Karnataka, a state in South India has a well-developed transport system The total length of rail track in Karnataka is 3089 km[2] For a long time after independence Among the network of roads in Karnataka, 3973 km. of roads are National Highways.

[9] Karnataka also has state highways of length 9829 km. The public bus transport in Karnataka is managed by the Karnataka State Road Transport

Corporation (KSRTC). It was set up in 1961 with the objective of providing adequate, efficient, economic and properly coordinated road transport services.[10] It operates 5100 schedules using 5400 vehicles covering 1.95 million kilometres and an average of 2.2 million passengers daily. About 25000 people are employed in KSRTC.[10] For better management of public transport, KSRTC was bifurcated into three Corporations viz., Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Bengaluru on 15th Aug 1997, North-west Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, Hubballi on 1st Nov 1997 and North-East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, Gulbarga on 1st Oct 2000. The reservation system is networked and computerised and tickets can be availed at designated kiosks in towns and cities. An online reservation system called AWATAR has also been devised by KSRTC using which travellers can reserve tickets online. KSRTC plies various categories of buses viz. Airavat Club-Class (high-end luxury Volvo, Scania, Mercedes-Benz multi-axle AC buses),Airavat (high-end luxury Volvo and Mercedes Benz AC buses),Ambaari(Corona AC and non AC Sleeper buses), Rajahamsa Executive (Deluxe buses built on Leyland, Eicher and Tata chassis), Karnataka Vaibhav (Semi-Deluxe buses built on Leyland, Eicher and Tata chassis), Karnataka Saarige (Bus service linking rural areas to major settlements as well as the cheapest alternative for inter-city or town routes. The buses are built on Tata and Leyland chassis). Grameena Sarige is another initiative by KSRTC to provide bus service to the rural populace of the state.

Buses run by private persons are allowed to operate in few districts of Karnataka.Inter district transportation are run by private operators, connecting capital Bangaluru and main cities

KSRTC was set up in 1961 under the provisions of Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. In August 1997, KSRTC was divided to form Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). In November 1997, another new road transport corporation called North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) was formed to cater to the transportation needs of North Western parts of Karnataka. Later, the North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) was also formed with its corporate office in Gulbarga.

KSRTC services covers 92% villages in Karnataka.[4] KSRTC operates with a total fleet of 17310 buses (Ksrtc-8280,Nekrtc-4300,Nwkrtc-4720). It transports, on an average, 74.57 lakh passengers per day. It also operates to the neighboring states ofMaharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Goa and Kerala. KSRTC was the first state transport corporation to introduce Volvo B7RLE low floor city buses in India in 2005. At present, KSRTC operates Volvo, Mercedes Benz, Scania buses under the Airavat services (named after the mythical white elephant). [3]

Flybus

Fully air conditioned nonstop luxury, Volvo multi axle bus service between Bangalore International

Airport and Mysore with pantry, chemical toilets, live display of flight timings, GPS, wifi facilities and

in-bus live entertainment. [5]

Airavat Bliss CD

Fully air conditioned luxury Volvo multi axle bus service with chemical toilets, wifi, pantry and

individual TV screens.[6]

Airavat Superia

Fully air conditioned luxury Volvo multi axle bus service with chemical toilets, wifi and individual TV

screens.

Airavat Diamond Class

Fully air conditioned luxury bus service operated using Scania multi-axle buses with hi-definition

night vision cameras for recording inside the bus and fleet management system for performance

monitoring in the bus.[7]

Airavat Club Class

Fully air conditioned luxury bus service operated using Volvo and Mercedes Benz multi-axle buses

with semi-recliner seats and with calf support.[8]

Airavat

Fully air conditioned luxury bus service operated using Volvo and Mercedes Benz buses with semi-

recliner seats.

Rajahamsa

Non air conditioned deluxe bus service with recliner seats in 2+2 configuration built

on Tata and Ashok Leyland chassis.

Suhasa

Fully air suspension non AC reclinable seat bus, other than Raajahamsa which normaly ply over

north Karnataka regions.

Corona Ambari

Fully air conditioned sleeper bus service.

Corona Non A\C Sleeper

Non air conditioned sleeper bus service.

Corona

Fully air conditioned and air suspension bus with 2+2 reclinable seats. Can consider it to be an

alternate option for Airavat.

Sheethal

Fully air conditioned and air suspension vehicle with 3+2 non-reclinable seats built on Ashok Leyland

chassis. Mostly opreates between Mysore and Bangalore, but nowadays its replaced with Volvo

Airavat.

Vaibhava

Non air conditioned sitter buses in white livery with recliner seats in 2+2 configuration.

Suvarna Sarige, Vayavya Karnataka Saarige and EEshanya Karnataka Saarige

Cheapest and widely abundant mode of bus service in KSRTC, NWKRTC and NEKRTC found in

red-white or light green-white livery.

Grameena Sarige

Buses which connects villages with ordinary fare (slightly costs lesser than suvarna sarige).

