves time within Bangalore. Shatabdi which leaves SBC at 11AM to reach Mysore at 1 PM would also give senior citizen discount. At 315 per normal ticket, they serve food as well. Only thing is getting up and getting down the stairs in SBC and walking from Majestic to SBC may be difficult.
You are absolutely right, driver fatigue in Bangalore-Mysore highway is too much as you need to concentrate more especially between Bangalore and Bidadi. Trains like Shatabdi cross Bidadi in just 25 mins whereas it takes nearly a hour by road.
BMTC is going wrong with the fare..
Vasanth - 6 April, 2013 - 12:14
I think BMTC is going wrong with fare especially with Vajra. Too expensive. I am hoping for Metro to come for our relief with lesser fare and comfortable travel for long distances like the ITPL route. BMTC has to 'hunt' for their customers.
Second thing is over allocation of buses to some routes such as 335E like you said two 335Es waiting in Majestic to leave at the same time. Same is the case for 500C and 500D. 50% of Bangalore's Volvos are allocated to these 3 routes.
Murali Sir, you should have used City Bus in Mysore and should have used ITS. It is very good and city like Bangalore badly needs it.
BMTC moving to what I can only call dishonest territory
sanjayv - 6 April, 2013 - 13:20
BMTC fares are high, volvo or normal. One thing they are doing now is manipulating the definition of stage. My understanding is that "one stage" in fare is defined as approximately 2 kms. THere could be multiple stops in a stage. Minimum fare is for 2 stages. In other words, travel within a stage or until the next stage is charged minimum fare. Another way to look at it is that if you get in at the first stop in one stage and get out in the last stop of the next stage, you should only pay minimum fare.
SOmetime in the recent past, at least in my part of town, BMTC has redifined stages. From my home to Marathahalli bridge is less than 3 kms, but I have to pay for 4 stages (that's right 4 stages). Now, the stop closest to home is the last stop in the stage. Marathahalli bridge is 5 stops and less than 3 kms away.
It was not like this before, and I am not exactly sure when it became 4 stages. What does one do if they resort to this sort of stuff?
Rti to obtain stages and pil in court?
Vasanth - 7 April, 2013 - 10:01
Should we put an rti to get stages and fares and then put a PIL against BMTC?
Do higher officials know about stage manipulation?
gbhupesh - 7 April, 2013 - 15:35
Do higher officials know about stage manipulation? Before RTI we should write to BMTC head, if no reply we should ask same through RTI.
335E : no doubt this must be deploying most number of busses.
500C : always over croded in peak hours
500D : occupany is good. non peak hours frequency can be scaled down.
Longer new route has it' own purpose, problem is that BMTC does not advertise these route. Keeping timing on such route is very important. Or such new service should be run on slots where timing can be kept. If BMTC can introduce local loop route with good frequency , 335E like service can be reduced with out effecting availability.
emailed BMTC
sanjayv - 8 April, 2013 - 01:12
I first sent a note to the CTMO of BMTC few weeks back. No response. This weekend, I dropped a note to the MD, Mr. Anjum Parwez. Let us see if he responds.
It also says that fixation of fares for special and high end buses (like Volvos) is left to the STUs based on "market forces". Does that include stage redefinition?
Next step would be to file RTI request and also bring the transport commissioner into the loop. Maybe DULT as well? PIL should follow, I guess.
Apparently, BMTC violating stages is not really new,. See this story in the Hindu from few years ago.
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/article817575.ece
More frequency of BMTC bus trips
doris raj - 8 April, 2013 - 06:22
Murali I admire your energy levels first of all venturing to travel in this heat and seconly hopping from bus to bus and from one mode of transport to another
Yes the answer is more frequency of bus trips and also a little bit of car pooling to reach the bus station
As regards upkeep of Toilets and other facilities, we ladies often face difficult situations while travelling .We should wrtie to M D BMTC and to the Transport Commissioner. He has promptly repliesd my letter which I had posted on TAC mail.
This should be one of the main points in our next TAC meeting where the representative of Transport Dept and also BMTC will be present
Murali, your trip endorses what Praja has been saying!
kbsyed61 - 8 April, 2013 - 20:32
Murali,
Thanks for your report on a trip to Mysore using PT Buses. Your experiences fully endorses what Praja and other Urban experts have been asking BMTC to do - Rationalize their routes and get a priority on city roads.
