Bengaluru needs 15K BMTC buses: New mobility study

A new study on sustainable mobility for Bengaluru sought major changes in the regulatory framework of the state transport sector while recommending urgent steps like increasing the size of the BMTC fleet from 6,500 to 15,000 by 2021, introducing priority bus lanes and improving footpaths.

Citizens’ group B-PAC and cab aggregator Uber said they conducted several events and workshops in various parts of Bengaluru to understand the changes needed in the mobility sector.

The report also stressed the push for electric vehicles. “The need of the hour is to convert mass transit to efficient, sustainable and green transit,” it noted, seeking public charging infrastructure and fast-charging stations on highways.

Releasing the report, B-PAC president Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw noted that the Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority Bill has been placed before the government. “BMLTA should be an all-encompassing authority with financial autonomy to perform the work of integrating different modes of transport,” she said.

The report went a step ahead, demanding that BMLTA should have the power to decide the nature of investments for the city.

Among the recommendations was the need for a law to catch up with the “rapidly evolving technology” and to formulate a “comprehensive policy” on the legality of tech-based mobility solutions.

While offering many positive suggestions, the report also backed the controversial demand of opening up the mobility sector to private players by ending BMTC monopoly.

In a nod to Uber, which sponsored the study, the report sought an amendment to the Karnataka On-demand Transportation Technology Aggregators Rules, 2016 to allow dynamic pricing.