Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Explained

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation
Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation
Beṅgaḷūru Mahānagara Sārige Sansthe
Native Name Lang:kn
Founded:
Headquarters:BMTC Central Office, Sarige Sadana, Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road, Shantinagara, Bangalore, Bangalore Urban district, Karnataka, India
Locale:
Service Area:Bangalore Metropolitan Region and Chikkaballapur
Fleet:6798 buses[2]
Parent:Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation
Operator:Government of Karnataka
Former Name:
Ridership:4,910,000 (27 November 2017)
Hubs:Kempegowda K. R. Market Shivajinagar
Depots:49
Leader Type:Managing director
Leader:Ramachandran R
Alliance:Karnataka's Road Transport Undertakings
Fuel Type:Diesel, Electric battery
Routes:5563

Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, officially Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian city of Bangalore. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves the Bangalore Metropolitan Region. As of August 2022, it has a fleet of 6798 buses.[2]

History

Foundation

Mysore Government Road Transport Department was inaugurated on 12 September 1948 with 120 buses.[3] The transport department of The Mysore state administered it until 1961.

Corporatization

It was subsequently converted into an independent corporation under Section 3 of the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950 on 1 August 1961, In 1961, after successfully converting into an independent corporation all assets and liabilities of MGRTD were transferred to Mysore State Road Transport Corporation.[1]

Merger

On 1 October 1961, Bangalore Transport Service was merged with it.[1]

Renaming

On 1 November 1973, the Mysore state was renamed as Karnataka thus, renaming it Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation.

Bifurcation

This left the corporation to serve the Southern part of Karnataka.

Services

!Name of the Service!Description!Manufacturer!Gallery
AstraIt is a non-AC electric bus service with a turquoise livery for JBM brand buses, violet-white for Ashok Leyland's Switch brand buses and light blue-dark blue for Tata Motor's Starbus EV brand buses..
Bengaluru SarigeIt is a non-AC bus service built on Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher urban chassis with a dark blue-white livery for Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) and light blue-white livery or turquoise-white livery for Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) connecting all parts of the Metropolitan region.
Bengaluru Darshini (Bengaluru Rounds)It is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis with a special livery of pencil sketch depiction of important sites in Bangalore on a white background. This service was introduced for sightseeing in Bangalore. It covered routes connecting about twenty landmarks of great historical, religious and scientific significance.
Metro FeederThese are AC and Non-AC services that act as feeders to major metro stations and provide last mile connectivity. They are usually prefixed with 'MF'.[8]
VajraIt is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis, Corona and UD SLF with a light blue livery running on important routes serving the tech parks, industrial areas, major bus stations and major residential areas.
Vayu VajraIt is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis with a light blue livery connecting 21 routes in the Metropolitan region to Bangalore's Kempegowda International Airport. Free Wi-Fi access is provided to the commuters on these buses.[9]

Former services

Note: The Parisara Vahini/Parisara Snehi, Suvarna Sarige, Samartha Sarige/BIG Trunk, Nera Sarige/BIG 10, Samvrutha Sarige/BIG Circle, Metro Feeder, Nimbus and Samparka still retain the same numbering and function despite the change in branding.