Where BMTC going wrong is, trying to be profitable on every route it runs. It has forgotten its main objectivity of providing decent connectivity for city residents all across the city. Instead of leveraging its fleet, infrastructure, employees and almost % monopoly, it is resorting to blind games of looking for profits in high end services. Here are some suggestions:
- This requires a policy change to bring in a Road Based PT authority to plan, implement and regulate PT system in the City.
- BMTC should be relegated to service provider role and bring in competition from Co-operative or corporate players.
- The top most priority for BMTC should be to introduce zoning and route rationalization. It makes no sense to provide a Big-10 from Yelahanka to Electronic City every 30 Minutes. Rather run buses at 10 min frequency from Yelahanka to next major change over stations. From there Bus every 10 minutes to EC.
- Introduce "SINGLE TICKET" system for 2-3 hour time period.
- BMTC should stop introducing so many different types of Services/routes and limit to just 3, Loop, Ordinary and Express. Ordinary doesn't have to be the "Tin Box" and express a expensive Volvo/Merc. All 3 need not be different. Different only in what they serve -
--Loop for local last mile connectivity from Bus Station, Railway/Metro/CRS Station, Major Shopping Areas, Industry, Hospitals, Educational Institutes etc
--Ordinary for Direction based but stopping at all stops.
-- Express for Direction based but with limited stops
This is the way to go.
Minimum fare is for 2
abidpqa - 9 April, 2013 - 07:08
Minimum fare is for 2 stages.-- Should be, now we are only getting 1 stage for minimum fare. I get KR Puram Railway stn to Beniganahalli for minimum fare which is only one stage, Srinivasapaura metro station is charged as next stage.
The peak hour bus shortage has been discussed. Almost all the routes this is the case. Routes I am pretty sure this happens is 171, 305, MBS 8, 412 and its variants. I think the staff are trying to run the buses when there is no traffic. Lately I noticed that From morning 6 to 7 oclock there are so many buses, but from 7 to 9 whic is morning peak hour, there are less buses. Maybe even the traffic police has a role. Now, Begum Mahal to Corportation that is about 2 km there is no stop for BMTC buses. TAC came but this is one of the outcome.
The goverment's lack of effort to utilize the resource it has will be reflected in the regulation of private players. That is if BMTC is run well, private buses when they are allowed will be regulated well.a paradox. When BMTC reduced the buses and made bus travel inconvenient peoples response was to buy private vehicles but did not ask for better bus service. The consequence we have now more pollution, heat ( with some exxaggeration lack of rain!) and no CRS, I mean for last 20 years.
Regarding, monopoly, for the last one year private buses are running on ring road from Tin factory to Banshankari, that I know of. but no comments yet on that in Praja, like the amazing convenient service they provide! If there is monopoly, they are violating the laws or there is no monopoly.
Minimum fare - 2 stages
sanjayv - 9 April, 2013 - 07:48
I made a mistake there. Apparently, minimum fare is within 1 stage only. M y bad... got confused while reading a news story trying to figure out what is going on.
Here, I found this story on TV9 as well. So this stage manipulation is a well established trick. Time for some RTIs? What else can we try? Petitions? Publicity? We need many people asking questions before some action can be expected.
Volvo and Corona - Same fare
Vasanth - 10 April, 2013 - 06:37
Corona buses were ordered as part of Marcopolo replacement were smartly placed in Volvo routes and Volvo fares. It is around 60lakhs compared to 1cr for a Volvo. Fares charged to customer is the same. A/C in Corona is very poor. This is another day light cheating..
Volvo/Corona
sanjayv - 10 April, 2013 - 07:26
Considering that the regulation says " fixation of fares for special and high end buses (like Volvos) is left to the STUs based on "market forces". In the absence of true competition, it begs the question... what market?
Much ado about nothing
psaram42 - 11 April, 2013 - 04:18
My father used to get a salary of Rs30/- PM. He was able to save Rs 10/-. I get pension of Rs 30K and save 10K. What difference does it make?
I also traveled to Mysore for a get together with old buddies. We have "Iravats" and what not plying between Bangalor - Mysore every 10 minits. Each bus leaves as soon filled up!
