<p>A day before the budget presentation, bus commuters on Thursday requested the chief minister to allocate Rs 1,000 crore to the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and take steps to encourage public transport.</p>.<p>The Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) collected 6,500 signatures in support of its demands before submitting the petition to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.</p>.<p>The letter also gave a comparison of the fares in buses run by government corporations of five mega cities, including Pune, New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, which showed that the BMTC’s fares were costliest in the 5 km, 10 km and 15 km range.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Some of the demands</strong></p>.<p>The forum requested the chief minister to make BMTC travel free for women, reduce bus fares by 50%, make student bus passes free, and deploy additional buses to cater to the growing demands of the public.</p>.<p>“To implement this scheme in a systematic and stable fashion, BBPV also demands the constitution of a Bengaluru Urban Bus Transport Fund where an annual budget allocation of Rs 1,000 crore will be made by the government,” the letter said, suggesting that additional mobility-related charges and cess like parking fees and congestion pricing can also be directed to this fund.</p>.<p>The BBPV termed the present bus fares unaffordable at a time when citizens are in deep economic distress due to the pandemic and noted that bus travel must be made free for women and other vulnerable groups.</p>.<p>The forum also cited demands raised in the public hearing, where members and representatives from several sectors of the society batted for an affordable and reliable public transport facility in the city.</p>
<p>A day before the budget presentation, bus commuters on Thursday requested the chief minister to allocate Rs 1,000 crore to the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and take steps to encourage public transport.</p>.<p>The Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) collected 6,500 signatures in support of its demands before submitting the petition to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai.</p>.<p>The letter also gave a comparison of the fares in buses run by government corporations of five mega cities, including Pune, New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, which showed that the BMTC’s fares were costliest in the 5 km, 10 km and 15 km range.</p>.<p class="CrossHead"><strong>Some of the demands</strong></p>.<p>The forum requested the chief minister to make BMTC travel free for women, reduce bus fares by 50%, make student bus passes free, and deploy additional buses to cater to the growing demands of the public.</p>.<p>“To implement this scheme in a systematic and stable fashion, BBPV also demands the constitution of a Bengaluru Urban Bus Transport Fund where an annual budget allocation of Rs 1,000 crore will be made by the government,” the letter said, suggesting that additional mobility-related charges and cess like parking fees and congestion pricing can also be directed to this fund.</p>.<p>The BBPV termed the present bus fares unaffordable at a time when citizens are in deep economic distress due to the pandemic and noted that bus travel must be made free for women and other vulnerable groups.</p>.<p>The forum also cited demands raised in the public hearing, where members and representatives from several sectors of the society batted for an affordable and reliable public transport facility in the city.</p>
