BENGALURU: Transport Minister D C Thammanna on Wednesday said that Bengaluru Metropolitian Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) Volvo buses will soon ply to neighbouring cities of Bengaluru. A committee has been set up to study the feasibility of ferrying these buses to cities which are located within a 150- 200 km radius of Bengaluru like Kolar, Tumakuru, Davanagere, Bengaluru rural and Chikkaballapur. After preparing the report, the decision of where to ply these buses will be taken.
Thammanna was speaking to media persons at the sidelines of the curtain raiser of the second edition of Prawaas- India International Bus and Car Travel Show, in the city. Organised by Bus and Car Operation and Confederation of India (BOCI), Prawaas will be held in Mumbai from July 25 -27.
He said that they were yet to decide if Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will manage these trips. He said BMTC was incurring losses for the past three years, with the the last fiscal reporting losses of Rs 300- 350 crore. Officials have now been tasked to ascertain the cause of the losses incurred, and to take feedback from citizens.
Members of BOCI submitted a memorandum of their demands to Thammanna on the occasion. They also said that contract carriage permits should be issued to tourist operators and asked for the revision of ticket prices as it has not been done for the past six years. BOCI president Prasanna Patwardhan pressed for the improvement of public transport.
‘Prawaas’ in Mumbai, but roadshow held in city
After the runaway success of the inaugural edition of Prawaas, Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI) announced the second edition of India’s biggest bus and car travel show for public transport - Prawaas 2019 on Wednesday.
The three-day event will be held from July 25 to 27 in Mumbai to bring together bus and car operators from across India in eight important segments - intercity, intracity, school bus, employee transport, tour operators, tourists cabs, maxi cabs and PPP-SPVs. The central theme of the 2nd Edition of Prawaas is ‘Towards SAFE, SMART, SUSTAINABLE Passenger Mobility’ and will bring the stakeholders on one platform.