BENGALURU: The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) NICE-10 route has gained significant popularity among commuters, generating Rs 1 crore in monthly revenue for the bus corporation. Officially launched by Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on December 23 last year, the route recently completed its first anniversary.
The NICE-10 route operates between Madavara NICE Road Junction (BIEC) on Tumakuru Road and Electronics City on Hosur Road. En route, it stops at NICE Road junctions at Magadi Road, Mysuru Road, Kanakapura Road and Bannerghatta Road, towards its destination at Electronics City.
“There are hundreds of people who commute daily to Electronics City for work. Many of them board from Madavara, Nelamangala and areas around Tumakuru Road. Before the introduction of the BMTC bus service, people were dependent on private cabs, trucks and vans. However with increasing demand, BMTC introduced the NICE-10 buses at the end of last year,” said an official from BMTC.
Further, he also said that the route gradually picked up pace by word of mouth and Whatsapp groups. Initially, around 60,000 passengers travelled on this route monthly. The figure has now surged to over 3 lakh passengers, marking its success as one of BMTC’s most popular routes.
Buses on this route operate at a frequency of 10 minutes with 21 schedules. The first bus starts as early as 6 am and the last bus at 9 pm, the bus corporation said.
The bus corporation introduces new bus routes targeting new areas, residential layouts, Metro stations and other areas based on the demand. Of the newly introduced routes, around 70 per cent run successfully while the 30 per cent witness poor patronage. BMTC aims to modify these specific routes.