Free cycle parking lots at two TTMCs

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will set up free bicycle parking lots at its Traffic and Transit Management Centres (TTMCs) in Yeshwantpur and Whitefield.

However, no such facility has been announced for the several two-wheeler owners using public transport daily, who struggle for space at the TTMCs to park their vehicles.

While the move is aimed at giving a fillip to cycle users in the City who use buses every day, two-wheeler owners insist that the state-run bus service should have included them in this initiative as they are more in number compared with the cycle users.

Renuka, who parks her two-wheeler every day at the Shanthinagar TTMC, said, “I park my two-wheeler every day here at the TTMC. Why cannot they also think of us for free parking. We should also get the same privilege,”  she said.

Sources say that while the two-wheelers could be seen haphazardly parked at the TTMCs, the officials have proposed to allow cycle parking free of cost.

Those who park their two-wheelers near the TTMCs to catch buses to go further say that parking at TTMC was costly and it was tough to find a spot to park it for the whole day.
Consequently, many two-wheeler users are forced to park their vehicles outside the TTMC near commercial complexes.

‘Idea not new’

BMTC officials say that the idea to allow cycles to be parked at the TTMC was not new to the Corporation and the same had been planned for almost five years now.

However, in the past, it was decided to charge cycle users a nominal fee and now it has been proposed as a free service.

Not only this, the BMTC will also employ a guard to ensure that the cycles are parked safely, they said.