Bengaluru: Though Namma Metro may have drastically cut down travel time for harried Bengaluru commuters, lack of proper last mile connectivity leaves many frustrated.
While they demand more buses for effective last-mile connectivity, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has reportedly withdrawn some of the metro feeder bus services at some stations following poor response.
Currently there are around 173 Metro feeder buses operating from different parts of the city, but many of the night services were recently cancelled.
BMTC sources said the corporation is ready to purchase more than 3,000 buses and will also cater to the commuter demand for metro feeder buses. "Most of the metro stations in the city have no proper bus connectivity. People who stay in Nagarbhavi and Outer Ring Road find it difficult to reach Mysore road metro station. They need to change two buses and the frequency is poor. We often forced to catch some private vehicle from the Ring Road to reach the station, said Arun Kumar, a regular metro user from Nagarbhavi.
He pointed out that commuters prefer using their own vehicles to reach Mysore road metro station as there is ample parking space.
Most of the metro feeders buses curtailed are from South Bengaluru as BMTC complained that they were not even generating even Rs 10 per km. On the other hand the corporation has decided to increase frequency where there is demand.
Sources also revealed that BMTC had earlier introduced around 197 feeder bus services from four directions of metro services and were plying around 3,000 trips.
The withdrawn feeder bus services were from Vijayanagar, Magadi Road, Banashankari, Jayanagar, R.V. Road and they have been diverted to other routes.
A BMTC official told Deccan Chronicle, “Corporation will be purchasing new buses soon, but still we have not decided to increase metro feeder buses. If metro commuters are finding difficult then they have to submit a request letter for the corporation.” BMTC is reportedly planning to purchase 3,158 new buses, which include 1, 035 normal buses and 151 A/C buses
