Opening up BMTC, BMRCL data: Can it ease first, last-mile connectivity woes in Bengaluru? Premium

This is exactly what could get real when the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) share their real-time transit data with mobility start-ups, designing solutions to bridge the first and last mile gaps of everyday commute. The recently launched “Enroute: A mobility-as-a-service challenge” has offered a glimpse of how this could potentially change public transport in Bengaluru.

What if you can plan and predict your entire home-to-destination journey without ever taking out your car or bike? What if you don’t waste a minute waiting as you seamlessly switch from an autorickshaw to the Metro to a BMTC bus to a cab, before you reach the end point well in time?

This is exactly what could get real when the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and the Bengaluru Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) share their real-time transit data with mobility start-ups, designing solutions to bridge the first and last-mile gaps of everyday commute. The recently launched “Enroute: A mobility-as-a-service challenge” has offered a glimpse of how this could potentially change public transport in Bengaluru.

The city’s two largest public transport agencies opening up real-time data would mean this: Identify and spot the real-time location of a BMTC bus on a specific route, which helps in estimating its arrival at any bus stop along its path. The same applies to Namma Metro, more so as it expands its network across the city.

The data is uploaded as General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) onto a portal called Transport Data Hub (tdh.dult-karnataka.com) facilitated by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT). Two start-ups, Namma Yatri and Tummoc, won the Enroute challenge and unveiled the manner in which they would use the data to plan trips by bus, Metro or by walk, complete with detailed itineraries.

Opening up GTFS could be a game-changer. “Today, you can figure out where a flight is between San Francisco and Bengaluru at a particular moment, whether it is on top of Singapore or over Alaska. But without GTFS data, there is no way to know whether a BMTC G4 bus between M.G. Road and Bannerghatta Road is near Marble Street or near Vega Mall,” says Srinivas Alavilli, Fellow, Integrated Transport and Road Safety at the World Resources Institute (WRI) India.

Now, Namma Yatri and Tummoc will add new features to their products based on the open data. “Namma Yatri will be able to talk to these two and give you an alert even as you are inside a Metro train and are approaching your destination station. Its app would ask you whether you would like to book an auto, or want to walk or any other option,” he explains.

Long associated with BMTC for ticketing, day and monthly pass solutions, Tummoc too will use the GTFS data to extend their digital integration with the transport corporation. “Now they have expanded to Metro and journey planning across modes. They will be able to tell you that this week you made these many public transport trips and therefore you qualify for a free daily pass. Innovations such as these rewards for sustainable transport behaviour are coming soon.”