Public transport (BMTC) - what is needed to improve it? Your thoughts

s_yajaman - 22-APR-2008

One of the things that Bangalore lacks is a good integrated public transport system as of today. Namma Metro promises to improve things but is a few years away. Till then we depend on BMTC for public transport.

BMTC has changed a lot over the last 5-6 years. It (at least according to the website) operates a fleet of 5000 buses and carries about 30 lakh passengers a day (if one person makes 3 trips a day - it is 3 passengers). however, it still has a long way to go.

BMTC Suvarna peak hour service

s_yajaman - 9-APR-2008

saw this report on BMTC's long planned peak hour service.

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/01/stories/2008040159230300.htm

It was disappointing to see a good idea being executed badly. (Murali sir was not at all surprised!). If you see the routes almost all of them touch - Kempegowda Bus Stand. I thought that place was crowded as it is without another set of buses attempting to enter them. Have any of you (except Vasanth) been to Subhashnagar bus stand? There is log jam inside the bus stand and buses that are ready to go cannot leave because they are surrounded by other buses.

The adventurous bus stands - K R Puram

silkboard - 3-APR-2008

There are a few of these special bus stands these days that exist right before a flyover or an underpass. Just as the road forks and grade separation begins, you find some crowd. Buses usually stops to block traffic heading towards the underpass or flyover. And pedestrians either have to run across flowing traffic, or wait in the middle of traffic to catch buses. Needless to say, you get a lot of 'almost' hit-and-run and screeching halt situations.

Bus Turnouts

blrsri - 30-MAR-2008

Bus turnouts are bus stop areas that are recessed from the thoroughfare. The turnout provides an en route bus with an off-street service point that does not interfere with traffic movement and provides a safe waiting area for transit users.

[flickr-photo:id=2372278583,size=m]

Dependability of BMTC in question

murali772 - 26-MAR-2008

Within the same week, there have been two instances of BMTC buses being involved in serious crashes, supposedly due to 'brake failure'. In one, the conductor died, even as many were injured, and quite seriously too, in both.

The need for BRTS

Naveen - 26-MAR-2008

This refers to the article in TOI & the guest column by Muralidhar Rao.

The basic premise on which public transport is based is that if the road seems too narrow with high volumes of traffic, there is a case for public transport. The higher the volume of traffic on a road, the stronger is the case for public transport.

In India, the low–cost /low–quality public buses are now not preferred by the upwardly mobile strata. Rail-based systems (such as Metro /Monorail) are very expensive to build & maintain & will therefore, not have extensive reach for a long time to come. The city cannot make do with widening roads & adding elevated roads continuously. No city has ever been able to “build” its way out of the problem. A new, faster & cost efficient system is required for quality conscious groups, over & above the existing low quality bus network. BRTS fulfills these requirements & is perhaps, the only available alternative worth exploring.

Towards Planning and Public Transport

tsubba - 12-MAR-2008

BMTC under Upendra Tripathy can be accused of a zillion things but lack of vision, lethargy and trying - lack of kaLakali, muthuvarji, kaaLaji it can be accused of not. Anybody who has followed BMTC for a while would recognize that he seems to get to the bottom of Bangalore's real troubles. As far as i can recall, he is the tallest amongst the movers and shakers of Bangalore who has zoned in on town planning as the real cause of Bangalore's problems AND done something about it.

BMTC Services To Bengaluru International Airport

tsubba - 13-FEB-2008

[Update May 29: Read this and this for experiences around BMTC Airport buses.]

The BMTC has released the fares of the soon to be introduced ‘Airport Bus Service’ to BIAL, connecting the airport from eight locations of the city. These buses will be numbered as BIAL 1 to 7 for the first seven routes that are expected to hit the roads in the last week of March.

East loop of Outer Ring Road (Silkboard - Marathahalli - Hebbal) should get:

Vasanth - 15-JAN-2008

* Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) * Monorail (Like the west loop, so full ORR will be monorail * Increased frequency of buses (Refer Murali's post on Indore bus system)

What happened to BRTS between Hebbal and Silkboard on outer ring road?

Vasanth - 6-JAN-2008

BRTS - A more buzzing word nowadays with most of the urban transport planners and educational institutions. IIT professors and Volvo marketing personnels are especially pushing this technology showing the cost benefits and ease of implementation. Bangalore MRTS plan contains a BRTS corridor from Hebbal to Silkboard along outer ring road. But, nothing is heard about that so far such as who is going to implement, is it going to be BOOT/BMTC owned etc. If at all if BRTS is confirmed on this part, then why delay?