Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, officially Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian city of Bangalore. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves the Bangalore Metropolitan Region. As of August 2022, it has a fleet of 6798 buses.[3]
History
Foundation
Mysore Government Road Transport Department was inaugurated on 12 September 1948 with 120 buses.[1] The transport department of The Mysore state administered it until 1961.
Corporatization
It was subsequently converted into an independent corporation under Section 3 of the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950 on 1 August 1961, In 1961, after successfully converting into an independent corporation all assets and liabilities of MGRTD were transferred to Mysore State Road Transport Corporation.[1]
Merger
On 1 October 1961, Bangalore Transport Service was merged with it.[1]
On 15 August 1997, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (then Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) was bifurcated to cater to the transportation needs of Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority. It was formed by separating the Bangalore Transport Service.
On 15 August 2000, Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (then North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation) was bifurcated to cater to the transportation needs of Northeastern parts of Karnataka.[4][5][6]
This left the corporation to serve the Southern part of Karnataka.
On 23 November 2009, Vijayapura division was transferred from NWKRTC to KKRTC.
On 1 November 2014, It changed to the present name Bangalore Metropolitain Transport Corporation along with other organisations in the city.[7]
Services
Name of the Service
Description
Manufacturer
Gallery
Astra
It is a non-AC electric bus service with a turquoise livery for JBM brand buses, violet-white for Ashok Leyland's Switch brand buses and light blue-dark blue for Tata Motor's Starbus EV brand buses..
It is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis with a special livery of pencil sketch depiction of important sites in Bangalore on a white background. This service was introduced for sightseeing in Bangalore. It covered routes connecting about twenty landmarks of great historical, religious and scientific significance.
These are AC and Non-AC services that act as feeders to major metro stations and provide last mile connectivity. They are usually prefixed with 'MF'.[8]
It is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis, Corona and UD SLF with a light blue livery running on important routes serving the tech parks, industrial areas, major bus stations and major residential areas.
It is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis with a light blue livery connecting 21 routes in the Metropolitan region to Bangalore's Kempegowda International Airport. Free Wi-Fi access is provided to the commuters on these buses.[9]
Parisara Vahini/Parisara Snehi: It is a non-AC bus service with a light blue-white, dark blue, blue-white or grey colour livery over time. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
Janti Vahana: It is a non-AC vestibule bus service with a light blue-white or blue-white colour livery over time. Currently defunct.
Suvarna: It is a non-AC bus service with a green or red livery, similar fare to Jana Sarige buses served important feeder routes. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
Samartha/BIG Trunk: It is a non-AC bus service with a green livery used to serve trunk routes from downtown to the suburbs. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
Nera Sarige/BIG 10: It is a non-AC bus service with a special green and bottle green livery plied on 12 major corridors towards the central business district. These buses are numbered with a G prefix. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
Samvrutha/BIG Circle: It is a non-AC bus service with a special white BIG Circle livery. These buses use to ply on Bangalore Inner Ring Road and Bangalore Outer Ring Road. Buses are numbered with a C prefix or a K prefix. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
Atal Sarige: It is a non-AC Low fare bus service with an Indian tri-colour livery. Currently defunct[10][11]
Pushpak Sarige/Janapriya Vahini: non-AC buses with a beige-white livery used to ply only with a driver who also issues ticket and has only one entrance and exit. Currently defunct.
Marcopolo AC, UD AC and Corona AC: It is an AC low fare bus service with a white or light blue livery plied on select routes. Currently defunct.
Nimbus: It is a non-AC bus service with a green livery for BSIV, light blue-white livery for BSVI and AC buses with a light blue livery. These buses ply on special bus rapid transit lanes. The only service between Central Silk Board Junction and Krishnarajapura was temporarily withdrawn and converted to Bengaluru Sarige service as the bus lane had to be closed down due to a decrease in width of Bangalore Outer Ring Road for the construction of Namma Metroblue line.
Samparka: It is a mini non-AC bus service built on Ashok Leyland and Tata mini urban chassis with an orange livery connecting neighbourhoods to the nearby bus station. Usually covering shorter distances. Merged with Bengaluru Sarige.
Note: The Parisara Vahini/Parisara Snehi, Suvarna Sarige, Samartha Sarige/BIG Trunk, Nera Sarige/BIG 10, Samvrutha Sarige/BIG Circle, Metro Feeder, Nimbus and Samparka still retain the same numbering and function despite the change in branding.
