Another hoax - in addition to the other existing specials - mall, hospital, women only, pass, and what have you! And, it is given prominent publicity, whereas genuine reform measures like BIG-10, Ho-Ho at best get a mention in the fine print some where.

Any one still believes BMTC can be improved without effective competition?

Muralidhar Rao

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When will they stop naming such schemes after political figures.

Aha you want to stop when we reach the non gandhi dynasty? Hypocrisy

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IDS,

I am no fan of the BJP, but a great admirer of ABV (LKA cannot hold a matchstick to him IMHO).  I think they could have found a better program to give his name to.  Given his committment to the GQ project they could have named the Karnataka PPP Road project after him than  this sham.

SY

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I like rajiv sasrige or sonia saarige better than atal saarige. I think former will sound better for a popular scheme than the latter. :-) When will they stop naming such schemes after political figures.

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The Atal Sarige  - the concept, not the name - seems to be a nice idea to me. I saw one Atal Sarige working Jayadeva to Bommanahalli just a while back. The bus was parked near Vijaya Bank Enclave (The driver - cum - conductor was having his lunch). The route is amazing - Bommanahalli --> Kodichikkanahalli Cross --> Kodichikanahalli --> Vijaya Bank Layout --> Bilekahalli --> Jayadeva. 

This route is currently being ruled by unscrupulous auto guys, who charge any figure that they could quote at the moment. The autos are ill maintained, and do not have meters. They tend to charge Rs 40-50 for a 2 kilometre run. 

I am not sure of other sections where this route is being tried, but this combination (Jayadeva to Bommanahalli, AS5) is amazing one. One thing that I thougt is not good is using a bus - they should instead use minibuses. Buses will not fill up on sundry routes like this, which see crowd during certain hours of the day. Instead of running one single bus, they could route two minibuses, which would drastically improve frequency and would encourage more people to shun autos for these buses.

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I am impressed.. Mainly because my locality has got a new route. I dont know about the exact route and frequency, but Avalahalli to banashakari was a much needed route. Avalahalli is less than two kms from Ring road, but never had the connectivity to ring road. If not anything else, this can be a good feeder service to the Ring road service.

Vijaya bank layout to Jayadeva and Bommanahalli can be wonderful feeder routes too.. I only hope this concept is strengthed further. I am not really bothered if they call it feeder service or Atal sarige or even Yeddy Saarige..

    Yes, 'Atal' the person, definately deserves a service of much larger scale. I hope that somebody in BMTC/government will take note of that and build upon and strengthen the model..

    Murali sir, if only Atal Saarige is extended to many more areas, on may more new routes.

-Srivatsava V

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Binai Sankar avare'

The places where the EWS (economically weaker sections) lot are residing are spread all across the city, as also the sites/ places where they work - likewise with hospitals and patients; malls and visitors; ladies' homes and their work-places; pass-holders homes and their work-places. Can there ever be a logical pattern to the movement of these people between their homes and work-places? I can't think of any, and that's why I see these so-called services as a big hoax. Please enlighten me if you know better.

Feeder services are very much needed; but, that should ideally be to link up with the BIG-10 services, and not for making political statements.   

Muralidhar Rao

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Hi Srivatsava

As I had mentioned earlier, this service is another along the lines of the already existing series of special services - hospital, mall, ladies, pass, etc. Even as a lay man, if try to figure out the logistics of providing these services, you'll understand why I label them all as a hoax. The only rationale I can think of behind these is political - supposedly serving the aam aadmi - which it can't, and will end up becoming an additional burden till it's abandoned.

The only reforms that make any sense are the ones being initiated by Prof Ashwin Mahesh, and the sad part is that BMTC coterie seems to be out to scuttle them.

Muralidhar Rao

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Hi Murali,

I don't understand the rationale behind these services being called a "hoax". These services are anyday better than the current and old forms of Kendra Sarige, which did nothing but burned precious fuel on flashy coloured buses running around with no passengers in it. 

Forget Hospital, Mall, Ladies, Pass services. I would like to remind you that such services (except pass buses) exist in most indian cities - only that they are not branded so. Ladies specials exist in most cities - the only difference in the other cities is that they are not painted so. Those buses run as "ladies special" during peak hours and as normal buses otherwise. 

BMTC has a fetish of coming out with flashy coloured buses, which eventually run on all services other than the intended service. What is the need to paint them immediately even before the services settle down?

Atal sarige is being killed by BMTC themselves by not publicising those services. The service is a good initiative, and if you notice carefully, they are run on routes where there aren't much direct buses, or are routes being ruled to the core by autorickshawas.