There was an Auto available from satellite to my door step.Nothing to crib about.
[
By the way the Iravat driver was helping himself of ground nuts all along ->)
]
missing the point, totally
murali772 - 11 April, 2013 - 06:31
Your 30K pension and my financial resources (as a businessman, though not hands-on now) allow us to travel comfortably between Bangalore and Mysore, and to take the auto or a taxi where last mile connectivity may be a problem. I was trying to assess how difficult it is for the common man, though I admit I was not prepared to go to the full extent.
The two areas where I shared space with the common man was while using the shuttle buses, and the toilets.
And, the point I was trying to make is that with better connectivity, transfer facilitation and hygienic toilets, bus rides can be a lot pleasanter, cheaper and faster for the common man, as well as the likes of you and me, so that we become lesser dependent on individualised forms of transport, and in turn reduce the clutter on the roads, as also help save the humanity, in the long run.
Artha aayithaa, sahibare'?
result of licence-permit raaj
murali772 - 11 April, 2013 - 07:47
Regarding, monopoly, for the last one year private buses are running on ring road from Tin factory to Banshankari, that I know of. but no comments yet on that in Praja, like the amazing convenient service they provide! If there is monopoly, they are violating the laws or there is no monopoly.
All of these are licensed as "contract carriages", since Bangalore is a BMTC monopoly area for "stage carriage" operations (for definitions of the different kinds of operations, check here). As such, they are all operating clearly in violation of the rules. The question that needs to be raised is why do we still have such out-dated licence-permit regimes in place? Their main purpose today is to provide avenues for the 'enforcers' to make money.
Also, the world has generally begun to think quite differently, an indication of which one may find going through some of what is posted here - may be difficult to appreciate for people with mind-sets; but, no harm giving it a try.
No response from BMTC, so what next
sanjayv - 17 April, 2013 - 12:38
I got no response from BMTC MD on my complaint. So, now, how to go about this? Ideas are as follows.
1. File RTIs with request for information on stages for various routes. Some routes I am interested in based on my location.
V335E (Kadugodi to Majestic)
V500C (ITPL to Banshankari)
V500D (Silkboard to Hebbal)
335 A (Kadugodi to Majestic)
500 F (Silkboard to Kadugodi via Varthur Kodi)
330 (Marathahalli to Shivaji Nagar)
V356C
G1, G2, G3 etc. (Big 10 routes)
Would someone be interested in sharing this RTI load?
2. Send another letter to BMTC with copy to transport Commissioner - citing news stories in public domain.
3. Start a change.org type signature campaign to spread awareness.
For instance, a policy to
abidpqa - 16 April, 2013 - 08:20
For instance, a policy to encourage woven fabrics exports must encourage all fabrics that can be produced by the constraint ‘loom’ rather than just a few items like shirting made from a particular trouser material made out of a certain raw material,” said Ramaswami in an interview to Business Line, link
This is of course example of licence permit raj. The point is the private sector has to take their share of the blame. The private players are also responsible for these policies. The above said textile product given preferene did not come up randomly. Same way While officials may not concerened about welfare of travelers, neither is private bus operators.
understanding the funda's
murali772 - 16 April, 2013 - 14:24
The difference is that the government is elected by the people, is therefore answerable to them, and should be pursuing policies that are in overall national interest. As compared to that, a private company is answerable only to its shareholders. It can use any means within the law to further its shareholders' interests, including lobbying to allow for concessions for use of specific material.
It is disparaging that such fundamentals have to be enunciated on this forum.
Intersting.. No parties claiming they will reduce Bus Fare
Vasanth - 16 April, 2013 - 17:36
Interesting fact is that no party is claiming that they will reduce fare of KSRTC/BMTC as an election agenda.
Importance of Town Planning ?
psaram42 - 17 April, 2013 - 06:28
One of the solutions for easing traffic is minimizing commute. Providing quarters in campus to employees, schooling in campus to children etc are some of the measures. Work from home is the latest innovation.
For some town planning ideas Click 1. For designer India comment, click 2
Very poor late night and early morning services
muthusubs - 17 April, 2013 - 12:05
It is not only the peak hour service but services beyond 9pm and early morning services around 5am is very poor. Last week I had to go to Chennai by bus from Shantinagar to depart at 1045pm.
