How is Bangalore doing on Interchanges or transit centers? Not to be mixed with the burning need for local transit / bus change centers, where TTMCs have simply not filled the gap, and changing buses is a painfully inconvenient thing in general, the problem area is with long distance public transport. How do people arrive at the city, and then go to their final destination point?
Majestic is a hub, from old days when the city was small. Get off your train, or inter city bus, walk to city bus terminal, go to your destination. Speaking from railways point of view, we now have Yeshwantpur, but sadly, no such easy access to city buses. We would some day soon have Byappanahalli, with good chances of a connect with Metro terminal there.
Thinking of inter city bus travelers, KSRTC already has some Satellite Bus stations operational in Bangalore. How well are these satellite station working as "interchange hubs"? Are any of these near upcoming new modes of public transport (Metro, mono, and hopefully soon, commuter rail)
If we were to demand good quality interchange hubs for the city today, Yeshwantpur would come up as a natural location. KSRTC's satellite bus stands would be other candidates for upgrade. From commuter rail point of view (future), and to get travelers into Metro,, Byappanahalli could be another choice on the east side of the city.
Since there is talk of developing large "interchange hubs" for inter city travelers, I wanted to start a thread to discuss and evolve requirements (location is one thing, amenities, and other technical requirements another) for these upcoming hubs. We may be able to pass them down to the Govt agencies if and when these interchange hubs get conceptualized and developed.
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IMTC vs Satellite bus stations from KSRTC
Read around old posts, and searched news articles, but still not very clear - what is the difference or relationship between KSRTC's satellite bus stations at Bangalore, and the proposed Inter Modal Transit Centers (IMTC)?
Are some Satellite stations going to be "upgraded" to IMTCs? From KSRTC website (http://ksrtc.in/CivilEngD...)
Can't find mention of Bangalore IMTCs on KSRTC website, except this PDF that talks of an IMTC at Majestic - http://www.ksrtc.in/pdf/D...
metro integration a must..
Metro/commuter rail being the high density carriers will need to be in the centre of all integration plans..unfortunately this has not happened with the TTMC's
Even considering busses, the TTMC's will not help much because of their design..none of them have any kind of integration plan with even the roads that are around them..there is a dire need for a seemless entry and exit points from the ITMC/TTMC..but this has not been given any thought till now!
TTMC is different, think inter city for this
Forget TTMCs for a moment, they are meant for intra-city commute, and have anyway not served their original purpose so far - thats what most of us feel.
Easy interchange for inter city travelers who would depart/arrive to/from onter cities is a slightly different situation. You have luggage to carry, there is waiting time involved. There would be lot more asking (which bus/train to take to go this address). And last, you ought to have these at entry points to the city on 4-5 corners, so that people don't have to unnecessarily go to a central place like Majestic adding to the congestion on their way in, and then their way from Majestic to their destination point.
What would be the needs for such interchange hubs? Besides location options that is.
Some earlier (contrarian?)
Some earlier (contrarian?) discussions here and here. They don't discuss the design of the interchanges though (location determination, actual building, facilities etc.). Generally, KSRTC/BMTC build interchanges or TTMCs in land available to them. Planning to highlight that shortly.
Majestic had most of it..
Tale of MCTC or Mysore Road Satellite Bus Stand
Although Mysore Road Satellite Bus Stand was started way back in 2003, only the non-stop service non-A/C ordinary buses start from here. All other buses start from Majestic Bus Station only. On the way, they will give a stop here. Even the popular Airavat or Volvo service start from Majestic.
People with luggage are also reluctant to do multiple hops by travelling to majestic and then to satellite bus stand in the shuttles provided who charge 5 rupees.
Conductors of buses in Mysore also market their buses saying Majestic, Majestic.
Bus stand has been helpful for people like me who are located in southern portion of Bangalore. People travel by autos and the charges compared to Majestic is less. There is a park and ride facility which is mostly utilized by two wheelers due to exhobirant parking prices for cars. People from south, park their bikes here, take the bus to Mysore.
City Bus facilities from southern areas like Hanumanthnagar, Kattriguppe, Girinagar is absent, so most of them are dependent on autos. What is primarily absent is a Pre-paid auto counter at the bus stand.
Inter Modal Transit Centers (IMTC) where do they exist
Any one has idea where do the Inter Modal Transit Centers (IMTC ) are implimented.
Intermodal Transit centers should have good approach to Highways, Major Railway Stations with METRO / Mono Rail & City Bus Services should be provided for 24 hrs a day.
Also their should be Fast & Reliable with Good Public Transport facility to International / Local Airport.
With Pasangers transiting are suppose to change the mode of Transport at IMTC, then commercial space to be planned with ample vechile parking.
Like in EUROPE most of the Airports are connected with underground METRO / HSRL with Buses. Similarly in Navi Mumbai Stations like Vashi / Belapur / Nerul have office space with parking facility and BEST buses playing. Also Belapur Station has Helipad.
IMTC should have Inter City Rail connectivity, METRO connectivity, Commuter Rail, Conenctivity to National Higways with Helipad Facility & Huge Commercial Space for Office & Exhibition Center / Conference hall & Different budget category of Hotels should be provided at IMTC's
TTMC's are onle single mode of Transport
As KSRTC has done TTMC's are of single mode of Transport : Bus.System
We need multi mode Public Transports to meet the ever growing demands of Bangalore city. We need to think beyound TTMC's.
At IMTC should be provided with Cab facility similar to Airport along with METRO, Commuter Rail, Mono Rail, BMTC & KSRTC Buses
No no, don't confuse with TTMC
Again, KSRTC has not done any TTMCs. Lot of jargons to cause confusion here, but KSRTC's things are called IMTCs - they are doing 4-5 in Mysore.
What is being proposed at Bangalore is for multiple mode changes - Rail//Bus, Metro/Rail/Bus etc.
IMTCs and airports
Ahh... so in essence an IMTC (and not TTMC) needs to be viewed as a micro-scale airport or terminal station (like a Chennai Central for KSR/APSR/TNSTC buses).
As far as siting goes (if we have options), taking the IM part in the name seriously is key. Access to atleast one more PT mode ought to be a pre-requisite. This is where the Subashnagar (and Byappanahalli) IMTC already score well with access to NM and SWR (potentially CRS). However, If all that can be accessed is BMTC then siting it near/on/under the nearest TTMC or Big-10 route will bump the catchment area up.
Looking through srinidhi's list; i'd limit the essentials to:
source (See-ming Lee@Flickr)
Overnight parking, although a plus, is always a double edged-sword and lockers could be a security hazard. 'Shops' OTOH is too nebulous a term and could lead to another Big Bazaar being incorporated into the plans.
On another note and at the risk of opening a can of worms... what if KSRTC were to rent out limited numbers of departure bays to pvt operators. As airports do, rental rates can be decided on time of departure and/or other factors, bid on annually and include a reservation counter too. Here's what's (potentially) in it for the stakeholders:
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