Reality check: Defunct LED display on BMTC buses

Frequent bus users say that LED displays on BMTC buses either don’t provide information about bus stops or are broken most of the time.

These screens are installed inside the bus to post updates about upcoming bus stops.

Metrolife took eight BMTC buses on July 29 and 30. One did not have an LED display infrastructure. Four were out of order. The remaining three flashed the ‘Welcome to BMTC’ message but no information on bus stops.

We boarded three buses on the first day. The LED screens on Bus 12 (Banashankari TTMC to Kempegowda Bus Station), and Bus 201 G (Jeevan Bhimanagara to Banashankari) were not working. On V-500 CK (Banashankari TTMC to Kadugodi), the LED screen flashed the ‘Welcome to BMTC’ message and also had a voice announcement.

On Day 2, we boarded Bus MF-5 (from SMV Railway Station to Central Silk Board) and 314 P (Shivajinagar to Malleshpalya). The LED screens on them were non-functional. The LED screen on Bus 380 E (K R Market to Soluru) worked but had no voice announcement. Two buses plying between Halasuru and K R Market and Sony Signal and Madiwala had functional LED displays.

Commuters talk

Elderly citizens, people with disabilities, and newcomers to the city find this particularly inconvenient.

They often miss their bus stop or get off at the wrong destination, they told Metrolife during the reality-check.

Shreya travels from Banashankari on Bus No 12. She says, “Last week, I missed my bus stop at Vijaya College in Jayanagar twice because there was no announcement on board, voice or digital.” Sneha Sadhukhan takes a bus from Indiranagar to Infantry Road where she is interning at a company. “I am often clueless where I am going. The bus conductors don’t even announce the next stop,” she says.

Afraah is a 26-year-old working professional. She travels to K R Market on Bus No 317. “Since the LED display doesn’t function, I rely on fellow passengers for information,” she says.

College student Varsha travels from K R Market to Mayo Hall regularly. She says a few buses on the route have functioning LED boards while others don’t. “Bus conductors have shouted at me for enquiring about my bus stop multiple times in the past,” she claims.

Simran (name changed) is a media professional from Mahadevapura. She says, “In the air-conditioned Volvo buses that I take to the Outer Ring Road, both the LED board and verbal announcement don’t work. Most times, the conductor doesn’t even call names of the bus stop.”

However, Simran has observed that digital and voice announcement facilities work on buses that look “new”, especially the electric ones. Reshma (name changed) has had similar experiences on new BMTC buses plying between Kempegowda bus station and Yelahanka. She boards the bus at Jalahalli Cross.

The BMTC has 6,126 buses on its fleet, of which, 788 electric buses are fitted with LED boards and voice announcements, a spokesperson told Metrolife.

BMTC responds

Ramachandran R, managing director of BMTC, says their IT management cell reviews bus LED display boards and voice announcement systems regularly. “If any of them are not functioning, it must be a temporary issue,” he says.

LED boards are connected to a global positioning system (GPS) and “light up only when the bus reaches the next bus stop”, he adds.