Vajra (Volvo) Only
34% (62 votes)
Vajra / Pushpak / Suvarna Saarige - No ordinary
22% (40 votes)
Any BMTC bus is OK for me
19% (35 votes)
Pushpak / Suvarna Saarige / Ordinary - Volvo is expensive
5% (9 votes)
Ordinary bus is enough - I need more frequency.
19% (35 votes)
Total votes: 181
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Comments
AC but not neccesarily Volvos...
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
I would add no crowding
I would prefer to have last option to be "Ordinary bus is enough - I need more frequency and no crowding".
-- navshot
yelli hoguthiraa???
mudalu, elli hoaguvaduntha gotthagabaekke??? Neevae haeli
Muralidhar Rao
Gharib Rath Volvo?
Whats good in a volvo is:
1.low flooring which makes it that much easier for senior citizens to get it
2. Driver comfort - power steering and gearless..I guess this is best not only for the drivers but also for the bustops as the busses
3.being easily manoverable bus will be brought to stop in the right place rather than the current middle of the road stopping
4.AC not required..bangalore doesnt need a/c .This will mean fuel saved!
Re: Gharib Rath Volvo?
Volvo - Gearless = Auto Transmission??
blrsri,
Ref. the following statement: 2. Driver comfort - power steering and gearless..I guess this is best not only for the drivers but also for the bustops as the buses.
Do you mean the buses have automatic transmission??
volvo drivers have fun
yes meant auto tx when i said gearless..the drivers really have fun cruising..
have seen one hand driving most of the time..since these things have power steering too..the busses easily over take the cars and are a much better option travelling..wish could get a park and ride option!
Re: yelli hoguthiraa???
I saw an even worser performance from our beloved BMTC. A regular red board bus on Koramangala-Indira Nagar Inner Ring Road, it had 2 number boards at the front, one says 412 and the other one says MBS8. Don't know if the bus got devided into 2 and one part took a right turn towards airport road (412) and the other part straight on to 100 ft Rd towards Kalyan Nagar(MBS 8). Worried about the passengers waiting to board the bus at bus stop, I verified if it displays a 3rd number at the back!!! Alas, it was 412, thus avoiding journey on a third route.
On the same line, many of the much publicised Blue - Grid Route Buses (MBSXX) run on other regular routes (201x,205x, 314x for eg:). They all have irremovable route number and destination (Both in Kannada & in English) painted on front-top and removable route number and destination inserted on the route display. Have any one at BMTC thought about the difficulties a tired passenger face to board on exact route? Bizarre adventrures of BMTC I would say.
Ramesh
Automatic transmission and power steering should be default
Considering that a bus driver sits at the wheel for 10 hrs a day and manages a 5 ton bus through mad traffic, rear engines, automatic transmission and power steering should be the default mode. They also need a small fan mounted next to them.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
all buses have power steerings
This was confirmed by Mr Sharieff against a specific querry I had raised during the CCTF days. About, automatic transmission, I am not aware.
Muralidhar Rao
My view.
In the first place, weaker class of Bangalore do not have any other mode of transport other than BMTC. This class of people cannot afford other than normal buses. Service of these buses needs to be improved at the first place by remodeling the design with local shuttles and TTMC.
Parallely, to reduce the traffic, we need to bring car and bike users to use. This poll is more or less looks like that since we are polling through internet with access to specific people.
Re: Vasanth
You are right. A poll on this website is not the best way to reach or reflect poorer sections. But you would reach the right set that needs to be converted from car/bike to BMTC.
But, I will like to challenge the assumption that we need so many tiers of services at BMTC. For long, we have assumed some things - how do we know that better quality services are not possible at exact same costs? Why can't we dream of a system where public transport is subsidized for poor (via passes for BPL families) and yet we all use same quality of buses. Why not things like one long bus with a seated section in front and standing hall at the rear, but all air conditioned!?
If you see this small little poll here, "Vajra / Pushpak / Suvarna Saarige - No ordinary" is a close second. That option is more like give me neat and clean buses. Notice the results of last poll as well - "Buses are dirty and crowded" almost came on top.
We don't really need A/c to draw majority middle class to buses. Clean buses with no crowding will do. And, weaker section deserves better than hanging on doorsteps. I don't see the need for more than two tiers of service - 1) regular but clean and not crowded, slide windows working, fans on top etc. and, 2) A/c dust free Volvo or similar.
All I am saying is - think more. Don't take the needs of the weaker sections for granted.
Access to airconditioned travel by all
As SB said rightly, the below poverty line people should get subsidised passes. It is great to give all the classes of people access to airconditioned travel. Travelling even standing in airconditioned buses doesn't with access to more free space, one doesn't feel tiring. This is where Lalu is good and he changed the rules of railways by introducing Garib Rath, Sampark Kranthi and Jan Shatabdi and keeping the fares low. Today, BMTC ordinary pass is 400 rupees and Bangalore-Mysore train monthly season ticket is 380 rupees.
