BENGALURU: Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB) group on Thursday asked the Chief Minister not to transfer buses out of Bengaluru. The request came after a recent announcement that Volvo buses will ply to other cities too.
The group demanded to reduce fares and give priority access to buses on Outer Ring Road (ORR) instead. The citizens claimed that 1,000 BMTC AC buses must be redeployed on routes decided upon scientifically, to meet demands. “When we know that numerous routes have few or no buses, this is an extremely regressive move,” a member said.
Srinivas Alavilli, co-founder of CfB, said, “A fraction of the budget allocated for elevated corridor will cover losses. These, however, are not ‘losses’ considering the enormous benefits it has of handling 45 lakh passengers daily,” he said.
Citizens said thousands want to take the bus but are unable to due to lack of reliable and affordable services. They added that the ORR stretch, between Silk Board and KR Puram, is ideal to give buses priority, since six lakh people work on that corridor.
“We request the CM to reduce the fares of AC services (and all services). When BMTC ran a pilot with reduced AC fares, 42% more people used the bus. This indicates the demand for AC buses,” Srinivas explained.
Co-founder of CfB Tara Krishnaswamy said CFB surveys show that thousands of garment workers, domestic workers and security guards have no access to public transport. The state should redeploy buses for the working class.