BMTC buses to ply from 5 am-9 pm

Extra 4K non-AC buses, 75 AC buses added
A conductor checks the bus pass of a passenger in Bengaluru | VINOD KUMAR T
A conductor checks the bus pass of a passenger in Bengaluru | VINOD KUMAR T

BENGALURU: From Tuesday, people can travel by BMTC buses within a larger time limit. The corporation has decided to extend its service from 5 am to 9 pm with an expanded fleet of 4,000 non-AC buses and 75 AC buses, senior BMTC officials told TNIE. Post Lockdown 3.0, BMTC has been running about 2,500 buses out of its total fleet of 6,500 only till 7 pm. The extension of the duration of the service is expected to help office-goers.

Air-conditioned buses were kept off the roads till now considering that closed spaces are more vulnerable to Covid-19 spread. However, now AC buses will also be run although in a restricted number and commuters are advised to take all the precautions, including wearing of masks and maintaining social distancing. BMTC said it will announce more schedules over the next few days. C Shikha, BMTC managing director, told TNIE that routes were modified last week due to night curfew and changes in dynamics. “We will get back to normal as the situation is stabilising now.”

While welcoming the decision to extend the service hours, commuters did have certain grouses to air regarding the MyBMTC app. They said it failed to live-track the schedules, which made it difficult for commuters to remain updated on BMTC’s bus movements. “The app is supposed to livetrack buses, but it’s not working.

How do we know whether the bus is coming or not? I had to wait for half-anhour at Marathahalli to get a bus to Shivajinagar. When a bus was approaching, there was no notification on the app,” said, Jacob C Mathew, a commuter. K Santosh Babu, director (Information & Technology), BMTC, said: “We are uploading a new map for the app. It stopped working a few days ago. Our back-end work is done and the live-tracking feature should start functioning within a week’s time.”

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