A good start but not a smooth run

As Bangalore welcomes the new year, City Express attempts to understand what keeps people from boarding the bus on Bus D
A good start but not a smooth run

BANGALORE: Conceptualised originally in a seminar in 2009, Bus Day went on to become a hit with a lot of people in the city committing to take the bus to work in the early months of the campaign. BMTC also took steps to keep the campaign alive with regular logo and slogan competitions and other advertisements. The truth however is that a large part of the population is still disappointed with the public transport utility and are unhappy using their services.

The BMTC has tried all the tricks up its sleeve to attract public attention. From inviting ministers to take the bus to taking the Bangalore cricket team to the stadium in a bus and arranging for a photo shoot but it seems to have failed when it comes to the basic issues of timing, connectivity and overcrowding.

While people do sympathise with the fact that corporation is helpless since it has a limited number of buses and an ever increasing population to handle, at the end of the day they just choose to ignore buses entirely.

While BMTC has taken a bold decision by deciding to promote Bus Day through advertisements and campaigns, it is clear that the momentum has not been maintained. Public Transport Campaigns all over the world need to have a unique strategy every month to maintain public attention and this seems to be BMTC’s downfall. “We will be continuing with the scheme for now, there is nothing new planned for January,” said KR Srinivas, MD, BMTC.

On the topic of overcrowding he said that the Corporation was helpless as it would be a Herculean task to regulate the number of people who boarded a bus. “People will not listen easily, it is a very difficult task,” he said.

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The New Indian Express
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