“A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure” – Margaret Thatcher, former British Prime Minister.
Conventional bus services, the world over are generally perceived as slow, infrequent, inconvenient, uncomfortable, and distinctly lacking in status & quality.
What is required for bangalore is a complete change in the way people travel.
Invoking cosmetic changes & marketing conventional bus services are unlikely to make major impacts, other than marginally improve patronization (we have seen this all these years). Bus services, unfortunately carry a long-standing negative stigma regarding poor performance & inadequate customer services, despite BMTC being one of the best performing transport corporations.
‘Public Bus Transport’ often brings with it the same connotation of unpleasantness as ‘Public Toilets’ can, & therefore generally serve the low-end users. Overcoming this negative image is quite impossible in the city as no matter what steps are taken, the two-wheelers & cars always win the battle with respect to quicker mobility & convenience, & the flight of users from buses to private vehicles will continue, as & when they can afford vehicles.
There is'nt a single example in the world where the image of bus services has changed from this undesirable perception with conventional bus services operating with mixed traffic. Instances where the image of bus services have been changed for the better are only in cities where BRT has been adopted, such as Bogota, with the TransMillenio, Santiago (TransSantiago) & Mexico (MetroBus). Apart from this, many more cities have adopted BRT options (well over 40).
In the case of the airport Volvo Vajras, they have made a pretty good beginning primarily due to the very long distance, with taxi & car options being not only very expensive, but more inconvenient than bus. Even this service is being debated endlessly for the time taken as the service is determined by prevailing traffic conditions (the service can never be better than what the traffic conditions allow it to be).
Rail systems, particularly in India are maintaining an edge over public bus services with regard to creating a more modern & sophisticated image, with the traditionally fast, yet uncomfortable Mumbai rail, the newer & better Delhi Metro & also the Kolkata Metro.
Thus, attracting the upper middle class & higher-income users onto buses becomes even more difficult with the upcoming bangalore metro unless this negative image is completely revamped in every aspect of service, efficiency, performance & convenience. Bus services to support, complement & feed the Metro, must be equivalent in services to the Metro, else it might, in some ways lead to the failure of the Metro in reducing congestion as patronization for the Metro is largely dependent on access to good, reliable & fast feeder bus services.
Such high quality, competitive services can only be provided by BRT with separate lanes & punctual, reliable services. Until a BRT system is in place in the city, the image of public bus services will continue to struggle with this negative stigma attached to it.
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start at the begining
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
srungaara
Srigaara - BMTC's Image
TS - Your response was hilarious !
This was posted since Narayan, Shastri & George had some good thoughts for boosting BMTC's image & marketing it better, but I feel that such efforts will have limited reach, ability & success & propoganda cannot continue for long as costs for such promotions will start biting & hurt it's bottomlines.
I agree that if the saarige organizes itself in a more coherent & systematic manner, its image might improve. We need the saarige to take care of mobility for the masses, but I feel sorry to see them waiting without certainty of when the next bus would arrive - the punctuality & reliability aspect is missing. The traffic conditions are partly to blame for this, as also for BMTC's insensitiveness towards customers. BMTC, on paper is the best operating public transport body, but this is largely based on revenues & profits. I doubt if it is based on customer satisfaction survey/s.
Chasing the niche segment has benefits for all - this segment might start using BMTC if services are good & this in turn will lower the dependence on private vehicles, which will clear the path for other ordinary services, as well. BMTC has been losing it's customer base & the pull factors for using private modes is very strong, & therefore, it's package must include services for competing with cars thro' BRTS. Unless this is done, I dont see how it will continue to retain it's share in terms of percentage. By nos, it has held on, but this is because the no. of trips has increased with rise in population - so, in actual terms, it has lost some share, & will continue to do so.
The country, particularly this city, has arrived where expectations of the populace, particularly the niche segment place great value on time as economic activities depend on this. I feel it is really time now to start addressing these segments - they would need to employ professionals who analyze & understand expectations from various segments. If we ignore the requirements of customers, especially the niche segments & do not provide equivalent services for them, then we must also be prepared to keep building roads & flyovers for them - this is going to cost us much more than taking a gamble & try to wean them on to buses, not to mention the increased pollution & other social costs of vehicle usage.
I'm sure the niche segments do not expect BMTC portals like the verandahs of leela palace ! Nor do they expect valet service & a limo ride !! All they expect is a good, comfortable ride on time to their destinations, & perhaps AC in hot climate.
Respect for BMTC will surely come along by all segments if these few conditions are met - & will sustain as long as they continue to provide the same quality of service !!!
Coherency and Image
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
reliability
Image (Contd)
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
private participation