We must applaud the measure to come out straight on to the auto lobby... Atal sarige has a long way to go. What it needs urgently is minibuses - not full size buses. More minibuses, running at higher frequencies. I would anyday prefer paying Rs. 4 for a bus, than paying anywhere between Rs 40-60 for an auto to cover the same distance.

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Binai Sankar
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Murali sir,

If places like kodichickanahalli are connected to the main routes it will be of great help to the public in that area. Travel in that area is dominated by shared autos now.

Your point about travel being spread across the city is valid but there are points where the density of EWS is very high. ( slum areas, village areas etc) .. a bus connecting these points to the major bus routes will be beneficial in my opinion. Of course, the benefits may not be as high as the hype around the service, but it has its own benefits. 

Let us give it a life to live before writing it off prematurely. perhaps there would be some sane voices and perhaps better routing would evolve around these services.

Mall services , Hospital services

============================

These should be ideally feeder services to major bus routes. Imagine a scenario in which there is no private transport through commercial street but just BMTC mini buses running through it with adequate space for luggage ( bought by the shoppers) and these buses drop the passengers at various points across CBD where the shoppers can pick up a metro train or a big 10 bus route to travel back to their residential area. They get dropped back may be at a TTMC where they would pick up their private transport to go back home. Or they use a BMTC mini bus service which runs in a circular route through say jayanagar at a frequency of 5 minutes.

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Hello,

I still cannot understand why you call it a hoax. The service is only an initial move, and 6 pairs of points were decided - albeit arbitarily. Note that these services are no where connecting interior places directly to the city centre - they only connect to a nearby "big" destination. 

Politicans are around to gain mileage from every step that they take, and one cannot make decisions based on their decision, and arbitarily call a move as "hoax". 

Atal Sarige only links interior places with the nearest "main road" . And, these roads have Big10s on it. So, these services essentially connect roads that have Big10s on it. Almost all the routes that these buses have been introduced have the so-called EWS around. 

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Binai Sankar
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Murali Sir,

      I guess you were only trying to mean that the routes are not perfect, but the folks here may not your comments objectively, since there is a perception about you being a BMTC-baiter.

     Btw, here's why I believe that Atal Saarige has tremendous potential and is a step in the right direction.

1. Its a feeder service. One look at the routes, and this will be very clear to you. Avalahalli to Banashakari connects Avalahalli to Katriguppe Ring road and Kanakapura Big10(near Banashankari).  Ullala to MCTC connects Ullala  to mysore road Big10 (near Bangalore University) and Ring road service(near Nayandanahalli). Sriranganagar to RK Ashrama is another feeder, since there is a bus every minute to Maket and Majestic from RK Ashrama.  Gangondanahalli to Sirsi Circle connects Gangondanahalli to Mysore road.  (Apologies for taking only Mysore road examples, yen maadodu Ashokanna nam-area davaru allve??)

  Strangely, Chowdeshwari J P Park to Shankarnag bus stand looks like a  route primarily on Ring road, but then, we dont know what route the bus/buses take, since the BMTC hasnt provided any information on those lines.

2. Its NOT a service for the poor. As much as the BMTC/state government wants us to believe that it is a service for the poor, there is ( and can be) no way the BMTC can stop others from using the service!!

        Btw, some of these routes may have been proposed by 'scholars' and 'intellectuals' (read you and me!!). But, you will also understand that these services are not just about providing convenience to people, but also making the right political statements. The debacle of Krishna and Naidu in 2004 elections have made way to new brand of 'aam aadmi' politics even in the cities. The politicians would not like to brand every service like 'Big10' , a 'city' transport service running on the 'metropolitan' roads. These are being complemented with a 'slum' service. Afterall, these services, including Big10, are to satisfy the needs of the 'votebanks'.

   To put it simply, lets be happy about the introduction of feeder services, and let Ashoka-saar be happy about the introduction of service for the 'poor'.

-Srivatsava V

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     Feeder services are very much needed; but, that should ideally be to link up with the BIG-10 services, and not for making political statements.  

     Yes, Murali Sir, I tend to agree with you on the first part of the above statement. We need feeder services to integrate with the Big10 and ring road service.

     These feeder services should only 'link up' with the Trunk services, but not necessarily travel on the trunk routes. And thats where I have a problem with the Atal Saarige routes. Sample these

 * Avalahalli to Banashakari(BSK) - Avalahalli to hosakerehalli (2kms) and then the bus travels on the ring road from hosakerehalli to BSK (5kms) on the trunk route!!

* Ullala to MCTC - the bus travels on the Mysore road along the Big10 service for atleast 4 kms ( Jnanabharathi - MCTC)

* Gangondanahalli to Sirsi Circle - The bus travels from Deepanjali nagar to Sirsi circle (about 4kms again) along the Mysore road Big10.

