Revised Kendra Sarige / HOHO routes

These maps are much better than previous versions as they indicate where interchanges may be made between Big-10 & Hop-On/Off buses.

The routes are the same as previous with KBS, Shantinagar & Shivajinagar which had already been included.

I think the newspapers have a social obligation to publish this important news item about public transport conveniences like DH has done, but the likes of TOI are busy publishing page-3 kind of stuff & neglecting their commitment to public causes. It would also be most welcome if newspapers published the Big-10 & Hop-On/Off route maps on their own as part of their social responsibility.

The map shown here is a much better (and much needed) improvement over previous one, since it shows the interchanges with Big10.

But to me, this map also shows the weakness in Big10 routes in a 'glaring' manner. The Big10's presently, bring people from the outskirts of the city and drop them at the inner edge of the CBD. We, at Praja, have also discussed the 'need' to have Big10's  cutting accross the city, operating two existing rouutes as a single trip (ala the Metro bus service - MBS routes).

     The BMTC has various reasons, possibly valid, not to operate Big10's in such a fashion. The change I would propose is to extend the Big10s to cut across the CBD and terminate at the outer/farther end of the CBD ( instead of the inner/nearer end of CBD as at present).

    The advantage of such a scheme would be that it will create atleast one ( and 3-4 in some cases) interchange between any two big10 routes. That will reduce one interchange for the commuter and hence will add a lot more convenience. Btw, I am not suggesting that such a route will be the most optimal in terms of distance or travel time.

As an example, extend Tumkur rd/Bellary rd Big10 from MInsk Square to Shanthinagar bus stand via Cubbon road , Brigade Road and Vellara Jn. Similarly, extend Hosur rd/Bannergatta rd Big10 from Vellara Junction to Shivajinagar via Richmond Circle, Mayo hall and BRV junction.  That will create interchanges between Tumkur/Bellary rd and Hosur/B'gatta rd Big10's at Vellara junction, Cauvery Junction and BRV junction. Such a route will make it very convenient for commuters who use both these services, by reducing the number of change-overs, the distance travelled  and total time taken.

   The key guidelines for the routing within the CBD ( i.e. the extensions ) should be

1. Extend service to the diametrically opposite end of the CBD based on where you enter the CBD.
2. Terminate as many services as possible at proper terminals, and not just road junctions. That will provide the much needed convenience to drivers and conductors to access urinals and canteens, not to forget their friends in the BMTC. The road users are also not inconvenienced by buses parked in the roads.
3. Try to route these extensions on roads that do have the KS plying. Kasturba road, Cubbon road, Mission road, streches of MG road etc. 
4. The Big10s should connect to both the Blue Line and orange line more than once. That will allow the commuters to quickly reach their destination, possibly by shorter route even after using KS.

   To emphasise the last point, consider a passenger from B'gatta road intending to go to Mayo hall/ Commercial street. With the present structure of Big10 and KS, he has to get down at Vellara Junction and either

1. walk to Richmond circle and take orange line to mayo hall or commercial street
2. hop onto blue line and travel for 'eternity' to reach commertial street.

     With extensions as proposed above, the additional travel from Vellara junction to Commertial Street (about 2km) is made much quicker than the existing KS routes which take over 4km !!

         In a certain sense, this is similar to the concept behind Big10 and ring road service. For city travel, the ring road service provides the circular service to travel farther distances, and the Big10's provide radial travel in the city.  Similar, with proposed change, for the CBD travel, the KS will operate as the circular service, and the points on the circle are connected radially/diametrically by the extensions to Big10.

-Srivatsava V

In the Jayanagar area, there is this FDR-1 and FDR-2 buses running from Uttarahalli to Uttarahalli crossing PBNagar, BSK 2nd Stage, Jayanagar. Frequency is pretty good and occupancy level is also higher. It is all normal Parisaravahinis.

Similar FDR series buses all over Bangalore in many zones. For example, Jayanagar is a business area frequently visited by South Bangaloreans.

Similarly we should have buses roaming around Gandhibazaar areas connecting Gandhibazaar, Malleshwaram areas connecting Malleshwaram Vyalikaval etc. Probably they can connect the Metro staion nearby in the near future.

Vasanth,

Could you please elaborate further on the local FDR (feeder) buses, such as routes, frequencies, etc. ?

I had sent a letter to BMTC requesting exactly such a service, which can be easily made more frequent in place of the existing infrequent, destination-oriented services for our area - see the link below.

bangalore.praja.in/blog/naveen/2009/03/26/feeder-bus-routes-areas-east-suranjandas-rd

The only difference was that the routes requested were to link up with buses such as the Big-10s on the bigger roads (OMR & Old Airport rd).

     Well, If I am not wrong, almost all buses that touch Uttarahalli also pass through Padmanabhanagar/Chikkalasandra and even Banashankari. Now, if the feeder services are available at a frequency of about 15 mins, Has it replaced any of the buses on the 'old' routes' or these additional trips??

     If these are only additional trips, Only people travelling between Uttarahalli and Banshankari will use this bus. The rest may continue to find comfort in the 'hub and spoke' model. There is 'some-or-the-other' bus plying on this stretch  every minute or two. So, a frequency of 15-20 min for the feeder bus may not help in bringing about a mindset change in people to accept trunk and feeder bus model.

    Nevertheless, its a welcome step.

-Srivatsava V