IN A BUS SHELTER?

Waiting for a bus in Bengaluru is a troublesome experience. Bus shelters are badly maintained, don’t have adequate seating and don’t provide shelter in the rain. The BBMP spends large sums on erecting the bus shelters and holds on to them for the revenue they generate through hoardings. Nischith N. reports

Commuters chasing down buses, often running on the road to make daring leaps onto moving vehicles is a common sight in the city. There are over 2000 bus shelters in the city, to serve the needs of some 44 lakh commuters (in 2017-18) and 6,300 buses that ply the roads everyday. However, commuters complain that they do not perform even basic functions resulting in drivers ignoring them and stopping buses at random.

They are the BBMP’s responsibility but the civic agency’s interest doesn’t appear to extend beyond the money they make through giving these spaces out to advertisers. “BMTC has been the lifeline of the city’s public transport,” says Santosh, a regular commuter. “Many of us are dependent on the bus system. But the bus shelters are in bad condition and don’t have a proper roof or seating facilities. A new bus shelter always makes residents happy at the start but in no time at all, it looks dilapidated, is used to dump garbage or is taken over by vendors who sell street food there. Homeless people also use them as a place to sleep.” The absence of proper lighting is another problem and the shelters aren’t safe after dark.

Many don’t have roofs and can’t provide shelter in the rain while others don’t even have adequate seating. These shelters are, however, plastered liberally with hoardings. It’s a sad situation, especially when over half the city’s commuters travel by bus. And without proper roofs, they provide no shelter in the rain.

“I took the Metro from M.G. Road to Kengeri, where I boarded a BMTC bus at the Kengeri bus stand,” says Ajay S., a regular commuter. “I boarded in a hurry as it was raining heavily. I should have taken my umbrella, though and kept it open inside the bus as well.” Bengaluru has over 2,300 bus shelters, all controlled by the BBMP, which took over their maintenance 13 years ago. “Because they are badly maintained, bus drivers find it difficult to stop buses directly in front of the designated bus stop,” says Purushotham Prabhakar, Advocate and urban expert. “Perhaps the BBMP should step back from this and hand it over to some of the city’s corporate companies, which can take care of them as a CSR initiative. Right now, they are just places for advertising.

” A highly placed source in the BMTC says the Corporation has written repeatedly to BBMP officials to renovate bus shelters which are in poor condition and also to remove several of them. “We have not got any reply. We intend to take the matter up at higher levels,” said the official, requesting anonymity.

Digital displays The absence of Passenger Information boards with digital displays providing information on which bus is arriving when. Commuters have to pore over a board with dozens of bus numbers listed on it making the usual chase to catch the bus itself even more precarious. These boards should have been installed as part of the state Transport Department’s Intelligent Transport System initiative.