The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is the bloodline of the city's mobility catering to more than five million people every day. In line with Bengaluru's global reputation as India's Silicon Valley, it launched the Intelligence Transport System by putting a GPS device in all buses in 2016 and offering real-time details on bus movement and information on the nearest bus shelter.
However, due to the administration's apathy, the mobile app has become annoyingly irregular over time. As a longtime BMTC bus traveller myself, I try to use the app every day for my commute from home to the office and vice versa. But the BMTC app frequently crashes and sometimes only displays route numbers between point A to Point B with departure times, which isn't accurate most of the time.
While the transport corporation is yet to fix the glitches, Depot 18 (Whitefield division) of the BMTC has come up with the novel idea of creating a WhatsApp group for passengers who use the bus to travel to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA).
The Depot 18 manager S Sathish and the team have opened a WhatsApp Group for the KIAS 15 route and interested commuters can access information such as the bus location and the time to arrive at the bus shelter.
Also, when the bus begins its journey at the starting point: the TTMC (Traffic Transit Management Centre) near Vydehi hospital, the conductor's phone will be added to the WhatsApp group, so that commuters can directly call to get details on where the bus is, the bus shelter location and other crucial information, Sathish told DH.
"We tried to popularise this effort on social media channels and asked fellow passengers to pass on the information to relatives staying in and around Kadugodi and those residing around the KIAS 15's route. So far, the WhatsApp group has more than 600 people and is expected to grow further," Sathish said.
For the uninitiated, KIAS 15 passes through Whitefield TTMC, Sathya Sai Hospital, ITPL, Hope Farm (towards Hoskote), Kadugodi Bridge, Bellathur, Seegehalli Gate, Khaji Sonnenahalli Gate, Budigere Cross, Grandwell, Mandur, Thirumenahalli Gate, Budigere, Manchappanahalli Gate, Singahalli, Hunasuru, Kadayarappanahalli, Chikkanahalli, Beguru and Kempegowda International Airport.
Interested people can contact Whitefield Depot 18 manager S Satish (phone number: 77609-91418) for information on the WhatsApp group.
As of now, the WhatsApp group offers information on the KIAS 15 route only. At least till the BMTC mobile app is fixed, it would be great if the Transport Corporation or depot managers in other regions of the city could offer similar services for other KIA routes.
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