Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation

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Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation
Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation logo.png
FormerlyBangalore Transport Service
ParentKarnataka State Road Transport Corporation
Founded1997[1] [2]
HeadquartersCentral Office, Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road, Shanthinagara, Bangalore
LocaleBangalore, Karnataka
Service areaBangalore Metropolitan Region
Service typeBengaluru Sarige (Ordinary), Samparka (Minibus), Nimbus (Bus Rapid Transit), Vajra (Air-conditioned), Vayu Vajra (Airport bound air-conditioned)
Fleet6,501 [3]
Daily ridership4,910,000 (November 27, 2017)[3]
OperatorGovernment of Karnataka
Websitewww.mybmtc.karnataka.gov.in/

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is a government agency that operates the public transport bus service in Bangalore (Bengaluru), India. It has the highest number of Volvo buses operated by a public transport company in India.[4][5][6] Since September 2021, V Anbu Kumar, IAS has served as the Managing Director (MD) of BMTC.[7]

History[]

The BMTC is one of the three Subsidiaries of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, in the context of the city's expansion in the year 1997, Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) was formed. Later, Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) became Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). Initially, the livery of BTS was also changed from red-white of the then KSRTC livery to a unique livery of light blue-white. To this day BMTC still remains a subsidiary of KSRTC. The profits earned by BMTC are used to cover the losses from the NWKRTC and KKRTC divisions of KSRTC.[8] Indian actor superstar Rajinikanth began acting in plays while working in the then Bangalore Transport Service as a bus conductor.[9]

Services[]

  • Bengaluru Sarige: Non-AC buses with a Blue-white livery connecting all parts of the Metropolitan area.
  • Samparka: Mini non-AC buses with a orange livery (earlier blue livery) connecting neighborhoods to nearby bus station. Usually covering shorter distances.
  • Nimbus: Non-AC buses with a blue-white livery and AC buses with a light blue livery. These buses ply on special bus rapid transit lanes.
  • Vajra: AC buses with a light blue livery (earlier red livery) running on important routes serving the teck parks, industrial areas, major bus stations and major residential areas.
  • Vayu Vajra: AC buses with a light blue livery (earlier red and green) connecting 23 routes in the Metropolitan area to Bangalore's Kempegowda International Airport. Free Wi-Fi access is provided to the commuters in these buses.[10]

Former services[]

  • Parisara Vahini/Parisara Snehi: Regular Non-AC buses with a light blue-white, dark blue, blue-white or grey colour liveries over the time. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
  • Suvarna Sarige: Non-AC buses with a green or red livery, similar fare to Jana Sarige buses served important feeder routes. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
  • Samartha Sarige/BIG Trunk: Non-AC buses with a green livery served trunk routes from downtown to the suburbs. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
  • Nera Sarige/BIG 10: Non-AC buses with a special green and bottle green livery plied on 12 major corridors towards the central business district. These buses are numbered with a G prefix. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
  • Samvrutha Sarige/BIG Circle: Non-AC buses with special white BIG Circle livery. These buses plied on inner and outer ring roads . Buses are numbered with a C prefix or a K prefix. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
  • Metro Feeder: Non-AC buses with pink lined on grey-white livery. Running as feeder services between stations of Namma Metro. Buses are numbered with a MF prefix. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
  • Atal Sarige: Non-AC Low fare buses with an Indian tri-colour livery. Currently defunct[11][12]
  • Pushpak Sarige/Janapriya Vahini: Non-AC buses with a beige-white livery used to ply only with a driver who also issues ticket and has only one entrance and exit. Currently defunct.
  • Marcopolo AC, UD AC and Corona AC: AC low fare buses with a white or light blue livery plied on select routes. Currently defunct
  • Hop On Hop Off/Bengaluru Darshini: AC buses with a special livery of pencil sketch depiction of important sites in Bangalore on a white background. This service was introduced for sightseeing in Bangalore. It covered routes connecting about twenty landmarks of great historic, religious and scientific significance. Currently defunct.

Future plans and services[]

BMTC has introduced Mercedes Benz buses[13] and buses powered by solar energy on trial basis in Bangalore.[14]

BMTC announced that it would acquire 150 electric buses by September 2017. The project will be funded by the Union Government's Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles scheme of National Electric Mobility Mission Plan 2020.[15] [16]

BMTC has announced that 90 electric buses will be launched in the city on a trial basis by October to resolve the last-mile connectivity problems of Namma Metro passengers.

