BENGALURU: Namma Metro, which was expected to ease commuting woes in Bengaluru, has not been able to address many issues as it has not integrated well with other modes of public transport, according to the findings of a study by resident welfare associations.
Srinidhi Sampath, a member of the RWA Praja, measured distances between Metro stations and major bus stands. As per the findings, the Cantonment railway station and the Peenya satellite bus stand bus stand are 1 km away from the nearest Metro stations while the Jayanagar TTMC is 600 metres from the closest Metro station. Six other stations are at distances of anywhere between 300 and 500 metres from the nearest bus stations.
Sampath said in other locations, though the distances were small, it was inconvenient for passengers. “At Banashankari bus station, passengers will have to cross a junction which has high vehicle density. At Yeshwantpur, the station is close to both the railway station and the bus stand and there was a fantastic opportunity to integrate all three. No such facility has been provided.”
Srinivas Alavilli of Citizens for Bengaluru said his acquaintances had arranged for their friends to pick them up from Metro stations instead of switching over to buses. “There should be zero-mile connectivity unless there’s no other option,” he said.
Sampath said people are demanding parking spaces at Metro stations, which isn’t the case anywhere else in the world, as the Metro networks elsewhere are integrated with public transport. He said Metro feeder buses aren’t serving their purpose and need to be rerouted. As the buses take long routes, their frequency is erratic. They ply on regular BMTC routes where services are already available. BMRCL had said it will try to work on integrating the stations by constructing skywalks.