BENGALURU: BMTC’s proposal to hand over some of its air-conditioned Volvo buses to other state run transport corporations has caused anxiety among the city commuters. However, officials have assured that buses running on profitable routes will not be removed.
The city bus operator is contemplating such a move following a steep rise in fuel costs. The buses will he handed over to North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC), North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).
The transport utility runs 6,800 ordinary and air-conditioned buses, covering almost 11.48 lakh kilometres a day and catering to over 45 lakh passengers.
It incurs a daily operational loss of Rs 2.5 crore while the ticket collection is at Rs 5 crore. The operational loss of air-conditioned buses is higher than ordinary buses. BMTC spends Rs 80.29 to run an AC bus for kilometre, while it earns Rs 63.95.
"It seems BMTC is not bothered about regular commuters. The corporation has to plan its routes to get a profit. We have experienced that most of the profit-making routes such as Silk Board, Electronics City and others have less number of Volvo buses. So it is better they cut down the number of buses from routes generating less revenue and increase frequency in IT hubs,” said Puneeth T., who commutes regularly in a Volvo to ITPL.
“Over 1,000 air-conditioned Volvo buses operate in Bengaluru city and they are profitable only when each of them run 150-200 km a day. But that is not possible in Bengaluru. We are, therefore, thinking of handing over some of them to other corporations. But city commuters need not worry because there will be no effect for the profit-making routes. In fact we will increase buses in such routes," a senior BMTC official told DC.
BMTC sources said the buses plying to IT hubs such as ITPL, Electronic City, Silk Board and Whitefield and other profit-making routes will not be affected.
"The proposal is being discussed and action plan is not yet ready. The corporation will form an expert committee to submit a report on profitable and loss-making routes of BMTC’s air-conditioned Volvo buses in Bengaluru," the official added.