List of depots

Sl. No. Depot NumberDepot NameDivisionDistrictRef
12ShanthinagaraSouthBangalore Urban[12] [13] [14] [15]
23ShanthinagaraSouthBangalore Urban
34JayanagaraSouthBangalore Urban
46IndiranagaraEastBangalore Urban
57SubashnagaraCentralBangalore Urban
68YeshwanthapuraNorthBangalore Urban
79PeenyaNorth-WestBangalore Urban
810HennuruNorth-EastBangalore Urban
911YelahankaNorthBangalore Urban
1012KengeriWestBangalore Urban
1113KatriguppeCentralBangalore Urban
1214Rabindranath Tagore NagaraNorth-EastBangalore Urban
1315KoramangalaEastBangalore Urban
1416Deepanjali NagaraWestBangalore Urban
1517Chandra LayoutWestBangalore Urban
1618ITPLCentralBangalore Urban
1719Electronic CityEastBangalore Urban
1820BanashankariSouthBangalore Urban
1921RajarajeshwarinagaraWestBangalore Urban
2022PeenyaNorth-WestBangalore Urban
2123KalyannagaraNorth-EastBangalore Urban
2224KrishnarajapuraNorth-EastBangalore Urban
2325H. S. R. LayoutCentralBangalore Urban
2426YeshwanthapuraNorthBangalore Urban
2527JiganiSouthBangalore Urban
2628HebbalaCentralBangalore Urban
2729KrishnarajapuraNorth-EastBangalore Urban
2830YelahankaNorthBangalore Urban
2931SumanahalliNorth-WestBangalore Urban
3032Surya CityEastBangalore Urban
3133Poornapragna LayoutWestBangalore Urban
3234Kothanuru DinneSouthBangalore Urban
3335KannahalliNorth-WestBangalore Urban
3436BidadiWestRamanagara
3537KengeriWestBangalore Urban
3638ChikkanagamangalaEastBangalore Urban
3739HosakoteNorth-EastBangalore Rural
3840Nelamangala (Makali)North-WestBangalore Rural
3941GunjuruEastBangalore Urban
4042KodathiEastBangalore Urban
4143ShivanapuraNorth-WestBangalore Rural
4244AnjanapuraSouthBangalore Urban
4345M. S. PalyaNorthBangalore Urban
4446SadenahalliNorthBangalore Rural
4547ManduruNorth-EastBangalore Rural
4648ByrathiNorth-EastBangalore Urban
4749BidadiWestRamanagara
4850DevanahalliNorthBangalore Rural
4951SadaramangalaEastBangalore Urban
5052UttanahalliNorthBangalore Rural

National Common Mobility Card (NCMC)

BMTC unveiled a smart card for its bus services for the first time in June 2016. The company introduced smart cards on trial-basis on BMTC Bus No. 335 operating between Majestic and Kadugodi bus stations in March 2017.[16] Apart from serving as an identification document, the smart cards can be used to purchase bus tickets and also swiped at point-of-sale (POS) enabled merchant establishments. The card costs and can be recharged for up to . Recharges higher than 10,000 require the customer to provide identification. According to Axis Bank, the BMTC's partner in the project, the smart card is India's "first open loop EMV contactless smart card". The cards "open-loop" structure allows other agencies to integrate their smart card schemes by adopting the standards of the BMTC smart card.[17] This scheme was finally dropped and integration with National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) is already under process. City's Namma Metro is already using NCMC and Bengaluru Suburban Railway will also be using it in future when the system is completed so therefore, one will be used to travel seamlessly across different transit modes in the city and its suburbs.[18] [19]

Bus Day

Introduced on 4 February 2010, Bus Day is an event calling all the citizens of Bangalore to use public transport. The idea behind Bus Day is to observe the changes which can be brought in the city in trying to respect environment, traffic situation, health of individuals perception.[20] The 4th of every month is observed as a "Bus Day".[21]

Bus priority lane

BMTC along with BTP initiated the bus lanes between Central Silk Board Junction and Tin Factory Junction on Outer Ring Road branded as Nimbus. Bus lanes give priority to buses, cutting down on journey times where roads are congested with other traffic especially private cars and increasing the reliability of buses. The introduction of bus lanes can significantly assist in the reduction of air pollution due to individual cars and traffic pile up because of cars.[22] Currently, the bus lane has been removed due to reduction in road width due to the ongoing work on Namma Metro's Blue Line on the median.

Technologies

To benefit the commuters and promote the usage of public transportation, the BMTC launched its Intelligent Transport System (ITS) on 25 May 2016.[23] Under this project, BMTC buses were equipped with GPS in a phased manner which would transmit the location of the bus to the ITS control room. On 20 May 2023, A mobile app called Namma BMTC was launched on the android and iOS platform which was made available in two languages, English and Kannada. The app provides information about bus routes and bus stops. Real time location of buses on a particular route can also be tracked, which requires the users to switch on the GPS on their device.[24] In 2017, BMTC would be introduced prepaid smart cards for commuting, which eliminated the need to pay the exact amount of change, this was not introduced widely, instead NCMC cards are proposed to be released as an open loop payment system.[25] [26] On 6 April 2022, Bus Passes started to be issued on TUMMOC mobile app, passengers have to scan the QR code in the bus to verify the pass bought on the app.[27] In 2022, BMTC has also started to accept ticket payments using UPI in a ON and OFF manner, finally launching it properly in June 2023. A QR code card is either stuck in the bus or with the bus conductor, passengers can scan and pay for tickets.