I left home at Chandra Layout at 9pm.
9:10: Wait for 10 mins. No signs of 61A. Board the first bus which goes only to Vijaynagar TTMC.
9:15: Arrival at TTMC. Wait for 5 mins and with no sign of any bus towards Majestic.
9:20: Board a bus going towads Sumanahalli Depot and get down at Vijaynagar hoping to get 61.
9:30: Board 401R going towards Yelahanka and get down at Magadi Road tollgate hoping to get some bus coming on Magadi road. Lots of 240-250 series buses ply on this route
9:35. Arrival at Tollgate. Wait for 15 mins and no bus! All buses going towards Vijaynagar, Kamakshipalya and RPC layout come to Tollgate and yet no bus for 15 mins.
9:50: Board a KSRTC bus coming from Magadi to reach Majestic. A co-passenger mentioned that there was no bus at Tollgate from 9:15 (for more than 35 mins)!
10:00: Reach Majestic and find that there is a sea of people but no buses around. One Volvo 356N standing in the platform meant for normal buses and is already having standees. No other bus towards Shantinagar. All buses towards Hosur Road, Koramangala, Bannerghatta road are supposed to go to Shantinagar and yet not a single bus around even at 10pm!
10:05: The bus leaves majestic with absolutely no place to stand for people.
On the return I had a similar fate. Bus arrives at Majestic at 430am. Already the roads towards Majestic had been blocked by lot of KSRTC buses arriving from 4am. The BMTC bus stand was really like a market during peak hours with thousands of people waiting for buses. With only a few buses during the morning hours, every bus was running full beyond capacity. I had a wait for 20 mins after which I got 240P which I took to reach Tollgate. There were no signs of any bus towards Vijaynagar. Eventually I had to take an auto from Tollgate to reach Chandra Layout.
With KSRTC running 100s of buses in the night beyond 930pm to many places in the 4 southern states, it is very important for BMTC to run services to the bus stands until 11pm at least. Similarly lot of buses and trains reach Bangalore starting 4am. Buses are a must to complement these services and make it affordable for the common man. The early mornings and late nights are the best times for autos as they just charge 10x the normal rates!
with you, Sanjay
murali772 - 18 April, 2013 - 07:34
1) Will be pleased to share the RTI load, Sanjay.
2) Send me the draft, and I shall send it in the name of President, PRAJA-RAAG.
3) Problems afflicing BMTC are typical of what you'll see in any monopoly set up. So, the ultimate answer can only be effective competition. To begin with, the demand can be to bring in private players into feeder services (for METRO as well as Big-10 services). Perhaps, we should team up with "Namma-Metro" in raising this demand - they have expressed interest in taking on the job. You are of course aware of my capaign - you may access it readily here.
I expect your awareness spreading exercise is going to be along these lines.
- Is lobbying is within law? On what bsis specific material got concession. No one can say that the objective in the example is achieved by legal means
- Corporates can never go wrong, either they benefit share holders or the consumers.
- Corporates does not want any discussion about their behavior.
Maybe a reason for corporate behavior also
'wrong number'
murali772 - 21 April, 2013 - 05:41
@ abidpqa - The discussions here are on BMTC. If you want to vent out your spleen on 'corporates', perhaps you may do it here, rather than cluttering this otherwise meaninful discussion.
Reply from BMTC
sanjayv - 1 May, 2013 - 11:31
I finally got a reply from BMTC (CTMO). The message went as follows:
"This is in continuation to your mail this is to inform that, the fares are fixed depend upon on the stages and in ordinary also the said place comes for the 3rd stage and in volvo also it is in 3 rd stage, but due to volvo fare rates the fare amount is higher than ordinary services. So, Pl. co-operate with BMTC."
To which I replied
I am most happy to pay the correct fare and travel in BMTC. I am a big fan of bus transport. In fact, I just got home in a BMTC bus only 5 minutes ago having paid Rs 40 for a distance of 7.0km in V500C. That is 5 stages (i.e., a maximum of 10 km). I would kindly request you to send me the fare stages for the routes V335E and V500C and I will check myself on the distance. If I am wrong, I will owe you a big apology."
