Bengaluru buses and Namma Metro on the journey to recovery

Milestones and new initiatives mark the year for city’s transport system

After suffering financial distress for two years due to the pandemic, 2022 has helped the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) to “normalise” public transport services in the city.

Ridership in city buses and Namma Metro increased considerably following relaxation of COVID-19 related norms.

The BMTC is running 5,700 buses and the ridership has jumped to 35 lakh per day. The average per day ridership in Namma Metro crossed over 5 lakh, helping the BMRCL to generate operational profit.

This year also saw some milestones being achieved. On August 15, BMTC reached a milestone by celebrating the silver jubilee. In 1997, the then Bangalore Transport Services (BTS) was carved out of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and a separate Corporation named BMTC was formed to provide city buses for Bengaluru.

To mark the silver jubilee, the BMTC offered free bus services across the city on Independence Day.

Due to financial difficulties and other reasons, the BMTC had postponed the induction of new buses for years. This year, the corporation has managed to add more than 1,000 new buses to its existing fleet. The new buses inducted include 803 BSVI diesel buses and 270 odd electric buses under FAME -2 of the Union government.

Though the BMTC’s fleet size has increased after induction of the new buses, shortage of drivers impacted utilisation of the fleet size.