one of the things is impressions. i might have posted this slide made by the mission group earlier, nevertheless Understanding The Bus Shelters of Bangalore situation as is according to this article in the hindu, less than 500 of the total 800 stops in bangalore have shelters. For close to two years, BMP has been attempting to find advertisers and agencies who can sponsor more bus shelters. how it works The BMP works on the basis of calling for tenders each year and awarding a package of bus shelters to the highest bidder. The agency then builds the shelters and hosts advertisements of clients. The BMP stands to earn Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 50,000 as rent for one year from each bus shelter. The advertisement tax collected each month comes to Rs. 57.50 a square metre. The advertising agency has the option of collecting higher margins from clients, which makes the proposal commercially viable. types of bus stops The bus shelters vary by dimensions and advertising space available and are classified as Type A, B, C and D. Type D usually has more advertising space available, and more such shelters are planned and tenders are to be called for them. problems Advertising agencies prefer to spend money on bus shelters in prime areas where the footfalls are heavy and where bus schedules are more frequent. But, advertisers look for good returns on their investment and this almost rules out bus shelters in the outer suburbs and peripheral areas of the city, where bus services may be less frequent and the passenger occupancy lower. vandalism Advertising agencies have in the past invested in very sleek and modern bus shelters with steel railings, leak proof roofs and polished granite benches and back-lit advertisements. But many were vandalised in the absence of proper security and were not found viable, some agencies said. With revenues of more than Rs. 2 crore involved, the civic body is reported to be examining other options to enable more bus shelters to come up in areas where they are badly needed. --------------------------------- TENDERS FOR NEW BUS SHELTERS reference: No.AC(Advt)PR/01/2007-08. currently the document is at this page. On the BBMP website there is a tender for 171 bus shelters (in 4 packages) to construct the Modern ‘D’ Model Bus shelters against Commercial Advertisements on BOT Basis dated oct 26, 2007. Here is what the licencee is expected to do... a) Keep the Bus Shelter including route display board, dustbins and name and logo of BBMP, and other optionals and surrounding clean & hygienic and presentable between 06.30 hrs to 24.00 hrs daily b) Arrange to clean the Bus Shelter & surroundings twice in a day. c) Forthwith maintain the Bus Shelter or any part thereof upon any damage, loss, breakage being noticed or reported or occurring and reconstruct when repair is not feasible/sufficient to present a satisfactory condition. d) Arrange illumination at night (1800 hrs to 2400 hrs) the cost of which together with electricity charges shall be borne by the licensee himself. e) Arrange security to protect the Bus Shelter together with all amenities, fixtures, advertisements etc against vandalism. Provided any violations in maintenance relating to (a) to (e) will attract levy of penalties as follows : 1st violation : Rs. 2000 per Bus Shelter and 7 days to rectify. 2nd violation : Rs. 3000 per Bus Shelter and 7 days to rectify. 3rd violation : Rs. 5000 per Bus Shelter and 7 days to rectify. 4th violation : Rs. 10,000 per Bus Shelter and 7 days to rectify. Continued non-compliance to rectify beyond 4th violation will result in termination of the license with one week notice. fines for delays in construction (1) First violation : Rs. 10,000 per Bus Shelter if not completed development work within 90 days and with penalty an additional time of 15 days from completion of 90 days will be given. (2) second violation: Rs. 20,000 per Median and with penalty an additional time of 5 days from the completion of 105 days. fines for deviation in construction & quality (1) First violation : Rs. 10,000 per Bus Shelter with 15 days to rectify the design deviation/material deviation/decreasing level of quality. (2) second violation: Rs. 20,000 per Bus Shelter and 15 days more days to rectify the design deviation/material deviation/decreasing level of quality. If the deviations/decreasing level of quality etc are not rectified by the extended period of 30 days then the license will be cancelled. The security deposit will be adjusted the dues towards penalty. When the license not terminated the license will be required to make good the deduction within 7 days ------------------ i was not able to find information about the basic design of the shelters. i wonder why BBMP is constructing bus stops and not BMTC? wouldn't BMTC know where to best place their stops?

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Fancy shelters can wait. When I go to a bus stop, first thing I expect to see is a list of buses that come there, and the schedule with estimated timings. Next, you expect and easy and convenient way to understand and know the route numbers so that I can plan my trip. Like say, all numbers starting 7 (71, 701 etc) go to Shivaji Nagar, all with 5 (52, 555) go to Majestic and so on. and, then, it could be that all even go North South and all odds go East West. If all this, give me an easy way to find me a route given my source and destination. Next, I expect some priority for buses on the roads in some way so that I get a good feeling that my bus is not going to be a lot slower than my bike, car or auto. Don't really need a BRTS for that, some token Bus-only roads and lanes, or Buses-okay on some otherwise one-ways, should help. Then, you need to design routes (roads as well as timings) via feedback from would-be-users, the public. Then the issue of sticking to schedule, having nice shelters etc would come into play. Once 60-70% of Bangalore gets on Public transport (I am guessing the current usage for BMTC would be about 30-40% of commuters), the paying public would make sure things run on time, just like they do in Mumbai when those locals run late.

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Pranav, There actually is (or was?) a method to the seeming madness for the route numbers. Route Nos 1,2 till about 29 cover Jayanagar/JP nagar. then sweep clockwise Route Nos 30 to about 45 cover Gandhibazaar/Srinagar/BSK III stage - clockwise again Route Nos 50 to 58 cover Mysore Road - CW again Route 59 to about 89 cover vijayanagar, rajajinagar, WOC road then malleswaram (90-98)sadishivnagar/jayamahal (100-119), frazer town, cox town, indiranagar,etc. Red board buses follow the same sort of logic - starting from kanakapura road side. Now of course they have added A,B,C, etc. And the Ring Road routes and more. Routes could do with some reengineering. far too many of them operate only 3-4 times a day. Srivathsa

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Pionner newspaper pours scorn on Delhi's BRTS called HCBS (Hi Capacity Bus System) perhaps some of it is well deserved even... consider this: The Delhi Government's Committee on Sustainable Transport (bamboozled no doubt by pedal-power fundamentalist Dinesh Mohan), also ensured the construction of separate cycle lanes on Dr Ambedkar Marg. The result is a 2.5 metre elevated concrete track for cycles, 6.6 metre dedicated busway in the centre and just 3 metres on either side of the bus corridor for other vehicular traffic: Just 3 metres! Just 1 lane for the rest of the traffic is just hare brained. This what happens when you have spent a whole lot of energy selling it is a cheap solution, and when asked to actually implement it at that price, reality hits and you are forced to implement a cheap imitation. now you have killed what is really a useful solution. BRTS has its advantages. Perhaps easier to maintain, and it is prolly cheaper to upgrade buses than it is to upgrade metro coaches. But it is not a cheap solution. For it work wide roads are needed. Check out Bogota's BRTS and how wide the roads are. For our own ORR BRTS, BMTC will be well advised to take a lesson from this panning that dilli has got. widen ORR. dont make take a 3x3 ORR and convert it to (2+1)x(1+2) BRTS, go for (3+1)x(1+3). if full 3 meter wide lanes are not possible, then they should consider reducing the widths of the car lanes to 2.5 meters. that will save them 3 meters for 1 lane, they only have to expand by another 3 meters. (airport rd, do we need such wide lanes if the widest vehicle is a car/van/tempo?)

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