Bengaluru: Any Metro commuter travelling on the purple line from Mysuru Road to Indiranagar or Byyappanahalli expects the rush, lack of sufficient seats and jostling with little space to even breathe. Yet, feeder buses of BMTC that aid Metro commuters, ply partially empty, often because of lack of scientifically planned last-mile connectivity. "Right now, the Metro goes only from Rajajinagar till Mantri Mall. The BMTC can extend the service till Magadi Road. The existing Metro lines need buses also on Mysuru Road, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Chandra Layout, etc," said Mr Narendra Kumar, member, Nagarika Shakti.
There are quite a few areas that can be tapped by the BMTC for feeder service. "The software company catchment area is one such. For the Metro line running from Byyappanahalli to Bagamane Tech Park via S.V. Road, there is a need for buses. Also, from Indiranagar to Ejipura through Intermediate Ring Road, passing through Embassy Tech park," Mr Kumar said.
The BMTC's contention is that Metro phase 1 should be completed to run the feeder service on the North South-East West corridor, which will get them some profits.
BMTC Chairman Nagaraj Yadav said, "We have ordered 350 midi-buses. Where there is demand, we will add feeders. Without the Metro completing its Phase 1, how will we add more buses? Currently, we have a lot of old buses that we cannot use as feeders, just because there is a demand. We will wait for the new ones with AC, GPS, ITS, etc. Ola and Uber have affected the government-run services. The state should promote its buses. Overall, we are not doing too well, revenue wise, because of these factors."
"He claimed that for a city with a population of one crore, it is difficult to believe that the BMTC is suffering losses. It is the incorrect business model that needs to be improved," said Mr Narendra Kumar.
"If buses run into losses, how do we find tempo taxis running around making money on these routes? There is a demand along the existing Metro operations. One bus route can see 450-600 passengers if route rationalisation is done. Right now, there is a mismanagement of bus schedules," Mr Kumar said.
