Don’t be surprised if you see buses plying across the city past midnight. The BMTC, responding to a petition on change.org floated by Shashank Kumar, has agreed to introduce a new bus service that will ply till 1 am.
City Express had reported, on March 13, that Kumar had begun a signature campaign with over 9,000 petitioners, demanding that the bus service continue till midnight. After the signatures reached the 15,000 mark, Kumar met BMTC officials and handed over the results of a survey conducted by him, where a staggering 98 per cent of respondents said that they wanted bus deadlines to be extended beyond 10 pm.
According to the survey, Bangaloreans were very vocal in their demand for public transport, with 45 per cent of the respondents saying they used buses everyday, and another 35 per cent saying they used buses several times a week. The most frequented routes seemed to be from Majestic to Bannerghatta Road and ITPL to Banashankari.
Parvez, Managing Director, BMTC, confirmed that the service would begin soon. He added that eight bus routes have been tentatively mapped out, keeping in mind the demands of the petitioners.
Initially, two to three buses will ply on each route from 5.30 pm to 1 am. The buses will start at base areas like Kempegowda Bus Station and Shivajinagar and travel around the city. This special service is being started as per the demands of the people. The routes and number of buses are flexible and depend on the viability of the move,” he said.
Kumar said, “We are assisting the Traffic and Planning Team in deciding the specific routes as per the demands of commuters. With this new service, citizens will not have to depend on private transport alone at night. This will help hotel workers, policemen and many from the working class.”