BENGALURU: After nearly two months of the lockdown, Bengaluru and other parts of the state opened up to movement of people by public transport on Tuesday. In the capital, people were relieved that they could commute in autorickshaws, cabs and buses. Transport utilities BMTC and KSRTC resumed services with partial operations and passengers sitting one seat away from each other to ensure social distancing.
A BMTC spokesperson said they operated 1,500 buses, and passengers were not allowed to stand while travelling. Only pass-holders were allowed on BMTC buses and passengers had to purchase the daily pass for Rs 70 or weekly pass for Rs 300 instead of tickets. Buses and the Kempegowda Bus Station were sanitised, with boxes painted on the platform for social distancing as passengers waited for their turn to board.
While KSRTC buses departed to ensure they reached their destination by 7 pm, from Wednesday, the last buses will depart by 7 pm and in case of some routes like Bengaluru-Bidar and Kalaburagi, the buses will reach the next day.In Mysuru, only 80 non-stop services were run to Bengaluru, Kodagu, Hassan, Chamarajanagara, Shivamogga, Tumakuru and Mangaluru. There was also not much demand for the city bus services. In all, 69 schedules were run against 423 on usual days. There was poor response to bus services in Hassan too.
From Shivamogga, KSRTC operated 120 buses to Bengaluru, Hubballi, Chikkamagaluru, Sringeri, Davanagere and Chitradurga. Of the 67 buses which operated from Chitradurga, a majority were towards Bengaluru while the rest were towards Davanagere, Hassan, Hosapete and Shivamogga. However, occupancy was very low.
In Hubballi, NWKRTC chief traffic manager Santosh Kumar V H said the corporation had planned to operate 1,200 schedules on Tuesday, but managed to run 1,100 schedules. More schedules will be added from Wednesday based on demand.There was poor response in Belagavi on the first day due to the fear of Covid-19. From Belagavi depot, two buses each to Bengaluru and Vijayapura, three to Hubballi-Dharwad cities and to all the taluk headquarters and villages, city routes were started in the day.
Book tickets online to avoid overcrowding, says KSRTC
Barring Nippani and Raibag routes, buses were not operated to any other cities. About 90 buses are being operated from Chikkodi bus depot.KSRTC had planned to operate 1,500, but by 4 pm, it operated 1,535 buses, with 50 per cent occupancy. Director of Security and Vigilance in KSRTC, Ram Nivas Sepat, visited Kempegowda Bus Stand to oversee operations and interacted with staff and passengers. Buses from Bengaluru headed for Bagalkot, Ballari, Kundapura, Chikkamagaluru, Davanagere, Dharwad, Kalaburagi, Hubballi, Hosapete and several other places.
In a statement, KSRTC said, “In all, 1,606 buses and 53,476 passengers were ferried to different places in the state. KSRTC has requested passengers to book tickets online to avoid overcrowding in bus stations and waiting in long queues. For travel on May 20, 3,760 seats have already been reserved. “
A BMTC spokesperson said, “The rates for passes were fixed to discourage people from non-essential travel and also prevent physical contact during exchange of cash and when money has to be deposited by the conductor with the accounts department.”Tanveer Pasha, president, Ola Uber Drivers’ and Owners’ Association, said, “Only 20-25 per cent of the fleet functioned today with each driver getting barely 2-3 bookings. Some areas were blocked for cab services as they were containment zones.”