BMTC responds with GPS, ETM-fitted buses

First it was the autorickshaw which people thought was an alternative to the sluggish Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus services. So the transport corporation evolved itself, keeping pace with the growing needs of the commuters. It introduced several services including the Big 10 buses, buses plying on arterial roads alone, feeder buses and so on.

Just when everyone thought BMTC bus services have no match, came the taxi aggregator services including Ola, Taxi For Sure, Uber and others. These threatened the reign of buses and autorickshaws alike with lower fares. Even before BMTC could come to terms with this one, came another blow in the form of maxi cabs / mini buses which now stare the BMTC bus services in the eye.

BMTC authorities acknowledge these as serious concerns for the smooth running of the public bus services. Yet, they are confident that their services are any day better and are here for good.

The transport corporation’s Managing Director Ekroop Caur had this to say on the current scenario: “First of all, the taxis, maxi cabs, private buses are being run illegally and BMTC is the lone operator when it comes to providing reliable and efficient service to public. Having said that, we do acknowledge these parallel services as the one which will be adversely affecting our services.”

However, Caur was not ready to make comparisons. “These services cannot be compared with the robust transport system which BMTC is. These services do not have any social obligation in terms of providing bus passes to students or concession to the senior citizens or plying routes for the public even on low occupancy rate routes,” she explains.

The taxis and maxi cabs / private buses, says Caur, “are purely business models which have one aim and that is to make profit. But we do not work for profit and we are here to provide bus facility to the general public.”

How does the corporation plan to reinvent itself in the face of growing competition from these alternative services? Caur responds: “We have plans to improve our services as well in terms of having more schedules to draw more number of passengers.”

She lists out more: “Our GPS installation in buses is coming along very well. Already more than 1,500 buses have been fitted with GPS services and another 1,000 plus buses have Electronic Ticketing Machines(ETM). By December, the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) will roll out as well. This will give the commuters real-time information pertaining to arrival of buses, to bridge the technology gap.”