Less than three months ago an elderly gentleman in the City lost balance when getting into a moving Bangalore Metro Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus, fell and was killed on the spot. He couldn’t get on to the bus because the footboard was overcrowded.

This fatal twist to the brinkmanship games indulged in by the BMTC commuters is not an odd case. At least 380 people (till August this year) have died in accidents linked to footboard travelling in the City and the cases of deaths reported in 2006 were 2,700. This despite efforts from the BMTC to discourage passengers from indulging in the brinkmanship.

Negligence on the part of those who man the bus and foolhardiness among commuters are cited as prime reasons for the footboard mishaps. Realising that the problem on hand calls for some serious intervention, BMTC authorities have decided to go in for design changes in the body of its buses. Under this new initiative, all BMTC buses will be converted into three door fully automated locking systems.

New designs

The newly designed buses, costing nothing less than Rs 40,000 a piece, will hit the roads in staggered phases. Five buses, complete with the three door automatic system, are already on the roads on a trial basis.

According to BMTC Chief Mechanical Engineer Mukkanna B, the three locks are connected to the brakes and the doors will open only when the brakes are applied else they remain closed.

The buses with upgraded design come with wider doors and wider footboards. The footboards are 32 inches wide and each door is 57 inches wide.  “Though all existing BMTC buses have automatic door closing mechanism which can be operated by the drivers, we are replacing these with an automatic door locking system where the doors are linked to the brakes as this would be more reliable,” explains Mukkanna.

According to BMTC Managing Director Upendra Tripathy, footboard travelling remains rampant and contributes to a significant number of accidents in the City because passengers just refuse to adhere to a disciplined way of travelling.

“People are always in a hurry, they push, pull and get off where the traffic lights turn red and at odd spots. They sometimes forcibly open the doors,” says Tripathy.

To prevent this kind of behaviour, BMTC is also exploring the option of using air suspension in buses. “Travel by buses with air suspension ensure a smooth and safe journey. Even if people are standing on the footboard, they will not be thrown off or fall down due to sudden jerks in bus movements. Currently, BMTC has 80 buses fitted with air suspension and 450 more buses will get it soon,” says Tripathy.

He says there’s an urgent need to create awareness among people on rules of travelling by the public transport system and he insists that unless passengers play by the rule, footboard related accidents will continue to escalate. Tripathy says he has written to the Bangalore City police requesting them to ban footboard travelling in the City.

Add as violation

Sources in the Bangalore City Police say the facilities in the City buses need to be upgraded. “There is a tremendous pressure on the public transport system. Buses must have more spaces to stand, the doors must be wider and the buses must keep to their time of arrival and departure. The police are trying their best to eliminate footboard travelling,” a top police officer says.

Whatever might be the claims of the BMTC and police, the proof that their efforts are in vain lies in the spiralling footboard mishaps.

The police must consider adding footboard travelling under the list of violations and start levying punitive fines on violators, thinks a road transport official.