BMTC to add 800 new buses this year to existing fleet that will, in future, also ferry commuters between metro and mono rail stations

Bangloreans to get a ride of their lives

BMTC to add 800 new buses this year to existing fleet that will, in future, also ferry commuters between metro and mono rail stations

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) will be adding another 800 buses to its existing fleet of 6100 in 2010-11. Traffic experts, however, have expressed fears that the addition, which should ease Bangaloreans' commuting woes, will only add to the existing congestion in the city.

The BMTC inducted 1361 buses last year, of which, 961 buses were added from funds from the Jawaharlal National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM) project. While the city had been allotted funds 1,000 buses under the JnNURM, the city for a variety of reasons only managed to get 961 buses.

Bigger and better
According to the BMTC, the validity of the grant of buses under the JnNURM project expired on March 31, which is why the city was unable to get the balance 39 buses under the project. However, if the Central government grants an extension to the JnNURM grant, the city might get the remaining 39 buses.

PK Garg, director, projects, BMTC, said, "Ours is the largest transport service in the world under a single management. We are making profits for the last 13 years. As of now we have 6,100 buses and we will be adding another 800 plus buses in the year 2010-11. Last year alone, we inducted 1,361 buses into our fleet."

Doubts, doubts
Traffic Expert Prof M N Sreehari said, "The city roads will get more congested due to increase in number of BMTC buses. The city roads will not have adequate space for other vehicles to move. Also 60 per cent of Bangalore's roads are very narrow. They are not fit for mass transport mediums like buses unless the roads are broadened. When more BMTC buses are added to city roads, the number of accidents are bound to increase. If 800 people die in road accidents in a year, you can be sure that 100 will involve BMTC buses."

"In a couple of years, the Metro Rail Project will be completed and the BMTC buses will go empty as people will prefer the Metro,"u00a0u00a0 Sreehari added.

BMTC officials said that the Metro or Mono rail projects would not affect their services. "Our services will work as a feeder service to the metro and mono rails. People will have to take BMTC buses to reach metro stations. By the time the project gets completed the city would have grown bigger. There will be tremendous demand and people will need our services," said P K Garg.