The Motor Vehicle Tax for the four Corporations in Karnataka is levied as a percentage on their traffic revenue, whereas it is levied based on seat capacity for private operators. “The state government should help in direct procurement of buses by providing capital cost or soft loans. Rao points out that the social costs incurred by the BMTC (through concessional passes) should be absorbed by the government. To the perpetual excuse of a fund crunch, Pawan K Mulukutla, urban transport expert at World Resource Institute, India, suggests three reforms, including fare restructuring. Without this, the corporation will not be able to achieve its target of meeting 60% share and 19,025 schedules by 2037. Most people in the know of BMTC's working believe that the number of buses and services should be doubled from the present 6,250 buses and 6,100 services.
“What's the point in introducing free wi-fi and air-conditioned buses when people struggle in packed buses that break down regularly?“ asks he. Sreenivasa believes that BMTC is caught in a high-tech image trap. BMTC should introduce the aggregator model, using midi buses for more flexible services.“Īt best, BMTC has grown older and but never managed to close the yawning gap, thanks to the city's burgeoning growth.įrom 2,098 buses in 1997 to 6,250 buses in 2017, although the transport utility's fleet has trebled, ridership has only doubled.From about 24.5 lakh passengers in 1997, it grew to around 52 lakh in 2016.
“The timings of the present services are rigid. Urban expert V Ravichandar believes a certain number of buses should be set aside for flexible services. But the ordinary service from the same point to say Shivajinagar or elsewhere is not so," observes Vinay Sreenivasa of the Bengaluru Bus Commuters' Forum. The preferential treatment to Volvo users becomes clear in the words of a bus user: “The Vayu Vajra bus from Jayanagar to the airport is always punctual. They continue to be as unreliable as they always were. As for the ordinary services, little has changed. They are, however, a hit with airport travellers and IT employees. While the Volvo services are clean and comfortable, they come at a price which ordinary citizens cannot afford for daily commutes. However, it has managed to provide two categories of services: the Volvo services and the ordinary services. Besides, no commuter should be made to wait in the bus stand for more than five minutes." Some are not clean while a few buses do not even look good. The workers' union too admits to this.General secretary HV Anantha Subba Rao says: “The BMTC runs over-aged buses.