Bus shelters: Poor in design, use and maintenance

Besides those ubiquitos BMTC buses, the roadside bus shelters are the most visible signs of the city’s public transport system. But plagued by lack of maintenance, passenger information boards and proper seating and lighting, many of these shelters are in disarray. Here’s a closer look at these shelters spread across the City.

Barring a few good ones with decent rooftop, flooring and seating arrangements, most shelters present an ugly picture and are not passenger-friendly. This is totally out of sync with the ambitious Intelligent Transport System (ITS) being introduced on a trial basis by BMTC. 

Many of these shelters are surrounded by dirt. Some are even without a roof, contradicting its very purpose as a ‘shelter.’ Missing seat slabs are common. Since there is no display of bus timings, almost all commuters are forced to stand on the road to spot an approaching bus. At times, the passengers take shelter under the roadside trees and shops in the absence of bus bays.
 
Sundar Sharma, a resident of Udaya Nagar in KR Puram draws attention to a poorly designed bus stand located at the Tin Factory junction. Buses halt right in the middle of the road here, creating bottlenecks, he says. “Why can’t the BBMP construct bus bays at places where the road is wide? With many buses halting one after another, there would be a huge traffic block. Basically, buses stop all over the road,” he observes.

Bus shelters in the Central Business District (CBD) areas were once well-maintained with decent facilities. But, mounting traffic has now made these grossly inadequate to cater to the rush of passengers. Since the footpaths are not wide enough to accommodate these structures, they jut out, forcing buses to halt on the road, obstructing traffic flow.

At many places where buses halt, there are no bus shelters at all. Commuters are forced to take shelter under roadside trees and shops. This is too evident in places such as Residency Road, Malleswaram, Indian Express, Seshadripuram, Palace road and parts of Koramangala.

In the absence of toilet facilities on most stretches in the City, people use the rearside of the bus shelters to urinate. Unable to bear the bad stench, commuters stand away from the shelters. Pallavi Medappa, an employee from Domlur suggests setting up e-toilets next to bus stands, in the larger interest of keeping the City clean. She gives the example of a bus stand in BEL Circle, which is only used by destitutes to sleep and not by commuters.

Marble slabs laid on iron platforms often go missing. This clear case of theft is seen in many new bus shelters, especially in KR Puram, Koramangala and Mathikere. In some bus stands, tiles are missing from the flooring, a clear proof of poor or no maintenance.