BENGALURU: Commuters can look forward to commuting in swanky new buses as the BMTC plans to seek more funds from the state government for expansion of its fleet. Transport minister R Ramalinga Reddy on Wednesday said they will request the government to allocate funds in the budget to purchase 3,000 buses.
“This will help BMTC operate buses to areas, especially suburbs, which don’t have proper bus connectivity,” he said.
Reddy said the National Green Tribunal has recently vacated the stay on purchasing new diesel buses. “BMTC will get 1,650 new buses by March this year. We have also decided to scrap the old buses. The induction of new buses and scrapping of aged buses were delayed because of the NGT stay”.
The minister said BMTC will introduce smart cards for passengers to facilitate cashless travel by February. “This is the first time a transport corporation in the country is introducing smart cards. We have decided to introduce smart cards on two bus routes on a pilot basis”.
The minister claimed that BMTC’s finances have been affected due to various reasons including demonetisation, strikes, salary revision of employees and fuel price hike. “We have also decided to adopt a two-tier system of administration instead of a three-tier system for better efficiency. We have decided to open new depots, bus stations and workshops in the next few months” said Reddy.