Aligning its services with the state government's night curfew, the BMTC has limited the trips in each zone with depot managers told to completely halt operations of buses between 8 pm and 6 am.
In a recent circular, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has directed its official bus operations could be stretched till 9 pm only in case of heavy congestion at major terminals like Kempegowda Bus Station, Shivajinagar, Banashankari, Kengeri, Yashwantpur and others.
This, however, doesn't apply to services from the outskirts to the city centre.
The resumption of services after the lifting of the lockdown restrictions has seen the daily ridership rise above 10 lakh last month. However, this was still a far ply from the 36 lakh rides clocked every day by the corporation in the pre-pandemic era.
Officials have to run buses on ascertaining the needs of the commuters. "Due to the rise in the number of Covid-19 cases, the ridership has come down. Buses have to be operated only as per the needs of the commuters," it said.
As per the direction, a total of 4000 trips will be operated in the city with 1000 services operated in the north zone, followed by 900 in the west, 800 in south and 600 in northeast. The central zone will have 30 services.
Further, officilas have been told to ensure that a bus is not run for more tan 125 km on average. The routes or trips that do not bring enough (earnings per kilometre) will be canceled.
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