BENGALURU: Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC’s) sightseeing bus service-Bengaluru Darshini, which was launched with much fanfare is fast losing patronage. BMTC, which is mostly accepting bookings online for its Bengaluru Darshini services now sees an average of only 300 passengers a month (see graphics). This translates to just 10 tickets per day against the seating capacity of 42 passengers.
Charging Rs 400 for adults and Rs 300 for children per ticket, these buses ferry tourists to various historical, cultural and heritage destinations across the city in a day long tour.
Experts said high fares, competition from private cabs and poor marketing strategies are among the reasons for the service fizzling out. At present, two AC buses pick up passengers from Kempegowda Bus Station at 8.30 am, dropping them off, after covering tourist spots by 6pm at the same place.
Many commuters say private cab fares work out to be cheaper than Bengaluru Darshini service and also offers them an option of choosing places they wish to visit. “Earlier, BMTC’s Hop On Hop Off services were charging Rs 250 for adult and Rs 150 for children and covered more than 20 places, which was reasonable. But now they almost doubled the ticket fare and also reduced the number of places visiting. BMTC is also not offering any discount to those travelling in groups so it makes sense to hire a private cab than travelling in Bengaluru Darshini services at high cost,” said Kiran Gowda, a resident of Koramangala.
Some complain that BMTC is not giving enough publicity for Bengaluru Darshini services. “I thought that these services are stopped because there is no advertisements on its buses or Twitter page. If BMTC is serious about improving the patronage of Bengaluru Darshini services, then they should come up with innovative advertisements and social media campaigns to attract more people especially tourists,” said S Nandini, a regular commuter from Indira Nagar. “Now, when my friends or relatives visiting Bengaluru for the first time want to see places, I am depended on private cabs. BMTC can appoint conductors who are multilingual and knowledgeable about the tourist places who can act as tourist guides, this will attract more people.”
Radhakrishna Holla of Bengaluru Tourist Taxi Owners’ Association (BTTOA) said BMTC should rope-in budget hotels and travel agencies in the city to promote Bengaluru Darshini services. “BMTC should also come up with aggressive advertisement and marketing strategies on the lines of KSTDC”.
When contacted, a senior BMTC official said they are planning to publicise Bengaluru Darshini services to attract more people particularly tourists. “It’s a good service for those who want to see multiple places on the same day. They can also buy ticket from the conductor in the bus.” He said they are operating Bengaluru Darshini buses to other routes when there are no passengers.