<p>The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is making an all-out effort to woo more people to use public transport even as it continues to transport more than 50 per cent of City’s population everyday.<br /><br />To tide over the BMTC’s biggest problem of its buses being forced to compete for the same space as that of cars, Transport and Road Safety Commissioner Bhaskar Rao says the State government is actively pursuing the proposal to create a bus rapid transport (BRT) corridor between Hebbal and Silk Board junction.<br /><br />“Earlier, the problem of who would bear the expenditure had caused the proposal of such corridors to be stalled. But now, government agencies are arriving at a consensus and soon we will have the first corridor,” he said.<br /><br />While the first of the BRT corridor is said to come up from Hebbal to Silk Board junction, BMTC managing director Syed Zameer Pasha said the BDA had given its nod to offer one lane to BMTC buses on all of its flyovers and elevated roads. The Corporation is in talks with the Palike to get a dedicated space from the latter’s road-widening projects.<br /> <br />Pasha said the Corporation would have in place the common mobility card, offering seamless travel, in about eight months’ time and it would also have an intelligent transport system, featuring global positioning system and electronic ticketing machines.<br /><br />The intelligent transport system, Pasha said was the need of the hour for Bangalore, which unlike other metros, depends only on one means of public transport.<br /><br />“This will help the Corporation to streamline operations and offer more facilities,” he said, adding that the BMTC would soon enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IL & FS Trust Company Ltd for the technology of mobility card.<br /><br />Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security) Praveen Sood said the City as a whole should encourage travel by bus as the BMTC has been doing a great job.<br /><br />He pointed out that road widening was not the solution to the increasing traffic problem in the City. Instead, the solution lies in effective usage of public transport. “We need to reduce the number of private vehicles in the City and not to increase the space they need to move around,” Sood said pointing out that a population of eight million people has 40 lakh private vehicles, which is not a healthy statistics.</p>
<p>The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is making an all-out effort to woo more people to use public transport even as it continues to transport more than 50 per cent of City’s population everyday.<br /><br />To tide over the BMTC’s biggest problem of its buses being forced to compete for the same space as that of cars, Transport and Road Safety Commissioner Bhaskar Rao says the State government is actively pursuing the proposal to create a bus rapid transport (BRT) corridor between Hebbal and Silk Board junction.<br /><br />“Earlier, the problem of who would bear the expenditure had caused the proposal of such corridors to be stalled. But now, government agencies are arriving at a consensus and soon we will have the first corridor,” he said.<br /><br />While the first of the BRT corridor is said to come up from Hebbal to Silk Board junction, BMTC managing director Syed Zameer Pasha said the BDA had given its nod to offer one lane to BMTC buses on all of its flyovers and elevated roads. The Corporation is in talks with the Palike to get a dedicated space from the latter’s road-widening projects.<br /> <br />Pasha said the Corporation would have in place the common mobility card, offering seamless travel, in about eight months’ time and it would also have an intelligent transport system, featuring global positioning system and electronic ticketing machines.<br /><br />The intelligent transport system, Pasha said was the need of the hour for Bangalore, which unlike other metros, depends only on one means of public transport.<br /><br />“This will help the Corporation to streamline operations and offer more facilities,” he said, adding that the BMTC would soon enter into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with IL & FS Trust Company Ltd for the technology of mobility card.<br /><br />Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security) Praveen Sood said the City as a whole should encourage travel by bus as the BMTC has been doing a great job.<br /><br />He pointed out that road widening was not the solution to the increasing traffic problem in the City. Instead, the solution lies in effective usage of public transport. “We need to reduce the number of private vehicles in the City and not to increase the space they need to move around,” Sood said pointing out that a population of eight million people has 40 lakh private vehicles, which is not a healthy statistics.</p>