BMTC unveiled a smart card for its bus services for the first time in June 2016. The company introduced smart cards on trial-basis on BMTC Bus No. 335 operating between Majestic and Kadugodi bus stations in March 2017.[16] Apart from serving as an identification document, the smart cards can be used to purchase bus tickets and also swiped at point-of-sale (POS) enabled merchant establishments. The card costs ₹5 (6.3¢ US) and can be recharged for up to ₹10,000 (US$130). Recharges higher than ₹10,000 require the customer to provide identification. According to Axis Bank, the BMTC's partner in the project, the smart card is India's "first open loop EMV contactless smart card". The cards "open-loop" structure allows other agencies to integrate their smart card schemes by adopting the standards of the BMTC smart card.[17] This scheme was finally dropped and integration with National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) is already under process. City's Namma Metro is already using NCMC and Bengaluru Suburban Railway will also be using it in future when the system is completed so therefore, one will be used to travel seamlessly across different transit modes in the city and its suburbs.[18][19]
Bus Day
Introduced on 4 February 2010, Bus Day is an event calling all the citizens of Bangalore to use public transport. The idea behind Bus Day is to observe the changes which can be brought in the city in trying to respect environment, traffic situation, health of individuals perception.[20] The 4th of every month is observed as a "Bus Day".[21]
Bus priority lane
BMTC along with BTP initiated the bus lanes between Central Silk Board Junction and Tin Factory Junction on Outer Ring Road branded as Nimbus. Bus lanes give priority to buses, cutting down on journey times where roads are congested with other traffic especially private cars and increasing the reliability of buses. The introduction of bus lanes can significantly assist in the reduction of air pollution due to individual cars and traffic pile up because of cars.[22] Currently, the bus lane has been removed due to reduction in road width due to the ongoing work on Namma Metro'sBlue Line on the median.
Technologies
To benefit the commuters and promote the usage of public transportation, the BMTC launched its Intelligent Transport System (ITS) on 25 May 2016.[23] Under this project, BMTC buses were equipped with GPS in a phased manner which would transmit the location of the bus to the ITS control room. On 20 May 2023, A mobile app called Namma BMTC was launched on the android and iOS platform which was made available in two languages, English and Kannada. The app provides information about bus routes and bus stops. Real time location of buses on a particular route can also be tracked, which requires the users to switch on the GPS on their device.[24] In 2017, BMTC would be introduced prepaid smart cards for commuting, which eliminated the need to pay the exact amount of change, this was not introduced widely, instead NCMC cards are proposed to be released as an open loop payment system.[25][26] On 6 April 2022, Bus Passes started to be issued on TUMMOC mobile app, passengers have to scan the QR code in the bus to verify the pass bought on the app.[27] In 2022, BMTC has also started to accept ticket payments using UPI in a ON and OFF manner, finally launching it properly in June 2023. A QR code card is either stuck in the bus or with the bus conductor, passengers can scan and pay for tickets.
An app named "Namma BMTC" launched in 2023 that allows users to track buses in real time, check schedules, plan journeys and calculate fare between stages.[28] The app also includes an SOS feature for women to use in case of emergencies by alerting any nearby police station.[28]
Bangalore Bangalore torpedo Bangalore Brigade Economy of Bangalore Bangalore Fort Bangalore Blue List of schools in Bangalore Bangalore Football League Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bangalore Culture of Bangalore University Law College, Bangalore University Bangalore geography and environment Bangalore Rural district 2013 Bangalore bombing Education in Bangalore Government Museum, Bangalore Bangalore Cantonment List of tourist attractions in Bangalore Mysore–Bangalore line History of Bangalore Lakes in Bangalore 2010 Bangalore stadium bombing Central College, Bangalore Bangalore Muslims FC 2…
008 Bangalore serial blasts ISKCON Temple, Bangalore List of institutions of higher education in Bangalore Chennai Central–Bangalore City line Agara, Bangalore Bibliography of Bangalore Police Commissioner of Bangalore Fraser Town, Bangalore World 10K Bangalore Bangalore Theological Forum Bangalore Urban district M G Road, Bangalore International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore Bangalore Central Business District Bangalore Central Lok Sabha constituency Royal Challengers Bangalore Places of worship in Bangalore Bangalore Restaurant Week Kodihalli, Bangalore Bangalore–Chennai Expressway Bangalore Naatkal Bangalore City railway station Indian Institute of Management Bangalore Bangalore IT.in Bangalore–Mysore Infrastructure Corridor Public Utility Building, Bangalore List of mayors of Bangalore Tamil inscriptions of Bangalore Bangalore Hi-Fliers St. Joseph's College, Bangalore List of birds of Bangalore Bangarapet–Bangalore City Express Fort Church, Bangalore Adur, Bangalore South Bangalore disturbances Kadapa–Bangalore section Statue of Edward VII, Bangalore List of tallest buildings in Bangalore Love in Bangalore Infrastructure in Bangalore Mysore–Bangalor