The buses are being launched by BMTC with Smart City Bangalore and the National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. Officials said JBM Auto Limited, an automobile manufacturing company headquartered in Gurugram, will despatch the 90 mini electric buses at a cost of ₹ 130 crore.

uses will be operated on a Gross Cost Contract (GCC) basis, according to which the private firm will not only supply the buses, but also take full responsibility for operations, maintenance and will provide drivers as well.[17]

Bus Stations[]

[18]

BMTC's Kempegowda Bus Station

Major Bus Stations

Minor Bus Stations

Travel and Transit Management Centers (TTMCs)

Smart card[]

BMTC unveiled a smart card for its bus services for the first time in June 2016. The company introduced smart cards on trial-basis on BMTC Bus No. 335 operating between Majestic and Kadugodi bus stations in March 2017.[19] Apart from serving as an identification document, the smart cards can be used to purchase bus tickets and also swiped at point-of-sale (POS) enabled merchant establishments. The card costs ₹5 (6.6¢ US) and can be recharged for up to ₹10,000 (US$130). Recharges higher than ₹10,000 require the customer to provide identification. According to Axis Bank, the BMTC's partner in the project, the smart card is India's "first open loop EMV contactless smart card". The cards "open-loop" structure allows other agencies to integrate their smart card schemes by adopting the standards of the BMTC smart card.[20]

Bus Day[]

Introduced on 4 February 2010, Bus Day is an event calling all the citizens of Bangalore to use public transport. The idea behind Bus Day is to observe the changes which can be brought in the city in trying to respect environment, traffic situation, health of individuals perception.[21] The 4th of every month is observed as a "Bus Day".[22]

Bus Priority Lane[]

BMTC along with BTP initiated the Bus Lanes in Outer Ring Road branded as Nimbus. Bus lanes give priority to buses, cutting down on journey times where roads are congested with other traffic especially private cars and increasing the reliability of buses. The introduction of bus lanes can significantly assist in the reduction of air pollution due to individual cars and traffic pile up because of cars.[23]

Intelligent Transport System[]

Old interface of the MyBMTC app
Newly improvised interface of the MyBMTC app

To benefit the commuters and promote the usage of public transportation, the BMTC launched its Intelligent Transport System (ITS) on 25 May 2016.[24] Under this project, BMTC buses were equipped with GPS in a phased manner which would transmit the location of the bus to the ITS control room. A mobile app was launched on the android platform which was made available in two languages, English and Kannada. The app provides information about bus routes and bus stops. Real time location of buses on a particular route can also be tracked, which requires the users to switch on the GPS on their device. In 2017, BMTC would be introduced prepaid smart cards for commuting, which eliminated the need to pay the exact amount of change.[25]

Gallery[]

Parisara Vahini/Parisara Snehi


Nera Sarige (BIG 10)


UD AC


Corona AC


Hop On Hop Off/Bengaluru Darshini

See also[]

List of bus depots in Karnataka

References[]

  1. ^ "Kharola appointed BMRCL MD". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 10 August 2013.
  2. ^ BMTC History, 14 May 2019
  3. ^ a b "BMTC at a glance". Mybmtc.com. 5 July 2014. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  4. ^ "Volvo's first city buses in India operating". Volvo Buses. 25 January 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  5. ^ "Volvo to foray into city bus segment in India". Businessline. 9 January 2006. Archived from the original on 25 May 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  6. ^ "Volvo intra-city buses to hit B'lore roads on Jan 17". The Financial Express. 11 January 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  7. ^ "BMTC gets new chief in IAS rejig". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  8. ^ "BMTC Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation". travel2karnataka.com. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  9. ^ CBSE students to now study Rajinikanth's life story". The Times of India. 17 December 2012. Archived from the original on 2 May 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015
  10. ^ BMTC to run Mercedes Benz buses on trial basis
  11. ^ "CM flags off Atal Sarige for the poor". Express Buzz. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  12. ^ "'Atal Sarige' launched in Bangalore". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 31 May 2009. p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 July 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  13. ^ "Mercedes bus trial run over next month". Deccanherald.com. Retrieved 17 July 2014.
  14. ^ "Apoorva Renewable Energy to make solar-electric buses for transport body". 8 June 2012.
  15. ^ "Eco-friendly commute: 150 electric buses to hit namma Bengaluru streets". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  16. ^ "BMTC- Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation is provides totally 3 kinds of Bus passes which are Daily Pass, Monthly pass, Student bus pass(Bengaluru)". Bangalore Today. Retrieved 27 July 2019.
  17. ^ "BMTC to launch 90 electric buses in Bengaluru by October". The Indian Express. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  18. ^ "BMTC Bus Stations". mybmtc.com. BMTC. Archived from the original on 31 October 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  19. ^ "Get smart @ Rs 5". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  20. ^ Staff Reporter. "BMTC smart card by February 15". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  21. ^ "February 4th is 'Bus Day' in Bangalore". Bangalore Aviation. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  22. ^ "Bangalore Bus Day- Feb 4th: Citizen Matters". Bangalore.citizenmatters.in. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  23. ^ "Bus Priority Lane Operational in Bangalore".
  24. ^ "BMTC launches Intelligent Transport Solution". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  25. ^ "BMTC to roll out smart cards in January". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 November 2016.

External links[]

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