JOIN USTrunk bus services launched to ease congestion in City
The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) Big Trunk bus service to three suburban destinations in the City was launched by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday.
A total of 62 buses were launched as part of the service, which will ply between Kempegowda Bus Station (KBS) and Attibele, Chandapura and Electronics City. The service is expected to ease traffic congestion on the said routes.
It will be easy for commuters to identify the Trunk 3 buses as they will be marked with the first alphabet of the destination and the buses will also have CCTV for increased security of women passengers.
The designated buses will make 276 trips to Attibele, 88 trips to Electronics City and 64 trips to Chandapura every day.
The buses will arrive at their respective destinations at a frequency of two to three minutes and feeder buses will operate to different villages from those places.
New buses
Siddaramaiah said that the State government had forwarded a proposal to the Centre for purchase of 4,684 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM), of which 2,500 would be for BMTC.
While the cost of buses that will ply on the BMTC routes is estimated at Rs 2,991 crore, that of the remaining buses is pegged at Rs 2,063 crore.
Stating that these buses will connect different towns, cities and districts, he said that a sum of Rs 856 crore would be earmarked to upgrade the infrastructure and for construction of workshops, depots and mobility centres. BMTC is planning to construct model bus stations at Yelahanka, Mallasandra, Kengeri New Town, Nagarabhavi, Hesaraghatta in 2013-14. To tighten security for women passengers, BMTC is planning to install Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in all the 6,500 buses at an approximate cost of Rs 32 crore, Siddaramaiah added.
BMTC has identified 12 major corridors that are critical for bus services. These are Old Airport, Hosur Road, Sarjapur Road, Bannerghatta Road, Kanakapura Main Road, Mysore Road, Magadi Road, Tumkur Road, Bellary Road, Tannery Road, Thanisandra Road and Hennur Road. In order to provide better service and ease the waiting time for commuters, frequent buses will ply on these routes, starting from Hosur Road, he said.
Anjum Parvez, managing director, BMTC, said the Corporation was planning to introduce about 50 mini buses to provide connectivity to the 110 villages that are part of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).
“The estimated cost of the project is Rs 10 crore. Eventually as many as 600 such buses will be introduced,” he said.
Volvo buses
KSRTC launched Volvo bus service between Kanakapura and Kalasipalya on Monday. A total of 240 trips will be undertaken by the buses at a frequency of one hour.
A tender is being floated to introduce in-bus entertainment and advertising by installing LED screens and mobile internet devices for 200 buses and free wi-fi internet is also being planned for all the Volvo buses for 2013-14.