Slash bus fares by half to help urban poor: Forum to Transport Minister D C Thammanna

Bengaluru Bus Prayaanikara Vedike (BBPV), a bus-commuters’ forum, on Wednesday urged the Transport minister not to hike bus fares due to increase in prices of diesel.

BENGALURU: Bengaluru Bus Prayaanikara Vedike (BBPV), a bus-commuters’ forum, on Wednesday urged the Transport minister not to hike bus fares due to increase in prices of diesel.

BBPV, while submitting a memorandum, urged Transport Minister D C Thammanna to slash existing bus fares by 50 per cent to help the urban poor.

“We informed the minister that this could be done by reimbursing taxes such as road tax, motor vehicle tax, tolls, fuel tax, among others collected from BMTC and KSRTC. We also asked them to provide subsidies on purchase of fuel, spare parts, and infrastructure incurred by state transport undertakings on a monthly basis,’’ said Vinay K Sreenivasa of BBPV.

“Though a whopping amount of `14,405.01 crore (in first phase) and `26,405 crore (second phase) was invested on Metro, BMTC with its current ridership of 50 lakh per day, has been the backbone of city’s transport landscape. Thus, all policy decisions must be made with bus-based public transport at the centre,” he added.

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