Top of BMTC plaint list: Buses don't stop at designated stops

Bengaluru: The BMTC, which operates 70,000 trips on over 2,000 routes in the city, received 6,334 complaints from the public in the first six months of this year. Of these complaints, majority are about BMTC bus drivers not stopping at designated bus-stops. The remaining calls were about speeding, overtaking wrongly, buses ignoring traffic signals and timings.

“BMTC buses stop in the middle of the road to pick up or drop passengers. BMTC drivers are a law unto themselves. These drivers are irresponsible and don’t stop at designated bus-stops," said Prakruthi B., an English lecturer at a private college.

“BMTC drivers suddenly apply brakes 50 to 60 metres away from the bus-stops. They have no regard for traffic rules,” rued Ranjeetha, a homemaker who uses public transport to drop her children to school. 

The other complaint is of BMTC bus conductors refusing to take student pass holders. Whenever there is a crowd of students, most of the drivers refuse to stop at those bus-stops.

“If we miss a bus, we have to wait for the next one. The next bus does not arrive on time, and we are invariably late for our classes,” said Arushi, a second PU student. 

BMTC Managing Director V. Ponnuraj refused to comment on the issues raised by commuters. Another senior BMTC officer said, “We received many complaints regarding this issue and we have resolved 90 per cent of them. We do act immediately to maintain a good transport system.”