Bengalureans have been waiting for an exclusive bus lane for a long time. And the first step to make this a reality was the approval of the route and design of the lane.

A meeting of top officials has approved the special lane and route for the buses. What is left is the design expected to be approved in a meeting next week.

The special route / lane has been finalised from MG Road to Hope Farm, via Whitefield. The buses will pass through the Old Airport Road, Domlur, Marathahalli, ITPB, Whitefield, and finally Hope Farm, which is midway between Whitefield and HAL campuses.The date of the launch will be fixed next week when all the agencies meet.

The route has been taken up in the IT belt because of the high number of techies who work in the area.

It is expected that the Volvo buses that head towards Marathahalli, Whitefield and Hope Farm, which is on the way to Whitefield, will be operated on the special lane. The BMTC is working on the timings and schedules of these buses. Typically, the buses that head to Whitefield from Majestic, like 335E and 335C, would be expected to take the special lane.

Top officials of the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) told Deccan Herald that the route had been finalised. What was left was the approval of the design for the route.

A meeting of BMTC, BBMP, and DULT officials which will take place next week, will finalise the design.

“The design was prepared based on a survey that was conducted over the last few weeks by the BMTC, BBMP and DULT officials. We have shared all the details of the design work with the BMTC and BBMP. What we will discuss next week is inputs from the two agencies, their take on how the system should work. Once all three of us come to a consensus, we will go ahead with the implementation very soon,” DULT Chairperson V Manjula said.

Once the design of the lane is finalised, the work on the infrastructure will have to begin.

BMTC, BBMP and DULT officials have to decide on whether the bus bay should look different from the usual bus stops, what facilities the bus bay should have, and how much distance will be maintained between two bus bays, and the like.If the special lane model becomes successful, the model will be tried out in other areas where the travel density is high.

 One such area could be the Hebbal-KR Puram Junction, experts have suggested. The Hebbal area has the Manyata Tech Park which houses employees in thousands.