Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation
BMTC Vajra Volvo B7RLE
Slogan Moving you most economically
Bringing Bangalore to your doorstep
Parent KSRTC
Founded 1997[1]
Headquarters Central Office, K H Road, Shanthinagar, Bangalore
Locale Bangalore
Service area Bangalore Urban and Bangalore Rural
Service type Local, limited-stop, express, and BRT bus service
Fleet 6,390 (November 27, 2017)[2]
Operator Government of Karnataka
Website www.mybmtc.com/

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is a government agency that operates the public transport bus service in Bangalore, India. It has the highest number of Volvo buses operated by a public transport company in India.[3][4][5]

V. Ponnuraj is the Managing Director of BMTC.

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. and the colour scheme of BTS was also changed from red to a blue and white combination. For this day BMTC still remains a division of KSRTC. The profits earned by BMTC are used to cover the losses from the NWKRTC and NEKRTC divisions of KSRTC.[6]. Indian actor superstar Rajinikanth began acting in plays while working in the Bangalore Transport Service as a bus conductor [7].

Types of services

A BMTC Volvo bus
A BMTC UD bus
A BMTC Corona bus

The following are the special services apart from ordinary services run by BMTC:

  • Suvarna: Similar fare to ordinary buses serving important feeder routes, painted in red or green/white scheme
  • BIG 10: Suvarna class buses with special green and bottle green livery plying on 12 major corridors towards the central commercial district. These buses are numbered with a G prefix.
  • BIG Circle: Suvarna class buses with special white colored BIG Circle livery. These buses ply on inner and outer ring roads . Buses are numbered with a C prefix or a K prefix.
  • Atal Sarige: Low fare buses painted with Indian tri-colour livery.[8][9]
  • Vajra: Air conditioned Volvo buses painted in blue livery (earlier red) running on important routes serving the IT companies and major residential areas.
  • Vayu Vajra: Blue coloured (Earlier green/red) Volvo buses operated in 12 routes connecting to Kempegowda International Airport. Free Wi-Fi access is provided to the commuters in these buses.[10]
  • Marcopolo AC and Corona AC: Air conditioned buses with lower fare than Vajra services plying on select routes.(Marcopolo AC no service now & Corona AC same fare as Volvo)
  • Metro Feeder: Special buses running on 18 routes as feeder network to the Metro stations
  • Hop On Hop Off: This service was introduced for sightseeing in Bangalore. It covers a route connecting about twenty landmarks of great historic, religious and scientific significance.(no service now)

BMTC has also introduced Mercedes Benz buses on a trial basis.[11] BMTC has also introduced buses powered by solar energy on trial basis in Bangalore.[12]

The 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.[13]

Major bus stations

BMTC Bus Station on Mysore Road

BMTC has 34 bus stations across the city and the 3 major bus stations are located at:

  1. Majestic
  2. K. R. Market
  3. Shivajinagar

BMTC has 10 Travel and Transit Management centers (TTMCs) located at Shantinagar, Banashankari, Jayanagar 4th block, Koramangala, Kengeri, Yeswanthpur, Vijayanagar, Domlur, ITPL and Mysore Road Satellite Bus Station.[14]

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.[15] 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 (7.0¢ US) and can be recharged for up to ₹10,000 (US$140). 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.[16]

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.[17] The 4th of every month is observed as a "Bus Day".[18]

Intelligent Transport System

User interface of the BMTC app

To benefit the commuters and promote the usage of public transportation, the BMTC launched its Intelligent Transport System (ITS) on 25 May 2016.[19] 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. By early 2017, BMTC would be introducing prepaid smart cards for commuting, which would eliminate the need to pay the exact amount of change.[20]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kharola appointed BMRCL MD". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 10 August 2013.
  2. ↑ "BMTC at a glance". Mybmtc.com. 2014-07-05. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  3. ↑ "Volvo's first city buses in India operating". Volvo Buses. 25 January 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  4. ↑ "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.
  5. ↑ "Volvo intra-city buses to hit B'lore roads on Jan 17". The Financial Express. 11 January 2006. Retrieved 23 June 2009.
  6. ↑ "BMTC Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation". travel2karnataka.com. Retrieved 2017-01-25.
  7. ↑ 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
  8. ↑ "CM flags off Atal Sarige for the poor". Express Buzz. 31 May 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  9. ↑ "'Atal Sarige' launched in Bangalore". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 31 May 2009. p. 1. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  10. ↑ BMTC to run Mercedes Benz buses on trial basis
  11. ↑ "Mercedes bus trial run over next month". Deccanherald.com. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
  12. ↑ "Apoorva Renewable Energy to make solar-electric buses for transport body". 8 June 2012.
  13. ↑ "Eco-friendly commute: 150 electric buses to hit namma Bengaluru streets". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  14. ↑ "BMTC Bus Stations". mybmtc.com. BMTC. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  15. ↑ "Get smart @ Rs 5". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  16. ↑ Reporter, Staff. "BMTC smart card by February 15". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  17. ↑ "February 4th is 'Bus Day' in Bangalore". Bangalore Aviation. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  18. ↑ "Bangalore Bus Day- Feb 4th: Citizen Matters". Bangalore.citizenmatters.in. 4 February 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  19. ↑ "BMTC launches Intelligent Transport Solution". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  20. ↑ "BMTC to roll out smart cards in January". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
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