BMTC launches two new bus services

In the core of the bustling city, short-distance travel comes at a price. It also comes with heated arguments with autorickshaw drivers and that exasperating hunt for parking space. The Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDe) task force has identified a potential way out — a circular bus service exclusively for the central business district (CBD).
The task force, in its transportation blueprint, has recommended a Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) service by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) around the CBD. The high-frequency, fixed fare (Rs 5) service has been proposed as a concerted move to increase use of public transport and, in turn, reduce the number of vehicles on the already choking roads in the core city areas. The proposal includes pedestrian crossings at all stations. It will be launched on Tuesday (see box).
The HOHO service is in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions, covering 33 stops. Globally, HOHO services are extensively used for loop trips taken by tourists who want to get a first taste of must-see must-do things. The transportation blueprint — prepared by Ashwin Mahesh of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and TOI’s Lead India winner R K Misra — identifies HOHO service as supplementary to other transportation plans, including proposed bus priority lanes and small buses that could ply on narrow roads.
“The idea is to create circular routes in different areas where people can work and shop. We are proposing a service frequency of about 10 minutes. The HOHO service in the CBD is experimental and it can be replicated in other areas, like the Jayanagar-JP Nagar neighbourhoods,’’ Misra told TOI. The service is targeted at people who don’t want to leave their cars even when on short-distance trips.

Source: Times of India, 10-Feb-2009, Page 3