City bus service to be introduced

Six buses fitted with Global Positioning System facility will do 96 trips every day

Addressing a news conference here on Wednesday, he said six buses will be introduced from Channapatna Bypass up to Dasarakoppal (7 km distance) from March 25. These buses would complete 96 trips daily. Since three buses would be operated from opposite directions simultaneously, the frequency will be for every ten minutes. This would help the citizens of that part of the city to reach the new bus stand at the earliest.

Basavaraj said for the first time, the buses fitted with GPS and driver-operated doors are being introduced. There would be electronic signboard on all three sides displaying the route. Besides, it would also show the name of the stop and also the next stop.

For the safety of passengers, there would be automatic doors that would be controlled by drivers. The doors would open only after the bus halts at stops. Already, such buses have been introduced in Bangalore, Mysore and Tumkur.

The new city service to be introduced from Friday would start from Channapatna Bypass and pass through New Bus stand, N R Circle, old Bus Stand, Kala Bhavan, and Salagame via MCE and reach Dasarakoppa. The city bus service will be available between 6 am and 10 pm.

Another set of six buses would be operated from office of regional transport office up to Dairy Circle in the next stage. It would ply via Vidyanagar and Bypass. In a month’s time, all 18 buses would be at the service of citizens, he added.

Bus terminal

The divisional controller ruled out converting old bus stand into a bus depot. He said with the introduction of city bus service from Friday the KSRTC needs a separate bus terminal for city services.

In the wake of this, at least a portion of old bus stand would be retained. It was true that there was a proposal to have a depot on the land but the idea has been shelved.
The corporation has seen an alternate land in the city where the depot would come up, he noted.

On complaints of excess parking fee being collected from commuter at new bus stand, Basavaraj said he too had received complaints in this regard. In fact, the KSRTC has not fixed parking fee for vehicles so far. Action would be initiated against those who were collecting it, he added.

Expressing joy over the introduction of city bus service from Friday, City Municipal Council Chairman C R Shankar said the local body would help KSRTC to build a bus stand if the latter shows a suitable place for city bus stand.