No reponse from BMTC since. However, here are some more updates.
The other day, thinking that I had missed my office bus, I took a bus from Marathahalli to SilkBoard (I was wrong... the office bus was late). The ticket was for Rs 45/- in Volvo (500A ). It was issued from the stage "Marathahalli - Udupi Grande" Must be Udupi Garden, right? With the current fare structure (10,15,25,30,35,40,45) is 7 stages (or a maximum of 14 km)
Marathahalli to Udupi Garden is 12.5 km. Marathahalli to silkboard is 11.0 km. So I should have been charged a maximum of 6 stages since 2 km constitutes a stage (or Rs 40/-). In fact, for Rs 45/- I should have been able to go beyond Jayadeva... till about East End bus stop. Stunning!
I am sending a reminder to BMTC to send me the fare stage information.
No response to my data
sanjayv - 8 May, 2013 - 16:58
I have sent a reminder and will be sending another reminder. So far, there is no response to my data. Next step is to begin escalating this issue with all evidence gathered and to publicize among the public to see if we can get some traction on bmtc.
Different stages for different routes, difference amount huge
Vasanth - 9 May, 2013 - 03:49
For instance, my home to Devegowda Petrol bunk is 2kms. 201 series, 13 series charge Rs.8 whereas 501 series charge Rs.5.
If there is a stage difference, atleast there should be Rs.6. Next stage is only Rs.8 which is very huge difference.
Sameway Janatha Bazaar to Marthalli Bridge in V500K is Rs.65 and V500KB is Rs.60. V500K is almost always crowded and one has to go in standing, on the other hand V500KB is almost always free and you get comfortable ride along with less fare :)
Stages calculation is very bad in BMTC and at the same time difference amount per stage is very huge.
perhaps, time to call BMTC's bluff
murali772 - 25 May, 2013 - 13:46
Techies living in Kengeri can sleep their way to office now. On Wednesday, BMTC launched the fourth longest bus route in the city - from Shirke Apartments, Kengeri, to ITPL in Whitefield. The route, roughly 60km in length, covers areas like Banashankari, Jayanagar 9th Block, BTM 16th Main, HSR-Agara, Sarjapura junction, Marathahalli, Kundanahalli and Sathya Sai Hospital in Whitefield. The highest fare you have to pay for a one-way trip is Rs 95. This is the fourth longest bus route, with almost 30 stops. Other long routes are: Banashankari to Hebbal with 35 stops, and the airport shuttle service from Kadugodi and Electronics City, with 50 stops each.
For the full report in the ToI, click here.
The techies are happy, and so is BMTC, because these operations make money for the organisation. Bangalore city should also be happy since, with the techies' reduced usage of cars for their daily commute, the road clutter could perhaps reduce. But, the question that arises again and again is that if these are the objectives, should the BMTC continue to enjoy a monopoly status too?
Besides, for every Volvo bus, the aam aadmi, who cannot afford the Volvo ride, and is totally dependent on the BMTC (unlike a techie), is losing out on the services of atleast four ordinary buses. For BMTC, these operations may be loss-making. But, if offered to organised private players, I am sure they will not only provide good services, but even make tidy profits at BMTC's tariff levels. All in all, it's time to call the BMTC's bluff.
And, most importantly, how can we have 'un-natural' monopolies in today's world?
Now, it's losing money besides
murali772 - 1 July, 2013 - 08:49
The year 2012–13 witnessed the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) losing its recognition as the lone urban public transport entity earning profits, after it posted a loss Rs. 147 crore.
The fall in revenue began from 2008–09, coinciding with the rule of Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka. Its profit margins came down every successive year in the last five years: Rs. 55 crore in 2008–09; Rs. 65 crore in 2009–10; Rs. 50 crore in 2010–11, and Rs. 21 crore in 2011–12. During these five years, BMTC’s performance took a severe beating in all respects — right from procuring new buses to maintenance of existing fleet.
For the full text of the report in The Hindu, click here.
With the spending spree on VOLVO's and TTMC's, added to their poor utilisation, in the last few years, it is surprising that the loss recorded is just Rs 147 cr. There is obviously a cover up.
All in all, there is no justification for their monopoly status any longer.
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