Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation

Last updated

Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation
Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) Logo.jpg
Formerly
Parent Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation
Founded
  • August 15, 1997;27 years ago (1997-08-15)
    as Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation [1] [2]
  • November 1, 2014;10 years ago (2014-11-01)
    as Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation
Commenced operationAugust 15, 1997;27 years ago (1997-08-15)
HeadquartersBMTC Central Office, Sarige Sadana, Kengal Hanumanthaiah Road, Shantinagara, Bengaluru, Bengaluru Urban district, Karnataka, India
Locale
Service area Bengaluru Metropolitan Region, parts of Kolar and Chikkaballapura districts
Alliance Karnataka's Road Transport Undertakings
Routes5729
Hubs  Kempegowda Bus Station, Majestic

  Shivajinagar

  K. R. Market
Depots50
Fleet6340 vehicles [3]
Daily ridership4,910,000 (27 November 2017)
Fuel type Diesel, Electric battery
Operator Government of Karnataka
Managing directorRamachandran R
Website mybmtc.karnataka.gov.in

Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), formerly Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, 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 28 September 2024, it has a fleet of 6340 vehicles. [3]

Contents

History

Foundation

Mysore Government Road Transport Department was inaugurated on 12 September 1948 with 120 buses. [1] 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

Video of a BMTC bus being cleaned in bus depot unit 33, Purnapragnya Layout, Bangalore (2024)
Name of the ServiceDescriptionManufacturerGallery
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.. Switch Astra.jpg
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 Sarige.jpg
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. Bangalore bus portraying tourist attractions in Bangalore.jpg

BMTC Bengaluru Darshini.jpg

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 operated using Volvo 8400LE, Corona, UD SLF and Switch EiV 12 buses with a light blue livery running on important routes serving the tech parks, industrial areas, major bus stations and major residential areas. BMTC Volvo 4530.jpg BMTC Corona AC.jpg BMTC-342F-Volvo-UD-Sarjapura.JPG
Vayu Vajra It 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] Vayu Vajra 2.jpg
Vegadootha ExpressIt is a non-AC Express limited-stop bus service built on Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher urban chassis with a light blue-white livery for Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) connecting the central parts to the periphery of the Metropolitan region. They are usually prefixed with 'EX'.

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
12ShanthinagaraSouth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
23ShanthinagaraSouth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
34JayanagaraSouth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
46IndiranagaraEast Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
57SubashnagaraCentral Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
68YeshwanthapuraNorth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
79PeenyaNorth-West Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
810HennuruNorth-East Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
911YelahankaNorth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1012KengeriWest Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1113KatriguppeCentral Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1214Rabindranath Tagore NagaraNorth-East Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1315KoramangalaEast Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1416Deepanjali NagaraWest Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1517Chandra LayoutWest Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1618ITPLCentral Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1719Electronic CityEast Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1820BanashankariSouth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
1921RajarajeshwarinagaraWest Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2022PeenyaNorth-West Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2123KalyannagaraNorth-East Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2224KrishnarajapuraNorth-East Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2325H. S. R. LayoutCentral Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2426YeshwanthapuraNorth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2527JiganiSouth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2628HebbalaCentral Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2729KrishnarajapuraNorth-East Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2830YelahankaNorth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
2931SumanahalliNorth-West Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
3032Surya CityEast Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
3133Poornapragna LayoutWest Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
3234Kothanuru DinneSouth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
3335KannahalliNorth-West Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
3436BidadiWest Ramanagara [12] [13] [14] [15]
3537KengeriWest Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
3638ChikkanagamangalaEast Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
3739HosakoteNorth-East Bangalore Rural [12] [13] [14] [15]
3840Nelamangala (Makali)North-West Bangalore Rural [12] [13] [14] [15]
3941GunjuruEast Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
4042KodathiEast Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
4143ShivanapuraNorth-West Bangalore Rural [12] [13] [14] [15]
4244AnjanapuraSouth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
4345M. S. PalyaNorth Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
4446SadenahalliNorth Bangalore Rural [12] [13] [14] [15]
4547ManduruNorth-East Bangalore Rural [12] [13] [14] [15]
4648ByrathiNorth-East Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
4749BidadiWest Ramanagara [12] [13] [14] [15]
4850DevanahalliNorth Bangalore Rural [12] [13] [14] [15]
4951SadaramangalaEast Bangalore Urban [12] [13] [14] [15]
5052UttanahalliNorth Bangalore Rural [12] [13] [14] [15]

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 5 (5.9¢ US) and can be recharged for up to 10,000 (US$120). 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. [28]

Karnataka's Road Transport Undertakings

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "KSRTC Official Website for Online Bus Ticket Booking - KSRTC.in".
  2. BMTC History, 14 May 2019
  3. 1 2 "BMTC at a glance". Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation. 20 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
  4. "KSRTC History". The Times of India. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  5. "Ksrtc history". www.ksrtc.in. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
  6. "About Us - Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation". kkrtc.karnataka.gov.in. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  7. Reporter, B. S. (1 November 2014). "Bangalore is now Bengaluru". Business Standard India. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  8. "Non AC/Ordinary Services Fares". mybmtc.karnataka.gov.in. 1 May 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  9. BMTC to run Mercedes Benz buses on trial basis
  10. "CM flags off Atal Sarige for the poor". Express Buzz . 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  11. "'Atal Sarige' launched in Bangalore". The Hindu . Chennai, India. 31 May 2009. p. 1. Archived from the original on 1 July 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 "BMTC Depot Landline Nos".
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 "BMTC Officers List Landline Nos KN".
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 "BMTC Officers List Landline Nos EN".
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 "Bengaluru BMTC Depots Map with contact numbers | | OpenCity.in". Open City. 9 April 2018. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  16. "Get smart @ Rs 5". Bangalore Mirror. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
  17. Staff Reporter (5 February 2017). "BMTC smart card by February 15". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  18. "Bengaluru rolls out National Common Mobility Card". Moneycontrol. 25 March 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  19. "BMTC commuters' wait for Mobility cards continues – The Softcopy". 28 March 2023. Retrieved 1 May 2023.
  20. "February 4th is 'Bus Day' in Bangalore". Bangalore Aviation. 1 February 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  21. "Bangalore Bus Day- Feb 4th: Citizen Matters". Bangalore.citizenmatters.in. 4 February 2010. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 28 August 2010.
  22. Kumar, Pranav (20 October 2019). "Bus Priority Lane Operational in Bangalore". The Hindu.
  23. "BMTC launches Intelligent Transport Solution". The Hindu. Retrieved 25 May 2016.
  24. "BMTC app gets soft launch". Bangalore Mirror. 21 April 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  25. "Has common mobility missed the bus?". Bangalore Mirror. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  26. "BMTC to roll out smart cards in January". The Hindu. Retrieved 18 November 2016.
  27. "Bengaluru: Buy BMTC bus pass on mobile app, show your phone to travel". The Times of India. 6 April 2022. ISSN   0971-8257 . Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  28. 1 2 Gour, Deeksha (26 September 2023). "Good News for Bengalureans: New Namma BMTC App To Offer Real-Time Bus Tracking and More". Times Now. Retrieved 10 October 2023.