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BMTC Suvarna peak hour service

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Written By s_yajaman - 9 April, 2008

Bangalore BMTC Bus Suvarna

saw this report on BMTC's long planned peak hour service.

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/04/01/stories/2008040159230300.htm

It was disappointing to see a good idea being executed badly. (Murali sir was not at all surprised!). If you see the routes almost all of them touch - Kempegowda Bus Stand. I thought that place was crowded as it is without another set of buses attempting to enter them. Have any of you (except Vasanth) been to Subhashnagar bus stand? There is log jam inside the bus stand and buses that are ready to go cannot leave because they are surrounded by other buses.

No direct routes from say Koramangala to ITPL or Jayanagar to E-City or from Vijayanagar to Bannerghatta Road or from Srinagar to Peenya? You want connectivity in the morning which will take you from home to your workspot fairly quickly. This does not serve the purpose.

I would have designed things a bit differently. Let's say I have a bus from Jayanagar 5th block to ITPL. I would have it go from Jayanagar 5th block to 4th block to T-block to 9th block and then BTM Layout. From there non-stop on ORR till Brooke Fields and then again stops inside EPIP,etc. Fixed fare from any place to any place - say Rs.10 to avoid change problems.

I am inclined to agree more and more with Murali sir.

Srivathsa

COMMENTS

Singapore bus routes

s_yajaman - 10 October, 2008 - 12:13

Got my hands on a Singapore bus guide.  Noticed a couple of things.

a. They have just about 250 routes for both bus companies put together covering an area as big as Bangalore.  Of course the MRT takes the bulk of passengers.

b. Based on a random sample of routes, the average length of a route in one direction was about 20 km; frequency was in the 10-15 min range on an average.  One loop service (36 from Changi Airport to Orchard) runs for 63 km!!  Fares range from $0.70 to about $1.80.  Express buses charge a flat fare of $3 or so.

Driver fatigue is minimized by air-con buses, auto transmission and bus lanes (some 24 hr bus lanes).  Unbelievably disciplined drivers added to this mix makes it probably the best bus service in the world (I believe HK is as good) - of course no Singaporean worth his salt  will admit that.  They use 3 bus models - Volvo, Scania and Mercedes Benz.  Fair number of double decker buses as well. 

We are doing something very wrong here with close to 2000 routes.

Srivathsa

 

Re: Vasanth

narayan82 - 10 October, 2008 - 14:30

I think your Volvo ride was onl Rs 15 because it was a govt holiday. Hence the discount. Else you would pay about 30 - 45 rupees I think! Still I agree suvarna can be made much more passenger freindly. In fact what surprises me is Vajras are known as "Volvos." Why cant Leyland and Tatas come up with an equivalent bus which is cheaper?

Bus routes and frequencies

asj - 10 October, 2008 - 14:58

Srivathsa,

Do look up the case study on route and frequency rationalisation (I have made a reference to Singapore bus routes as well)

http://www.praja.in/pune/discuss/2008/07/rationalising-and-reforming-bus-routes-case-example

ASJ

Invite Project Proposals ?

kbsyed61 - 10 October, 2008 - 15:22

Srivastha, You are right on when you made a remark that there is something fundamentally wrong in BMTC's route design. This point has been discussed over and over on Praja. I think time has come for engaging BMTC's powers to be to do the justice to B'lore's public. I would suggest a 2 prong strategy for this. On one front engage BMTC's policy makers, and on another front facilitate a solid technical and sound project proposal with each and every minute details for rationalizing. For project proposals, my suggestion is, Praja invites proposals from Engineering/University/Management Students on this bus routes. To be serious and committed, award a handsome prizes for best 3 entries - 1st Prize (Rs.100,000), 2nd Prize (Rs. 50,000) and 3rd Prize (Rs. 25,000). I am sure our friends in Industry and businesses would be more than happy to sponsor this project initiative. Look forward to thoughts and feedback on this proposal. Syed

Suvarna is not Gold but very expensive

Vasanth - 10 October, 2008 - 10:04

Two days back I took Volvo to my office from Kattriguppe to Jayadeva which costed me 15 rupees only, whereas on my return I could not get Volvo after waiting for long and had to take Suvarna. I was charged 14 rupees for the same distance in Suvarna. On my way to the office, Volvo took me in 40 minutes (without bus waiting time, bus waiting additional 10 minutes) due to the round abouts since there is construction of magic underpasses. BMTC Volvos go like a Metro Train when the road is empty. It was the traffic which was the culprit and I felt the need of the BRTS with the Volvos. Meanwhile commute to my office on my two wheeler through internal roads is just 20 minutes!!! Suvarna on the way back with the same amount of traffic took literally 1hour with its sluggish engine. No A/C. No low floor. It is not worth every pie.

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