BENGALURU: The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has scrapped 1,886 old buses and inducted 2,292 new buses over the past two and a half years as part of a fleet modernisation initiative aimed at improving reliability and expanding public transport services in the city.
With a fleet of around 7,000 buses operating nearly 6,283 daily schedules, the addition of newer vehicles has enabled BMTC to introduce approximately 400 additional schedules over the past year, improving service coverage and frequency across Bengaluru.
Officials said each newly inducted bus costs between Rs 38 lakh and Rs 42 lakh, depending on the model.
Speaking to TNIE, GT Prabhakar Reddy, Chief Traffic Manager of BMTC, said the corporation now has one of the youngest bus fleets among city transport corporations in India.
“With a younger fleet, breakdowns and maintenance needs come down. Reliability and regularity improve, ultimately benefiting passengers through better quality service,” he said.He added that the additional schedules have helped BMTC expand services to new areas and increase frequency on existing routes based on commuter demand.
BMTC has also launched services along the NICE Road corridor, which currently serves around 16,000 passengers daily.
“To improve connectivity from suburban areas, the corporation has introduced express bus services from about 11 locations, including Devanahalli, Doddaballapur, Nelamangala and Dabaspet, to the city centre,” he said.
These services operate with limited stops, allowing commuters to travel end-to-end faster, especially during peak hours. Across Karnataka’s four transport corporations, a total of 3,714 buses have been scrapped, 2,099 refurbished, and 5,509 new buses inducted.