There had been estimates from long that the city needed far more buses than the BMTC was operating, and it was also known that the need was being partially met by the private operators. But, nobody knew that between the private operators and the schools, there were over 6 times the numbers operated by BMTC. Kudos to Citizen Matters for bringing out these numbers - check here.
So, all in all, there are close to 50,000 buses on the city roads, apart from the 'multi-coloured buses'(mostly TamilNadu registered), and the inter-city operations. But, the fact of the matter is that, constrained as the private operators are because of being licenced under the most restrictive Contract Carriage Act (check here), their fleet is totally under-utilised.
The reality however is also that if the entire lot of 50K buses is deployed intelligently, a large part of the public transport needs of the city can very easily be met. Now, most certainly, a totally government-owned and thereby incapacitated BMTC can't do it, and, being a public utility area, you can't possibly leave it totally to the private sector either. In such a scenario, why not combine the best of both the worlds, and have a most equitable PPP model, more or less on the lines of the most successful Delhi power supply set-up (check here), which even an Arvind Kejriwal seems to have embraced? Quite like in the Delhi power supply model, you can have three or four (or even more) reputed players, covering the whole of the city, while also catering to the diffrenent types of needs, all under the watchful eye of the UMTA (preferably reporting to a directly-elected Mayor, as envisaged in the B S Patil Committee report), which besides decides the fare structure, providing for a nominal 10% "return on equity".
With improved efficiency, and UMTA in the picture in arriving at decisions, the fare structure can be much lower than that of BMTC's, currently. If the government wants to afford further subsidies to select sections of the population, they can do so through DBT (as in the case of domestic gas supplies), rather than burdening the operator.
If such a scheme is put in place, most present car and two-wheeler users will readily switch to public transport, at least for their work-day commute, and if simultaneously congestion and parking charges are introduced (resistance to which will be much lower now), the travel can become faster too.
The bus, being the most versatile of all public transport modes, will this way account for a huge share of the 'trips' made in a city. But, of course, when the city expands to the extent Bengaluru has done, you will need the METRO too, which is easily the best option for long intra-city travel.
PS: The above was originally posted here. Deciding that it needs more specific attention, I have opened this new blog. Hope it will gather more interest now.
Muralidhar Rao
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Response to invite for comments on draft Comprehensive Mobility
Note prepared for new Siddaramaiah govt
A case for Private Sector participation in public bus transport services
Importance of the bus
* Bus – a key element in public transport
* Metro, Namma Railu (Commuter Rail) - at best long term solutions; Bus - most versatile, and ready answer, and therefore will remain an important mode of public transport - particularly for the "last-mile connectivity".
* The task is really huge if the percentage of trips made using public transport has to rise from the present 40 odd to a level of 70 to 80 (like in London), where the near 90% privately-owned bus services record close to 6 million trips/ week-day, compared to the Underground's 3.4 million.
* "Policy intervention must to reduce the number of vehicles on city roads" - NGT
* Further, "The High Court on Wednesday (7th June) opined that Bengaluru needs an efficient, vibrant & economically viable public transport system - - there should be more frequency of bus services" Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale observed.
Present scenario (all sourced from main-stream newspaper reports, and reliable reports):
* Claims have been made that BMTC has improved its services of recent.
* But, whatever, a monopoly has its limitations, and a government one has even bigger limitations.
* BMTC has only some 6000 odd buses, and out of this, many are under repair.
* There is a severe staff crunch, largely due to poor employment (contract) conditions, leading to back-door privatisation of staffing
* Poor maintenance has led to 200 BMTC Volvo buses out of order - many may not run any more
* Only 34% of KSRTC buses are covered under 3rd party insurance, in blatant violation of MV Act (response to RTI query). Very likely same scenario with BMTC too.
* Repeat failures of ITS (Intelligent Transport System, for tracking, e-ticketing, etc) contracts, even with huge amounts being spent on them (Rs 79 cr on one case alone - response to RTI query).
* No night services - most services end by 9 PM
* Too many women, even from middle-class households, are denied the ability to work outside home - sometimes simply because there is no safe to get to work (quote by Prof Raghuram Rajan).
* Dismal maintenance of TTMC's (Traffic & Transit Management Centres), particularly toilets.
* Poor financial management, leading to diesel liabilities alone mounting to Rs 4,794 cr, as of June, 22, apart from salary and other dues.
* Essentially, BMTC (as also KSRTC), being fully government-owned and thereby incapacitated, is unable to meet the growing and varying demands of the city.
Solutions
* "A large %age of 'trips' made in a day, in a city in a growing economy, pertain to either education or work - if this is met largely by public transport, half the problems solved" - Dr Madhav G Badami, School of Urban Planning, McGill Univ, Canada.
* There are 50,000 odd buses of all types operating in the city already, in addition to the 6000 odd BMTC buses (Citizen Matters, Dec 18, report).
* But, all, other than BMTC, are licensed as Contract Carriages, which is most restrictive.
* If allowed to operate a little more freely (yes under the oversight of UMTA/ BMLTA), they can meet all types of demands.
* A "Cityflo/Shuttl" kind of 'aggregator' bus service, if facilitated to operate across the city, can bring about the same effect as the "Odd-Even scheme" did for Delhi, by reducing car/ two-wheeler usage, particularly for work-day commute. These are already operating in Chennai, Delhi-NCR, Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai and Hyderabad. And, Bengaluru should facilitate their operations straightaway. (Ironically, Bengaluru was the first city to have bus aggregator services in the name of 'ZipGo', as far back as in 2015. But, the then Government ordered it to discontinue the services, citing revenue losses for BMTC).
* Introduction of the Shakti services by the government is indeed laudable, in that it provides for empowerment of women through higher participation in the state's economic activities.
* However, what needs to be noted is that there is a huge demand for efficient, comfortable and dependable bus services from commuters/ travelers who are ready to pay commensurate fares for them. So, while the government service providers may concentrate on Shakti, and low end services, the government needs to open up the rest to the private sector, by firstly licensing aggregators like CityFlo/ Shuttl, etc as regular bus services, after rescinding the most mis-used Contract Carriage Act. It will then be a win-win for all.
* For normal services too, BMTC needs to be re-structured along a viable PPP model (Delhi's power supply PPP model, recognised widely as most equitable and efficient provides a template).
* And whatever subsidies are to be provided (including under the Shakti scheme) should be made over to the identified beneficiaries directly, via DBT, without burdening the service provider.
* The National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP), 2014; Transport bill 2015; "Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Bengaluru", published in Oct 2019, by DULT and BMRCL - all have strongly recommended roles for Private sector in Public Bus Transport Service
* Gradually, thereafter, private vehicle usage can be disincentivised, through congestion charges, parking charges, prioritisation of lanes for buses (particularly during peak hours), etc
Asks of the government
* Immediate - Licence Shuttl, CityFlow, etc
* Short Term -
a) Split BMTC into 3 to 4 PPP entities, with just 26% holding by government
b) Operationalise Commuter Rail services to connect outlying town-ships to the city.
* Long Term -
Expand Metro, including to Airport
Muralidhar Rao
12th June, 2023