Many feel that only Volvos or airconditioned, the problem as I said earlier is that with this class of buses, it is clear that it is to pull the upper class to the buses. But, they may or may not use the services since they have the alternatives and that is why we see lots of empty Volvos running around the town. People are patronizing BIAL service is due to the fact that alternatives are expensive, it was not so during HAL days and we used to see lots of congestion near Airport. Volvos are expensive too for any transport company to afford.
On the other hand, nearly 7-8 ordinary buses can be purchased at the cost of Volvos. This will be definitely used to the maximum extent since it is used by people who do not have alternative modes of travel. Frequency will increase and their travel will become more comfortable.
I would suggest to add more and more buses to existing routes first to give a comfortable travel who depends only on buses. Local routing with TTMC concept will definitely improve the frequency of buses, but people have to change more buses. Some people I don't know why cry saying I changed so many buses. This is what public transit is all about, end to end connectivity to all possible routes is difficult.
Volvos or airconditioned buses (which defaults to Volvos as of now) are very important resource. Routes for these should be planned in a careful way more to the IT areas. People travelling to far off offices like ITPL from say Jayanagar or Electronic City from Vijaynagar are using company provided buses. The IT areas within the city mainly Koramangala and Bannerghatta Road is the problem since the travel time is less and driving is easy. Company buses run only in one or two schedules and they come very early in the morning as in the case of our company. Hence people are reluctant to take company buses. If BMTC can come up with the airconditioned/Pushpak/Suvarna as desired by all to these areas from residential areas with minimum 'hops', it can reduce the congestion to some extent. Once it is fully established, congestion charges can be levied on single occupancy cars in these core areas.
BMTC can try out retrofitting A/C to normal Leyland or Tata buses or get the quote from them for prebuilt A/C buses an economical alternative to Volvos. The fares should be nominal enough for these buses and it should run like Pushpaks of today with little extra than an ordinary bus. KSRTC has retrofitted A/C to normal buses, BMTC should learn from her sister KSRTC on this.
a need for a new service
I think it is time for BMTC to serve each "class" differently. Mixing up Normal bus users and Vara/VV user IMO is not the way forward.
Firsty I would like to my in mu view the purpose of each mode of Service
Normal Busses/Suvanara/Non-AC
Vaayu Vajras/Varas/Volvos
Keeping in mind the two kind of users, it may be wise to run to seperate kinds of services. They need not clubbed with each other as they serve two diffrent purposes within the same domain. Even the audiences are looking for something different.
True, the local users would be happy to travel in A/C busses at the same cost. But with such a large population will subsidizing it drive BMTC to a loss like the petrol companies?
Finally, I would reccomend that BMTC runs two separate services aimed at different user groups solving two problems in Bnaglaore - basic low cost connectivity and a service that is an alternative to using the bike/car.
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
Normal BMTC - misconceptions
From my experince I can say that there is a misconception in people's minds when you say normal/ordinary BMTC, esp. amongst those who don't use it that much. The new generation normal/ordinary BMTC buses (like the one in the pic that Murali-sir has posted here) are quite good. I use it on a daily basis. Since we (our tech park) manage the routes and frequencies, it's not crowded. It's not too dusty either. The same IT crowd travels in these buses. Many of us have given up luxury of cars for the sake of luxury of relaxing while commuting. Though we all would love to have Volvo's, that's not really on our priority. Routes and frequencies are. Advantages of using bus (normal or Volvo) are many. More details about our study/implementation is here.
I think even ITPB and some of the other big IT companies have contracted out services to BMTC which are used exclusively by IT guys. I don't think it's between Volvo/AC bus versus normal bus. Its about maintaining frequencies and less crowding versus the opposite.
In other words, we need to get the basics right - frequency, basic cleanliness, coverage, etc. - to attract majority of the car/bike users. If you provide Volvo/AC buses, many people might start shifting from normal to these. And there would always be a minority (hopefully only a minority!) who'd not use bus even if you provide posh & luxurious buses - at that time they would need pickup/drop from door step and on-demand.
-- navshot
Nice initiative - few thoughts
Navshot, very nice initiative. Having looked at the thread and also the poll about type of buses, I have a question - If all private companies start hiring buses to fit their needs the bus company may make profits but I wonder what happens to those in the localities the buses cover but have residents not working for the given company - do they have access to these buses or not?
If not, its more a marraige of convninience (better indeed than 2-4 wheelers) between the company and bus provider at the cost of people not working for the company. Once buses are leased out on a dedicated basis to private firms, one eats in to overall pool of buses - thus limiting bus network meant for general public.
I am sure that with correct route rationalisation, not only can all areas be covered, we can also have buses at decent frequencies.
When you look at Mumbai, the coverage is so good that private buses or hiring buses from BEST is rare.
Coming to the poll - in Mumbai given its weather a/c buses will be welcome, but majority will first want good, decent, reliable, clean and reasonably comfortable buses. This poll is similar in its results, especially if the different categories with ordinary buses in it are pooled together.
