Infamous for mind-melting traffic jams, Bengaluru now has a new hope of a smoother ride
For over 12 million residents of India's IT capital Bengaluru, infamous for mind-melting traffic jams and long commute times, there is now a new hope of a smoother ride.
The excitement over the completion of the first phase of Bengaluru Metro is palpable. More than 3 lakh passengers rode the Bengaluru Metro on Monday, its first full day of operation after the 42-km Phase One was completed.
But even though the subway service known as Namma Metro or Bengaluru Metro has taken some of the load off the city roads, the bus service continues to be vital.
Dr Ekroop Caur, Managing Director of the city's bus service, the BMTC, told NDTV, "We would like to provide first and last mile connectivity (to the Metro). Specially branded buses for feeder services are also going to be started. We are about to run 85 schedules and other 120 are being added today. I guess more and more people will leave their private vehicles at home and use buses to reach metro stations and then travel by Metro - thereby having seamless connectivity across the city."
And the IT city will be getting a unifying smart card to help with all this.
Dr Caur said, "The card can be used for the transit requirements in BMTC as well as any other transactions outside which includes merchandise outlets, paying bills. Very soon it is also going to be integrated with the Metro so there will be one card for all the transactions. This is the first kind of card in India and we are hoping this will really make a great difference in public transport domain."
The card is being welcomed by passengers. One bus commuter, Swetha, told NDTV, "I feel it's comfortable to take a smart card rather than buying a bus ticket daily. It's not only useful for the bus services but it can also be used at hotels, shopping centres etc."
Five hundred new buses have also been added to the BMTC fleet. A total of 3,000 new buses will be added taking the fleet number to 9,500 by the end of the year.