Go sightseeing in City, get stuck in long traffic jams

The half-day Bengaluru sightseeing service of the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) is leaving many tourists red-faced.

Because of increasing traffic jams in the City, tourists are forced to spend long hours in the bus rather than at destinations and are very unhappy about it. Same is the case with the day-long sightseeing trip.

“We spend so much to see the City. But most of our time goes away sitting in the bus amid snail-paced traffic,” said Sandhya M, a tourist from Mumbai. “We get to spend less time at tourist attractions. It’s is not a nice experience at all. Bengaluru has more of traffic to show and less of destinations.”

Sohail K, a tourist from Uttar Pradesh, recalled a similar experience. “We were rushed through at all the tourist places. The bus driver told us that there are huge traffic jams around, so we will have to finish fast. Another passenger told me that this is common.”

Traffic has become a major problem in all the trips. Since the travel duration is high, tourists get to spend fewer minutes at each destination. Ideally, tourists should spend 45 minutes at each destination, but this time is cut down to 30 minutes or sometime just 20 minutes.

Many tourists prefer half-day trips (which was started a year and a half ago) because people didn’t want to spend the whole day on the road. “But now they are complaining of spending long hours in traffic jams. This has become a challenge for half-day trips too,” KSTDC Managing Director P S Harsha told Deccan Herald.
An official in the KSTDC’s booking section at Badami House said that the half-day tour did not take place about five times a month because the number of bookings would be fewer than ten.

 The service takes place only if there are at least 12 people in the 45-seater bus. So, fewer people go sightseeing in Bengaluru. Those using the service are mostly tourists from northern or coastal Karnataka, the booking official added.

The half-day tour covers Vidhana Soudha outer view, Bull Temple, Gavi Gangadheshwara temple, Tipu Palace, Lalbagh Botanical Gardens, shopping near Lalbagh, Government Museum and Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum. The day-long trip covers Iskcon temple, Rajarajeshwari temple, Bannerghatta Biological Park, National Gallery of Modern Art, Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, Chitrakala Parishat Art Gallery and Indira Gandhi Musical Fountain.