Private sector challenge

murali772 - 27-OCT-2008

“If you need to understand the difference between STUs and private operators, you need to compare the services provided by private operators in districts like Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, and those offered by STUs in fully nationalized districts like Gulbarga and Raichur", says Rajavarma Ballal, president of the state federation of private bus operators.

So, will BMTC do one of this?

silkboard - 12-OCT-2008

I was waiting for one of these two to happen. What if:

1. BMTC bids to operate buses in liberalized UP transport sector?
2. BMRC (Bangalore Metro) orders its own fleet of buses to make sure it gets good numbers to reliably reach all their stations?

BMTC's business-oriented outlook

murali772 - 8-SEP-2008

To compensate for the losses in the regular operations, BMTC is now having to look at newer and newer avenues, though in the process they may be deviating totally from their original mandate. The increased contract services for schools and IT sector companies, etc are a part of all that.

Keep the saarige, let go yelli-iddira

tsubba - 21-JUL-2008

Understanding competition as a/the solution for public transit. Muralidhar rao's praja post is a starting point for the discussion on competizing public transport. The other day, during the PTWG meeting, when the issue of the pathetic condition of BMTC's website and demise of yelli-iddira came up, he broke into an impassioned and yet articulate speech. I cannot recollect his exact words, but his basic point was that BMTC lacks any competitive or regulatory pressure and hence the pathetic state of those services. The only way to get service levels to improve is to open its domain for competition. I have heard his basic position many times, but to hear him make his case in person was a friends,countrymen and romans moment for me. In any case, his speech got me thinking ...

Urban Transportation reforms around the BMLTA concept

silkboard - 2-JUL-2008

In the telecom space, you have TRAI which is a national level regulatory body. Rightly so, since telecom networks have national footprint through interconnections, it need not be looked at as a state subject. Drawing a parallel for our state, think of extending BMLTA concept - a Karnataka state land transport authority (KSLTA). Why so? Because we want efficient two or three change connectivity from Whitefield to Haradanahalli as well, and not just to Jayanagar or Malleswaram. Just like the primary schools, every region needs good connectivity.

Stake-less stake-holders

murali772 - 2-JUL-2008

One significant drop out from the list of 'stake-holders', compared to the BATF days is Bangalore Telephones.

Finland's pride - our future model?

murali772 - 12-JUN-2008

The Finnish parliament voted to build OL3 (Nuclear plant) in 2002, in a decision seen as revolutionary in a Europe that had built no new nuclear plants since the 1986 Chernobyl accident and where opposition to nuclear power has traditionally been fierce.

Private colleges

murali772 - 7-JUN-2008

The latest 'India Today' ranking of the top engg colleges in the country places Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) at no 10, the highest amongst all the private engg colleges, and higher than quite a few NITs. Amongst the Bangalore city colleges, only M S Ramaiah College of Engg figures in the list at no 21.

Imperatives of privatisation of power distribution

murali772 - 28-MAY-2008

The World Customers' Day was observed by BESCOM in its usual ritualistic style on Saturday, the 15th March by holding a workshop on 'Customer Care', in association with Public Affairs Centre (PAC), Swabhimana, Consumer Advocacy, and Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC). Of the audience of a 100 odd people, only some 30 were members of Civil Society groups (RWA's, etc), the rest comprising mostly of BESCOM officials. Seeing this, the chief guest, Dr Samuel Paul, Chairman, PAC, remarked that the poor turn out was perhaps an indication of the high level of satisfaction with BESCOM services.

BMTC e-purse to be introduced next week

shas3n - 13-SEP-2007

Yes, it is almost there. In about a week, BMTC will introduce e-purse which can be used to pay for your BMTC tickets instead of cash. The first phase of the roll out will be experimental and this scheme will soon be expanded after KEONICS finds BOOT partners to implement the system. Ella OK but I have some quirks about the way it is implemented.