     Once we start providing multiple such routes on the main roads, we will find that these roads are filled with too many buses, blocking the flow of traffic for the buses and other motor traffic. So, we should attempt to cut down on the distances these buses travel on the main road, and make them 'true feeders'.

For example, Avalahalli service can travel upto hosakerehalli/ Ring road and then proceed to say Ittamadu/AGs Layout. This will mean that the route will connect two localities in the vicinity of a trunk road. The bus will run on the Ring road for mere 0.5 kms (2 bus stops on Ring road)

       Similarly, the Ullala service can connect Ullala route to Mysore road and then move into a Rajarajeshwari nagar village (say Pattanagere or Uttarahalli). This will mean that localities on two sides of Mysore are connected to Mysore road with just one 'route'.

     I have already tried to explain the same at http://bangalore.praja.in/blog/srivatsava/2009/04/01/guidelines-bus-feeder-services .

     We are seeing some refinements to the Big10 concept to make it more commuter friendly. The only problem I envision for any change in Atal Saarige is that it may be difficult to provide constructive feedback to the minister without hurting his ego. With a Ashwin Mahesh, I guess itsmuch easier to provide 'critical' feedback. Hope I am wrong!!

-Srivatsava V

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 So, we should attempt to cut down on the distances these buses travel on the main road, and make them 'true feeders'.

This is exactly right. This is how you expand reach. In fact there can be multi connection feeders which connect more than one trunk network. It can intersect one ring road stop, one big 10 stop and a metro stop along the way. Like you say they shouldnt use more than one stop that is already being used by a trunk route. People are not expected to use these services for point to point connectivity but as last mile to reach trunk routes.

BUT, I dont see mentioned anywhere in the reports that this service was supposed to be a feeder service. It is clearly a service to pacify a class divide. This is where I agree with Murali that this service is a political move. It does not necessarily mean it is bad, It is easy to see why like you have explained. 

If we are not to waste routes, BMTC should listen to some suggestions and tweak it to make it connect more efficiently so it can double up as feeder. A lot of BMTC ills are because buses are run not based on a plan but based on political needs and compulsions. And then we complain they cant make money on routes.

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Hoi all

Throw anything at me - I don't mind - but my take is -

ATAL IS A MILLION TIMES BETTER THAN  LOSS MAKING VOLVOS/HoHo/Big10 etc.

Call it hoax, cheap publicity or whatever you feel like but suffice it to say that it caters to a majority of our population - call them poor, BPL or whatever you want. Mind you, they are also being used by others who may not fit into any of the above categories - including me.

-  If I can reach my work place by paying a very reasonable fare, so be it.

-  Nobody even whimpered when Volvos were introduced without public consultation and they are bleeding BMTC - third consecutive year of loss making. I am definite that Atals will prove to be saviors of Volvos..??!!

-  At this juncture, it may be worth having a look at the following praja link:

http://bangalore.praja.in/blog/vasanthkumar-mysoremath/2009/04/02/stratified-bmtc-service-making-profits-with-defic

- Vasanth Mysoremath

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VKM Sir, I see daily the Volvos running towards ITPL. People travel standing even after paying 50 Rs or so. For example, V500K has got 21 Volvos and almost all of them run full especially during peak hours. It is the off peak hours during which it runs little empty. Same is the case for V333, V356, V365 and V45G which I see regularly.

Vayu Vajras and the HOHO routes are running almost empty.

I recently took the Vayu Vajra from Kattriguppe to Malleshwaram 18th Cross. It is whooping 50 rupees per person. If this is reduced and sufficient publicity is given for Vayu Vajra usage within the city too, the loss could be compensated. 

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Vasanth avare,

Volvos running full - peak hour - OK - your admission Vayu Vajras and HoHos running almost empty also OK  but even after sufficient publicity, you must have noticed that the'haves' are shunning the Vayu Vajras - bleeding BMTC for the third year in succession - yaake?   Yaaranna keli Volvo bitru? My money, my city, my needs - not fulfilled but Volvo Bitru - Yaake?  Big10 Yaake?   HO HO, HA HA yaake? 

- Follow Sri Hari, Traffic Expert's recommendations - stop purchasing Volvos - (Rs.75 lakhs) - make people travel by clean, comfortable ordinary buses with comparable fares.  Think of withdrawing hi-end pampering and loss making buses to make way for Atals (Rs.15 lakhs) - they will be the BMTC's bread and butter and may be Jam also in course of time.

- Loss could be compensated by whom and Yaake?

- vasanthkumar mysoremath

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