In a bid to encourage more commuters on Outer Ring Road (ORR) to switch to public transport, BMTC will soon introduce its upgraded app that will provide precise details such as the exact arrival time of the buses and number of seats available in them.

Sivakumar B., managing director of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), revealed this during a meeting convened by the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru City, with other officials, ORR Companies Association (ORRCA) and representatives of IT companies and Tech parks on ORR to discuss sustainable measures for traffic decongestion along the corridor. 

Around 1,000 buses

According to Mr. Sivakumar, around 1,000 buses ply on the stretch between K.R. Puram and Silk Board.

Noting that the stretch is a high-potential route where the utilisation has remained relatively low, he proposed multiple options, such as the improved app that could be used by companies and employees to switch to public transport and improve the situation in the area.

“The BMTC app is currently not very precise. We are coming out with an upgraded version in a few days, which will tell you in how many minutes the bus will reach your location and also how crowded the bus is. The beta version is being tested now. By around June 15, it will be ready,” he said.

Bus hubs

He also said that if space could be provided, the department was open to lodging its buses at ORR, making it an origin and destination point.

“We can bring dedicated services on particular routes, provided we are assured with a certain number of people,” he said, further adding that the department will also be offering cards at much more discounted rates to companies that can onboard their staff to BMTC buses.  

Tailored options

City police commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh expressed willingness to conduct local surveys at the earliest if there was a need for more feeder services or readjusting the timings of the services. He also offered tailored provisions for organisations. 

“If institutions can give us the number of people who require shuttle services towards metro or bus stand or even to any other dedicated place such as an apartment where 30 people are commuting from, we are ready to provide it,” he said. 

White topping concerns

With regards to the planned white-topping of the 17-km stretch, R.K. Misra, independent director at B-SMILE, said that the tender will be awarded within a month and the works will start by the time the monsoon sets in.

Traffic snarls on the stretch are expected to worsen once the work of the ₹368 Crore project starts, as the carrying capacity of the road would further reduce.

Justifying this, Mr. Misra said that the intent is to finish Metro and white-topping works simultaneously to ensure that all the infrastructure is in place together. Acknowledging that until then it would raise challenges, he requested cooperation from the companies.

“All the companies, please be prepared for major infrastructure work on this road. But we are getting very large pavers, and we are planning to do 500 to 600 meters every day,” he assured.