In a major boost to commuters looking for public transport options after midnight, BMTC hasintroduced its first Volvo-AC service that operates after midnight. The extended service of Route-500E (Electronics City to Hebbal), launched on Monday, will primarily cater to IT-sector commuters.
The bus, which travels on the Ring Road, will operate beyond its regular hours and run at 1.05 am, 1.50 am and 2.25 am. Till now, BMTC was operating various non-AC services from the Kempegowda Bus Stand (KBS) after midnight. Meanwhile, officials at the transport corporation are hopeful of being be able to add more routes past midnight.
“We are first thinking of covering the IT sectors, where there is a demand for Volvo-AC services after midnight. Based on feasibility, we will introduce more services soon,” G Prakash, general manager (traffic), said.
Referring to plans to introduce more such services, BMTC managing director Anjum Parvez said that officials are working out earnings per kilometre (EPKM).
“Once we complete the EPKM survey, we will take the o pinion of commuters. We will start midnight services in all sectors that have passengers who are willing to travel in buses,” he explained.
Parvez added that BMTC is looking at a time frame of around two weeks to take a decision on expanding the late night services.
“We are working out all issues associated with starting these services. In a single decision, we hope to take care of all problems and logistics. In future, there will be changes in our way of operation to deal with night services. In 10-15 days, we will work out different operations for important sectors,” he added.
All-night BMTC bus service has been a long-standing demand of many people who mainly depend on public transport and often find themselves stranded past midnight.