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Commuter buses targetted towards vehicle owners
Written By nithinsujir - 28 May, 2009
Bangalore suggestion public transport
Hi,
I'm a new member of Praja and there are some very good suggestions that I've come across on these forums.
I would like to present this suggestion and know what the knowledgeable people here think.
As others have pointed out, it seems that the only solution to Bangalore's traffic woes is reducing traffic and more usage of public transport. Road widening and magic boxes are not permanent solutions.
This idea is aimed at reducing the private vehicles on the road by introducing targeted commuter buses whose routes are designed specifically for the people who travel using their own vehicles, i.e. the middle class and higher. Adding new routes that move people who already use the bus from one route to another also does not reduce the number of vehicles.
For a person owning a vehicle the bus route has to be almost as convenient as driving himself if he's to be persuaded to use the bus. Speaking as a car owner, although I am very much for public transport, I am not willing to wait more than 15 min or change more than once to reach my destination. I am not willing to board crowded buses and get my pocket picked. I am however willing to pay a premium for comfortable Volvo service. There are several others like me all over Bangalore judging by the sheer number of cars on the roads.
So far the bus routes are decided by the BMTC I assume using some voodoo magic with the condition that they go through Majestic and then the commuter is asked to fit in his commute to the route. :) E.g. In my case there is no direct bus that takes me from 4th Block to Mayo Hall. I did try to use the Volvo + HOHO service but again it wasn't convenient. It involved a 15 min walk from Lalbag West Gate to the Main Gate followed by a 20 min wait for the HOHO bus. To skip the walk I could take the Kanakapura Big 10 to Corporation and take the HOHO from there, but that would add 30 mins to my commute. On the return trip I waited 1hour from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm and no Blue Line bus showed up. This is not a practical solution for me and people like me.
So why not do an internet survey where vehicle owners can mention their desired start-end points between which if Volvo service existed, they would use it. The survey should also ask the usual time of when commuter starts for work and returns home. The reason for the internet only survey is the target segment of vehicle owners. I think it's likely that most vehicle owners in Bangalore are familiar with the internet. Plus throwing together a website with a poll should be relatively cheap. Advertise that this is being done and encourage people to respond. Ask radio show hosts to mention this in on the air during rush hour when most vehicle owners are listening to the radio. Encourage people to forward the info to their friends and peers and vote on the website. If the response is good, take the highest voted bus stops and devise a best-effort route or two that goes through most of these stops or near these stops. This would avoid all the guesswork about what the route should be and it's timings.
The buses only need to ply on these during commuting times. I.e. 6:30-10am and 5:30-9:30pm. The exact timings can be tweaked based on the responses to the survey. The buses must be high frequency during the time. At most 15 mins. During the day they could be used to service a different route that needs the extra capacity.
Initially they could start with mini buses and then as demand picks up add bigger buses.
In some ways this is a Govt Managed carpool. Repeat this exercise every few months to see if routes need to be added/modified.
I'm certain this would reduce the number of cars on the roads.
Thanks,
Nithin.
COMMENTS
medea - 5 August, 2009 - 10:26
The common people, who are bracing up for tough times on the roads, feel the withdrawal of the vehicles will make the city’s air purer, but are also worried how they will commute in the coming days.
pathykv - 28 May, 2009 - 12:56
This is a good idea.
It is to be noted that no one , whether vehicle owner or not wants to wait at bus stops or change the bus more than once, if it is avoidable.
Surely more comfortable and more frequent buses will satisfy the vehicle owners to wean them away from driving. But such experimentatation should not be done at the cost of regular bus commuters by cross subsidizing.
K.V.Pathy
Rithesh - 28 May, 2009 - 13:59
Nithin,
Thanks for posting your experience about using BMTC buses. We are indeed working on a survey on the lines that you have suggested. Some minor fine tuning happening. Should be online very soon.
Rithesh
nithinsujir - 29 May, 2009 - 04:13
Yes, I agree that noone wants to wait. The point I was trying to make is vehicle owners will not tolerate this inconvenience and choose to take their vehicles. But the rest are forced to take the bus and suffer through it. Only if the service is convenient for vehicle owners will vehicle traffic reduce.
Switching vehicle owners to BMTC
susanth - 31 May, 2009 - 04:59
1. Availability of volvo services on key commute routes
2. Predictability of the schedules
3. Awareness
I don't think services other than Volvos will cut ice with the vehicle owners since services like Big10, Suvarna, and the blue buses are too crowded for anyone's comfort.
I have been a Volvo commuter for close to a year now. What Volvo transport meant to me was comfort, less heartburn, and of course lesser expenses. In fact, I could get rid of my second car ever since I started using BMTC. I use BMTC's BIA Services between Hebbal and Richmond Circle everyday. This is predictable, fast, and comfortable. And I am happy that I do my bit in keeping one less car on the already congested Bangalore roads.
Susanth
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