Public bus commute - Update

It has been more than a month since I started commuting by public bus. It is just a 2KM commute where I can jump into any bus that goes up towards the city and most of the buses going down towards Bannerghatta. Early morning 8AM is rush hour for the normal buses, but the Suvarna and Volvo buses which are in plenty these days have poor occupancy making it a very comfortable commute.

Lunch time commute is by the ordinary buses some of which are in horrendous condition. One of the buses was vibrating so badly that you could feel it upto your head:) Sometimes I get nervous thinking about the condition of the brakes on these buses. Being a 2KM commute, some of the bus conductors try to give a concession by taking less money and not giving a ticket. You need to demand for one. Looks like they make some good pocket money by doing this. But they seem to sniff of any checking that they never get caught it looks like. There is one lady conductor who indulges this even in the Volvo and Suvarna buses.

The number of Volvo and Suvarna buses seems to have increased a lot with buses to Whitefield, Shivajinagar and Jigani. I am not sure if this is a wise idea because most of the people travel by the ordinary buses and using the day pass which is not usable in Suvarna or Volvo buses. I am not even sure if Volvo buses itself is a great idea unless BMTC is able to attract the elite car driving populace into it. I travelled towards the city center in a Volvo during the rush hour where traffic was moving below 10kmph speed, still the bus was not even full even with the bus crew's sincere attempt to catch some flies.

May be BMTC should increase the Suvarna buses and reduce the charges or allow daily passes in it. That way both the elite and the normal passengers can make use of it. Right now, they are going empty even at peak rush hours. Also they should immediately abandon the Vayu Vajra trips to airport - there is obviously no customer demand for it, same is the case with Volvo Vajra series in routes other than the IT corridor.