I am more a socialist who can live with capitalism, and hence I do not see benefit in having two systems - one posh and one not so posh - this again will have a huge impact of route rationalisations and frequencies. I rather prefer equality and the idea proposed above of the rich paying for the poor.
BEST buses of Mumbai in general are great equalisers - the neo-rich and the poor sit side by side.
ASJ
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
Here is a link on mess created by media on Delhi BRT
Public bus for private lease
ASJ,
You're probably right. If private companies hire BMTC buses, it could eat into the ovarall pool of available buses, therby reducing the frequency for the public. But from what I understand, BMTC's revenue stream from such leasing is quite significant. Without this, maybe they can't sustain to serve general public at current levels.
On the other hand, if the regular public service had same kind of coverage, end-to-end commute time and (less) crowding, then there would not have been a need to lease them for exclusive use in the first place. Infact, it would be better than exclusive one, as it can offer unbeatable frequency.
I think, the immediate goal of public transport should be to increase the coverage, frequency (has to reduce wait time AND crowding) and plan routes that can take us from anywhere to anywhere at the rate of 20-25kmph to begin with. This would attract far more car/bike users than (less-frequent) Volvos/AC buses.
-- navshot
Vehicle Specs
As a regular traveller, I can clarify the following based on my observations:
PPP-Wet Lease BMTC vehicles
The idea proposed above by navshot and others is a very good one. Many companies currently wetlease BMTC vehicles to take their employees to and from work. Even though this reduces the number of vehicles available to the public, it gets a lot of employee cars off the road. It is more efficient than having private transport contractors-as the vehicles can be used as public transport during the day as well. This is currently happening, and must be promoted more.
I would suggest pooling of buses among companies
There will be many IT companies located together. Say for example Bannerghatta Road, so many companies exists. Few companies have bus service and few doesn't. Those who have, will have only 1 run which will be very early for most of the employees. To avoid this inconvenience, people go for private mode of transport.
Instead of this kind of setup, if there can be an association such as Bannerghatta Road IT Companies association and together if they can lease BMTC buses to run along Bannerghatta Road from different localities directly, it will reduce the number of buses needed and increases the frequency too.
This should be just like BMTC's ITPL service.
Digital info in bus stops soon.
According to this news story on TOI, a pilot project is being planned to install digital displays on bus stops en route to BIA. The displays will show realtime bus arrival info alongwith BIA flight schedules. The project has been awarded to KELTRON (which I guess is equivalent of KEONICS in Kerala).
-Shastri
-Shastri
copying an outmoded London service
When BMTC had the most user-friendly "Yelli Iddira?" service running successfully for well over 6 months, which a Londoner has testified as far more advanced than what that city presently has (check - http://praja.in/bangalore...), but which BMTC unceremoniously abandoned because of some minor technical and commercial hitches, what do you want to say to their now going in for the London type service? And, to be provided by KELTRON, whose track record is not exactly the brightest.
If you ask me, BMTC holds far more scope for RTI excerices than a BIAL, and from much longer times. My remedy however is effective competition.
Muralidhar Rao
KSRTC's Ambari Bus
KSRTC on Friday inagurated its custom built Ambari bus based on Ashok Leyland's Corona Engine. It is having 160 HP rearengine noiseless bus. It looks and feels like Volvos with little less power. Bus costs 35 lakhs as opposed to 75-80 lakhs of Volvo. It will be operated in Bangalore-Mysore route. Fare to Mysore was not announced. Volvo as of now costs whooping 200 rupees, but, still used by majority. Next time when I travel to Mysore, I will travel in 'Ambari' and get more details.
Mr. Upendra Tripathy was present on the inaguration of the KSRTC Bus. Why can't BMTC custom build these kind of airconditioned buses like her sister KSRTC. Costs will be half of the Volvo. Instead of 1 Volvo, we can have 2 such custom built A/C buses.
Here is the link on the Hindu:
http://www.thehindu.com/2008/08/02/stories/2008080254050500.htm
Tata Marcopolos will replace expensive Volvos soon
Recently, Mr. Ashok announced the procurement of Tata Marcopolo buses instead of Volvo for its fleet of luxury A/C buses. Marcopolo produces a 200bhp as compared to 300bhp of Volvos and is much more fuel efficient than Volvos and also cheaper too. Also Tata Marcopolo low floor non A/C buses of same power will also be procured. This is a good move and much awaited.Delhi DTC is employing Tata Marcopolos.
I think Volvos are good for BIAL transit since they are more powerful and cover the distance quickly. Existing Volvos should be used for that purpose, whereas the Marcopolos are good for city transit.
By the by Volvos have been added to 12B ,KBS- PBNagar route since Sri. R.Ashok lives there. Fare has been pasted as Rs.20 on the bus. This bus almost runs empty. Again failure in routing of instead of Whitefield and Electronic City.
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