An app named "Namma BMTC" launched in 2023 that allows users to track buses in real time, check schedules, plan journeys and calculate fare between stages.[28] The app also includes an SOS feature for women to use in case of emergencies by alerting any nearby police station.

Karnataka's Road Transport Undertakings

Operates out of Southern Karnataka.

Operates out of North-Western Karnataka except Bijapur district.

Operates out of North-Eastern Karnataka and Bijapur district.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: KSRTC Official Website for Online Bus Ticket Booking - KSRTC.in.
  2. Web site: 20 August 2022 . BMTC at a glance . 31 August 2023 . Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation.
  3. Web site: KSRTC Official Website for Online Bus Ticket Booking - KSRTC.in.
  4. News: KSRTC History. The Times of India. 22 July 2012. 24 July 2016.
  5. Web site: Ksrtc history. www.ksrtc.in. 24 July 2016. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20160317003217/http://www.ksrtc.in/site/history. 17 March 2016.
  6. Web site: About Us - Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation. 4 October 2021. kkrtc.karnataka.gov.in.
  7. News: Reporter . B. S. . 1 November 2014 . Bangalore is now Bengaluru . Business Standard India . 27 August 2022.
  8. Web site: 1 May 2023 . Non AC/Ordinary Services Fares . mybmtc.karnataka.gov.in . 7 October 2023.
  9. http://www.business-standard.com/india/storypage.php?autono=404982 BMTC to run Mercedes Benz buses on trial basis
  10. News: CM flags off Atal Sarige for the poor. https://web.archive.org/web/20140222003229/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/bangalore/article124421.ece. dead. 22 February 2014. 31 May 2009. Express Buzz. 8 June 2009.
  11. News: 'Atal Sarige' launched in Bangalore. https://web.archive.org/web/20090701040059/http://www.hindu.com/2009/05/31/stories/2009053153650400.htm. dead. 1 July 2009. 31 May 2009. The Hindu. 1. 8 June 2009. Chennai, India.
  12. Web site: BMTC Depot Landline Nos.
  13. Web site: BMTC Officers List Landline Nos KN.
  14. Web site: BMTC Officers List Landline Nos EN.
  15. Web site: 9 April 2018. Bengaluru BMTC Depots Map with contact numbers OpenCity.in. 25 April 2021. Open City. en-GB.
  16. Web site: Get smart @ Rs 5. Bangalore Mirror. 28 February 2017.
  17. News: Staff Reporter. BMTC smart card by February 15. The Hindu. 5 February 2017. 10 February 2017. en.
  18. Web site: Bengaluru rolls out National Common Mobility Card . 1 May 2023 . Moneycontrol . 25 March 2023 . en.
  19. Web site: BMTC commuters' wait for Mobility cards continues – The Softcopy . 28 March 2023 . 1 May 2023 . en.
  20. Web site: February 4th is 'Bus Day' in Bangalore . Bangalore Aviation . 1 February 2010 . 28 August 2010.
  21. Web site: Bangalore Bus Day- Feb 4th: Citizen Matters . Bangalore.citizenmatters.in . 4 February 2010 . 28 August 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100414133606/http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/events/show/2010-bangalore-bus . 14 April 2010 . dead .
  22. News: Bus Priority Lane Operational in Bangalore. The Hindu. 20 October 2019. Kumar. Pranav.
  23. News: BMTC launches Intelligent Transport Solution. 25 May 2016. The Hindu.
  24. Web site: 21 April 2023 . BMTC app gets soft launch . 21 June 2023 . Bangalore Mirror . en.
  25. Web site: 27 January 2023 . Has common mobility missed the bus? . 21 June 2023 . Bangalore Mirror . en.
  26. News: BMTC to roll out smart cards in January. 18 November 2016. The Hindu.
  27. News: 6 April 2022 . Bengaluru: Buy BMTC bus pass on mobile app, show your phone to travel . The Times of India . 21 June 2023 . 0971-8257.
  28. News: Gour . Deeksha . 26 September 2023 . Good News for Bengalureans: New Namma BMTC App To Offer Real-Time Bus Tracking and More . Times Now . 10 October 2023.