Bookworms and bibliophiles attend the two-day Bangalore Literature Festival at Lalit Ashok in the city on Saturday.
Credit: DH Photo/Pushkar V
Bengaluru: "If you want to enjoy the lit fest, ditch your cars and take the metro and bus on Sunday.”
That is the message Srinivas Alavilli, public transport proponent and fellow, WRI India, believes is a key takeaway from Saturday, Day 1 of the literature festival.
Bangalore Literature Festival’s (BLF) organisers tied up with the Personal2Public campaign to arrange free electric shuttle buses throughout the day from the Vidhana Soudha metro station to the BLF venue LaLit Ashok. These buses were available at roughly 10-minute intervals outside Exit A of the metro station and also ferried visitors back to the station.
As of 8.30 pm, the Personal2Public campaign estimated that a total of 4,200 people came to the venue using the shuttle buses. A total of four shuttle buses were pressed to service, completing 40 trips each between the venue and the station throughout the day. By the end of their 12-hour day, the buses ran at full capacity. While this campaign alleviated some pressure on the roads, people were stuck in traffic around 10-11 am on Raj Bhavan Road. This situation continued through the morning and well into the afternoon, even coming to a complete standstill a few times.
“I wanted to catch the 12.30 pm session on poetry readings while my friend wanted to see the next session on the lawns. But I missed my session by at least 15 minutes because I was stuck in traffic,” said Sara, a student.