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BMTC Strike - what have we learnt?
Written By idontspam - 13 September, 2012
BMTC Bus Namma Metro Citizen Reports Karnataka Commuter rail metro Namma Railu
Public Transport in Bangalore today means Bus which is solely run by BMTC. During business as usual this looks good but its in crisis situations like todays strike that the deficit of not investing in multiple modes or using modern methodologies of running operations can hurt. There are 2 aspects to mitigate such incidents from happening.
1 . BMTC needs to look at outsourcing operations & maintenance of these buses to a third party with clear performance parameters & incentives for exceeding performance targets. Such incidents will mean loss for the service provider & he will make efforts to ensure these don't happen. This is not rocket science as other cities around the world like Singapore etc have such outsourced O&M which can easily be adopted.
2. Multimodal transportation is a dire need to obviate the dependency on a single mode of public transport. Metro, Commuter rail etc would have helped in times like these. Metro is already under implementation & today we see that unless cross city routes are commissioned it will not help during such situations. Praja have proposed commuter rail which can be rolled out faster & costs much less would have helped in times like these. Even having private bus services along with BMTC on select routes should be explored.
Lack of ability to decide & execute these options is costing us dearly, but who is listening?
COMMENTS
murali772 - 13 September, 2012 - 13:09
@ IDS-avare'
Public Transport in Bangalore today means Bus which is solely run by BMTC. During business as usual this looks good.
Sorry, my most charitable rating would be "not good enough". We have gone through enough of debates over this, here, as also elsewhere.
You have mentioned out-sourcing. But, for BMTC to do an effective job of it, it has to undergo cultural changes, which is not going to be too easy. Better would be to dismantle its monopoly, and make it compete on a level playing field (it can even be slightly sloping in its favour, to begin with), like AIR-INDIA, BSNL, SBI, Insurance cos, etc have been made to do. If you agree, perhaps you would like to sign this petition.
And, if you do not find the arguments made out in the body of the petition convincing enough, perhaps a reading of this (as also the post just below it) should convince you. If still not convinced, perhaps you should read this.
idontspam - 14 September, 2012 - 09:11
Here is very good story on the BMTC fiasco.
One of them, who has put in 25 years, said that he was a painful witness to the posts of divisional controllers and depot managers being up for sale, a practice he alleges began four years ago. “Divisional controllers and depot managers openly demand money from lower level staff claiming they have to pay their bosses,” he alleged.
A senior official, who has been watching the Road Transport Corporations going downhill, said that instead of strengthening the administration and industrial relations, the government and RTC managements were pursuing all sort of awards and self-aggrandisement.
BMTC is more than half the problem
murali772 - 14 September, 2012 - 11:05
@ IDS - If you solve the BMTC problem, more than half the transportation problems get automatically solved.
If Commuter rail, Namma Metro, Big-10 services etc have to find their full utilisation (and therewith reduction in congestion of the city roads), good feeder services are essential for the last mile connectivity. And, you and I know that BMTC is in the picture there only to prevent the entry of Namma Metro into the field, forget private players (check this).
murali772 - 14 September, 2012 - 11:22
The strike received a total response in all major districts including Mysore, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Mandya, Gulbarga, Bijapur and other places. On the other hand, the strike had little impact in Mangalore and Hubli, thanks to strong network of private bus service here.
For the full report in the ToI, click here.
Isn't the answer staring you in the face? What is anybody waiting for?
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