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Feeder near BYP. Why not bring the bus right at the entrance. If not that, a proper shaded bus stop?

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BYP car parking, right near station entrance

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In almost all stations on reach 1 the regular BMTC bustands are about 100-200mts away. I am sure it would really help if these bus stands are moved closer or into the metro stations.

For example, the SV road station can easily accomodate a drive-in bus stand for all busses..not just feeder shuttles..and so the stand near Byp, CMH rd & Ulsoor

This would be very covinient for all commuters who need to get to busses for their onward journeys..

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Story thus far…..

Due to inadequate information on the feeder services (the newspapers carried only sketchy info, BMTC and BMRCL web sites have no info at all), I had a difficult time getting to a metro station for this morning’s ride. I had made up my mind that no part of this outing was going to be on personal transport.

Continuing the saga of the feeder buses…..

1. After the ride from MGR to BYP this morning with other Prajaites I was keen to take the feeder back home for several reasons, the most important one being that it will provide me with a critical piece of information missing this morning when I set out for the adventure, i.e. exactly where in Cox Town to catch the feeder. I did know from the papers that I should be looking for BYP MF2.
2. Just minutes after I reached the bus bay at BYP, I saw a bus with the NM motif roll in. It had an old-fashioned display board that said “BYP MF2”. I thought I was living a dream when I saw the electronic display on the bus flash “Hoskote”. Apparently, electronics trumps low-tech and so the bus was indeed Hoskote bound.
3. A few minutes later an exact replica of the first one showed up and we now had two bound for Hoskote within minutes of each other. Surely this will make all Hoskotians at the bus bay deliriously happy but seeing that both buses left with no passengers on board, I thought what a missed opportunity.
4. Somewhat confused by the events, I approached a supervisor-type who was busily jotting down the comings and goings and anxiously enquired about my BYP MF2. He said not to worry, it will come, must be stuck in traffic somewhere.
5. About 15 minutes later, a BYP MF2 appears, the genuine article this time. I jumped on board, whipped out a 20-rupee bill and said “Cox Town”. The conductor helpfully suggested that I should look for BYP MF1. I call a meeting between the conductor and supervisor to settle this once and for all. The conductor’s views prevail.
6. Another 20 minutes pass before the next silver and purple appears. This time the bus conductor assured me that it is indeed going towards Cox Town, notwithstanding what the board says. After a 20-minute ride I got off at Cox Town circle and walked home feeling quite smug at having reduced my carbon footprint for the day. The commute from MGR to home costs me ~ 25 rupees and a total of an hour and a quarter including wait times (not including time spent with Prajaites discussing mods to the infra)
7. On reaching home, realized that it is a ladies-only luncheon and I was left to fend for myself for lunch. With my newfound enthusiasm for the metro, I was out of the house in a flash and headed right back to MGR while entertaining delicious thoughts of pasta at Pascucci that was literally minutes away. I walked to Cox Town Circle to catch the feeder and made sure I was at the correct stop by checking with a police officer on duty there and confirming with a local shopkeeper. After a 75-minute wait, I gave up and walked home hoping to dig into the leftovers from the ladies lunch. I felt particularly bad for a little boy who had waited patiently with his grandpa all this time. The metro ride was going to be a holiday treat for him. Hope he was able to get a ride.
8. I had resolved to leave my car home for all future trips into town. This may have to wait while the first and last mile connectivity improves.
9. The metro ride this morning, in and of itself, was very pleasant. The stations are very clean and functional, the metro cars as good as any I have seen.
10. As SB points out, the bus bay at BYP could have been designed better. They could have configured it like the ones at BIAL and thrown in some information boards. They could easily have set the bus stop back from OM Road since there is plenty of space available. I hope that some bright minds at BMTC are working on remedying the situation. Also, the integration with other modes (IR, KSRTC) at BYP is not quite seamless. Cost could not have been a factor since they have thrown so much money at the metro infra.

 

  

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I did not want to trust the feeders etc considering it does not even service 3km well what chance have I of getting one in Hebbal. So instead of going for low carbon footprint I redced the area footprint by taking a 2 wheeler to MG road. Parked in church street & walked  up to the station.

Chatted up the BMTC despatcher/supervisor along with Srinidhi & Sanjeev. He had with him a dot matrix printed green table with clear times on it. SO he HAD a timetable. I was curious why he didnt want to put it on for the public. No amount of prodding would make him reveal why he wouldnt put it on display. We could only surmise it was becaues the routes arent fixed & they are chopping & changin the routes dynamically on the fly + they are vary of committing to a time when they cant keep it up.

He did mention 121 AB or BB was connecting MCTC. The despatcher/supervisor on the ground is not aware of the decisions being taken back somewhere else. And going by Srinidhi's experience with the conductors/driver on the Bagmane shuttle they too dont have a clue what route to take. So lost in 2 levels of translation is the real planned route. Without a map the instruction to the driver/conductor is only cox town or BEML gate without a detailed map of what route to take where to stop etc.

MCTC connection is a good one, infact should be extended to other TTMC's like Jayanagar, Yeswantpur etc. During peak hours they could run it limited stop like maybe 5 stops for 121 AB (MCTC, Market, Corporation, Richmond circle, MG road) 

All in all too much jugaad on the feeders for it to be predictable or even stabilize enough for people to depend on it.

The other noticable aspect was the overhead passage across the BYP station. It is planned & shown in the map but only steel rebars remain to show the incompleteness. 

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ulsoor iniranagar has no space for bus parking. It is better to have locally running buses instead of feeder buses.

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