Citing poor response from the public, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has withdrawn more than half of its air-conditioned buses after it re-introduced them barely three weeks ago on June 1. Of the total 85 AC buses, 47 have been withdrawn.
After lockdown restrictions were eased, BMTC buses resumed services on May 19, and later sought permission from the government to run its AC fleet in the hope of increasing daily revenue.
Around 61 buses were operated on routes such as Majestic to Kadugodi, Majestic to Hoskote, Majestic to Attibele, Majestic to Sarjapur, Hebbal to Banashankari, Hebbal to Silk Board, Banashankari to ITPB, and Electronics City to ITPB. However, the response has been so poor that only 14 buses are currently operational on these routes.
Buses to KIA
Ridership remains low even on services to Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) where BMTC had introduced 24 AC buses. “But we have not withdrawn buses on these routes,” said an official.
Bus services operating on Outer Ring Road where all the tech parks are located have also received poor response. Officials attribute the poor ridership to the fact that most people are still working from home.
An official with BMTC said: “Prior to lockdown, hundreds of people used to travel in AC buses. Now, however, companies are working with limited staff and a majority of them are working from home. This has resulted in poor ridership. We have withdrawn services on these routes but the rest of the routes, including airport buses, are plying.”
It may take a while before people are comfortable using public transport, as ridership is low even for non-AC services on ORR.
BMTC officials admitted that running air-conditioned buses is not financially viable as they incur a higher operational expenditure. To operate an AC bus, the BMTC spends ₹75 to ₹79 per kilometre, while for ordinary services it is around ₹55 per kilometre.
The official said: “It is not financially viable to operate AC buses when there is poor ridership. We will observe the response for one or two weeks and make a decision.”
The BMTC is one of the major road transport corporations in the city and has a fleet of around 860 air-conditioned buses, which have remained off the road for more than two months.
On airport routes
When asked about the occupancy in bus services operated to the international airport, the official said: “We receive around 25% occupancy in Vayu Vajra services and we have not curtailed any services that we resumed from the first week of June.” Prior to lockdown, more than 100 Vayu Vajra AC services were operated on airport routes. At present, barely 24 buses are running.