industry

BMTC plans to offer a bouquet of bus passes


BENGALURU: Paper bus passes are likely to be phased out as the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is on a mission to overhaul its commuter pass system. What could be in store are kilometre-based, destination-based and time-based paperless bus passes.

“We are working on a plan to introduce a variety of passes. The facility will be made available to the commuters in smart cards,” said Tanusree Deb Barma, director (information technology), BMTC. The closed-loop smart card, she said, will be rolled out to the general public in the next three to six months.

Currently, BMTC offers only four kinds of bus passes: the daily, monthly and student passes. Recently, the Corporation introduced Metro-feeder Vajra monthly passes to encourage Metro passengers to use BMTC services, especially at SV Road and Baiyappanahalli Metro stations.

BMTC’s bus passes, Barma said, have been receiving good response despite their limited options. “There are a lot of commuters who do not benefit from the daily and monthly passes. The kilometre-based bus passes, which we are planning to introduce, could help more people,” she said.

Another senior BMTC official, who was part of the meeting that suggested changes in the commuter pass system, said the transport utility was also planning to introduce several other options in bus passes. “Our team is developing a software application that allows passengers to buy trip-based, kilometre-based and time-based passes,” he said.

The corporation, he said, is also in favour of allowing the sale and recharge of bus pass on different platforms like business outlets and the internet. “Now, commuters can buy or recharge only at our terminals. We will provide such facility across all platforms, be it online or offline,” the senior official said.

Welcoming the move, transport specialist Pawan Mulukutla urged the BMTC to prioritise the availability of bus passes on different platforms. “There are no option to buy passes on the website. Why should one travel all the way to a particular location to buy passes? Why can’t it be made available at different places?” he wondered.

Vinay Sreenivasa of Bengaluru Bus Commuters Forum said the BMTC should seek the opinion of the people who use BMTC’s services every day. “Nearly 50 lakh people use BMTC buses daily. Having different categories of bus passes is good. The BMTC should also reduce the rates so that many more can afford them,” he said.





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