A third of all BMTC buses back, 75 with e-ticketing

Daily and weekly passes are being issued instead of tickets, but ‘high’ prices are a sore point

Public transportation resumed in Bengaluru on Tuesday after two months, but only 2,200 buses of a total 6,500 (33 per cent) are plying currently.

To meet the needs of the public, while the BMTC is covering the entire city, the focus is on high density routes such as Majestic to Yelehanka, Majestic to Electronic city and to Marathalli.

The BMTC is going by some simple rules to protect passengers against the pandemic— only 30 people in a bus, and masks must be worn at all times. And to avoid contact, no tickets are being issued. If you want to take a BMTC bus, you need to get a pass. The weekly pass is priced at Rs 300 and is valid for seven days, while a weekly pass comes for Rs 300.

Only at bus stations

Weekly passes are issued at 65 bus stations across the city from 7 am to 7 pm, while daily passes are issued by conductors. Many commuters are complaining about the pass fares. The likelihood of a person travelling for Rs 70 is low, and without the option of carrying forward the balance, many commuters will end up spending a lot of money over and above what they would have if tickets had been issued.

The BMTC says it is taking measures to introduce digital ticketing. In the pilot version, digital ticketing involves the use of credit cards, pay wallets and QR codes. This will be available in 75 buses and 15 depots.

It will take a while to be implemented across the city.

Cleaned once a day

All buses are disinfected once they return to the depots. Sanitising between trips is difficult, a senior official says. “Conducting temperature checks for passengers is not possible because of the sheer numbers. With frequent stops, it is not logistically viable,” he explains.

Tests are conducted for drivers, conductors and other BMTC staff every day at the depots. Passengers, he says, would have to exercise discretion when using public transportation, and avoid commuting if sick.

Limited entry

In order to ensure that only 30 passengers travel in a bus at a time, the BMTC is limiting entry. “If the seats are full, no one will be allowed to enter,” says another official.

The staff are only now getting used to the new rules. “We are talking to our crew everyday about the importance of following our guidelines. We suspended a driver and conductor for allowing 70 passengers to travel at a time,” the official says.

However, the seats are not placed two metres apart, which means one infected passenger could put at least 30 people at risk.

Regardless of the uncertainties, the decision to restart public transportation was inevitable, says urban
architect Naresh Narasimhan.

“The government is making decisions in good faith. India needs to get back on its feet and people need to be more conscious of the decisions they make,” he told Metrolife.

Change in schedule

BMTC buses are not following their pre-lockdown schedules. The BMTC is not clear on trips and frequencies. The new schedules are not updated on the app either.

Distancing at bus stops

With 20,000 bus shelters in the city, monitoring all of them is impossible, says a BMTC official.

“We will supervise areas with larger crowds. The public has to follow the queues and maintain distance from each other for their own safety,” he says.