Despite the considerable rise in traffic and count of private vehicles in Bengaluru, the size of our public transport fleet has not changed since 2011.
Story so far: Over the past decade, the number of registered private vehicles in the city went from 50.33 lakh in 2011-12 to 1.04 crore by March 2022. But when it comes to the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), the number of buses has remained relatively consistent – 6,064 in 2011-12 to 6,763 today.
- Why it matters: This lack in our public transport has forced people to embrace private vehicles this much. Even the Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Bengaluru pointed this out as it projected that, by 2025, the city would need 12,134 buses. This dearth involves a financial crisis and several legal issues regarding diesel buses.
Future plans: The Director (IT) of BMTC Surya Sen AV has announced that they are working on a mobile app for the public, which should be ready by 15 August. Through this, people can identify stations, plan their routes, book tickets, share their locations, etc. There will also be a helpline for emergencies.
(Image credits: Ramesh NG from Bangalore, INDIA, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
