BENGALURU: In about a year, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has introduced nearly 40 new bus routes to new areas, residential layouts, Metro feeders and other areas based on demand. Of these new routes, 70 per cent are running successfully and the remaining 30 per cent routes are modified.
Among the new bus routes, the service between Madavara on Tumakuru Road and Electronics City on Hosur Road via NICE Road, and routes like the HSR Layout Metro feeder bus service are popular. To cater to increasing demand across the city, the bus corporation is introducing an average of two new bus routes every month.
Sharing details on how the new bus routes are decided, BMTC Chief Traffic Manager GT Prabhakar Reddy said, “Multiple factors are considered when we introduce a new route. We look at the demand for a particular route from the people, communities, colonies and layouts. We also collect feedback from bus conductors and drivers as some buses run jampacked during peak hours, and this can be avoided if a new route is introduced.”
Giving an example of the new Madavara to Electronics City route, Reddy said, “Before this route was introduced, people from Tumakuru Road had to struggle to reach Electronics City. We have seen people travelling in vans, trucks and other modes to reach Hosur Road for work every day. There was high demand, so we introduced buses on this route last November and the buses are running full on both trips.”
He said the bus corporation is operating 21 schedules with 178 trips, with a bus every 15 minutes. Likewise, he said all new Metro feeder routes are doing well; the HSR Layout Metro feeder completed one year and carries more than one lakh passengers every month, he added.
“We have introduced nearly 40 new bus routes and will keep adding to them. Of these buses, 70 per cent are running successfully. In the remaining 30 per cent, we rework the route, modify it and reschedule,” Reddy explained, adding that introducing new routes will continue to meet the increasing demand for buses.
Some of the new bus routes are: Vijaynagar to Wipro Gate Electronics City on NICE Road, Hebbal to Tubagere, Shivajinagar to Hessarghatta, Yelahanka to Hessarghatta and Malleswaram to Banashankari.