Online plea to CM BS Yediyurappa to rejuvenate COVID-hit BMTC

Bengaluru: In an online petition on Change.org addressed to Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Deputy Chief Minister and Transport Minister Laxman Savadi, Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike, a platform which works towards improving urban mobility, has listed the changes which the government should bring in the BMTC.

It is stated that over the past year Bengaluru has seen diminished bus operations resulting in commuters struggling with long wait times, crowded buses and costly commutes during the pandemic. BMTC struggled with low revenues and was unable to provide timely benefits and social welfare to its staff, who are struggling with longer shifts while braving coronavirus. Various measures announced in the previous year, like bus fleet expansions, bus lanes in high density corridors were also halted as the government was unable to provide funds.

In order to better this situation and also some of the longstanding needs of commute in Bangalore, BBPV had demanded that the budget make financial allocations for the following including- free travel for women (successfully implemented in Delhi), prioritising construction of the 12 Bus Priority Lanes promised last year, expansion of the fleet by at least 3,000 buses among others. The petition expresses disappointment that the government did not consider any of these demands such as fleet expansion and bus priority lanes though funds had been allocated in the previous budget.

The petition says the BMTC is continually striving to improve its services and has come up with a bus rejuvenation plan with a five-year time frame. The plan factors in some of the long-standing demands of bus commuters and the critical role BMTC can and should play in the larger mobility scenario like fleet expansion, bus priority lanes, multimodal integration with other sustainable modes such as walking and cycling, better depots, terminals and hubs, passenger information systems and a viability gap funding mechanism are all mentioned as part of the plan.

However, it suggested including bus shelters and asked the transport corporation to share the complete financial requirements for the rejuvenation and how it seeks to finance it. It calls for public consultation for the perusal of the rejuvenation plan.

The petition demands that the state government must provide financial and institutional support for the rejuvenation plan.

"While we appreciate BMTC proactively seeking other sources of funding in the face of the government's refusal to fund BMTC, we fail to understand why the government is so unwilling to fund a plan that will benefit the public and the city at large! Before the pandemic hit, BMTC served a commuter base of 35 lakh daily. Despite the reduced capacity due to the pandemic, 60% of commuters, 20 lakh commuters, have returned to the service. As a comparison, Metro's ridership was 4.5 lakh before pandemic and 1.5 lakh now, 35% of its previous ridership. BMTC is the mainstay for commuting for a large section of Bangaloreans, especially the urban poor and the working class," the petition states.

BBVP says BMTC's central role in the city's mobility is not reflected in the funding it receives and the approach is seen in the budget it receives.

"We expect the government to recognise BMTC's central role in enabling mobility and economic revival in the city and fully support the rejuvenation plan. Like cities across the world are doing, we urge the government to seize the opportunity and lead Bangalore into a healthier, more sustainable, affordable and liveable future," BBVP demands.