The following are the special services apart from ordinary services run by BMTC:

Suvarna: Similar fare to ordinary buses serving important feeder routes, painted in red or

green/white scheme

Pushpak: Single door buses with coffee coloring scheme

BIG 10: Suvarna class buses with special green and bottle green livery plying on 12 major

corridors towards the central commercial district. These buses are numbered with a G prefix.

BIG Circle: Suvarna class buses with special white colored BIG Circle livery. These buses ply

on inner and outer ring roads . Buses are numbered with a C prefix or a K prefix.

Atal Sarige: Low fare buses painted with Indian tri-colour livery.[6][7]

Vajra: Air conditioned Volvo buses painted in red livery running on important routes serving the

IT companies and major residential areas.

Vayu Vajra: Green coloured Volvo buses operated in 12 routes connecting to Kempegowda

International Airport. Free Wi-Fi access is provided to the commuters in these buses.[8]

Marcopolo AC and Corona AC: Air conditioned buses with lower fare than Vajra services

plying on select routes.

Metro Feeder: Special buses running on 10 routes as feeder network to the Metro stations

Hop On Hop Off: This service was introduced for sightseeing in Bangalore. It covers a route

connecting about twenty landmarks of great historic, religious and scientific significance.

BMTC has also introduced Mercedes Benz buses on a trial basis.[9] BMTC has also introduced buses

powered by solar energyon trial basis in Bangalore.[10]

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.[12]The 4th of every month is observed as a "Bus Day".[13]

BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Organization) , The

organization is not just men-driven, but women also make wheels run.

Hundreds of women work as conductors in BMTC and also mechanical

department for the Volvo segment. It has over 6000 buses and carries 4.95 million passengers.

In a first-of-its-kind in the country, an electric passenger bus, with zero

emission level was made available to Bangalore by BMTC.

BMTC also has won 57 awards, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation.

I. Physical Performance:

PARAMETER2010-11 2011-12

2012-132013-

14

2014-

15

2015-16

(upto june-

15)

1.Depots 35 37 39 39 40 40

2.Schedules Added 91 73 217 334 -229 -43

3.Schedules Operated 5849 5922 6139 6473 6244 6201

4.New Vehicles added 58 385 549 838 197 0

5.Vehicles Scrapped 40 299 268 492 450 70

6.Vehicles Held 6111 6162 6431 6775 6522 6451

7.%age Cancellation 2.5 3.2 5.4 4.8 8.4 10.6

8. Effective Kms.

      per day(Lakh)

12.55 12.72 12.71 13.14 12.90 12.30

9.Veh. Utilisation

      (Kms.)

222.1 224.6 221.1 218.2 214.5 210.0

10.Fleet Utilisation

       (%age)

92.3 92.9 90.8 91.2 92.2 90.3

11.K.M.P.L (HSD) 4.01 3.97 3.84 3.82 3.79 3.79

12.No.of Breakdowns 1865 2396 3488 3521 2754 655

13.Rate of

Breakdowns/

       10,000 Kms.

0.04 0.05 0.08 0.07 0.06 0.06

14.No. of Accidents 556 485 378 370 381 87

15.Rate of Accidents/

        Lakh Kms.

0.11 0.10 0.08 0.07 0.07 0.08

16.Staff Position 30996 32297 34278 36076 36474 36037

Bangalore (officially known asBengaluru)  also

known as the ‘Silicon Valley of India’ is the 3rd most populous city and 5thmost populous urban

agglomeration of the country and 18th most populous city in the world.

With a gross domestic product (GDP) of US$83 billion, Bangalore is listed fourth among the top 15 cities

contributing to India's overall GDP. With an urban spread of 741 sq.kms. and population of 8.5 million,

Bangalore’s 523 billion (US$8.7 billion) economy makes it one of the major economic centers in India.

I has an economic growth of 10.3%, making Bangalore the second fastest-growing major metropolis in

India, and the country's fourth largest fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) market. Forbes magazine

considers the city as one of "The Next Decade's Fastest-Growing Cities". 

The city is the third largest hub for high-net-worth individuals and is home to over 10,000 dollar

millionaires and about 60,000 super-rich people who have an investable surplus of 45

million (US$751,500) and 5 million (US$83,500) respectively.

Bangalore is called as the Silicon Valley of India because of the large number of information technology

companies located there, which contribute over 33% of India's IT exports. The city is also a hub for the

biotech-related industry in India, and in 2005 around 47% of the 265 biotech companies in India were

located here; including Biocon, India's largest such company.

Bangalore has 4.9 million registered vehicles as of today (1 vehicle for every 2nd person) of which 70% consists of two wheelers, 4% auto rickshaws and 15% cars. The average speed observed on city streets is 15kph (9.32mph).

History of BMTC

The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation is the sole public transport provider for Bangalore,

serving urban, sub-urban and rural areas. BMTC was originally BTC (Bangalore Transport Company

Ltd.), founded in 1940, catering for the entire city with a fleet of 98 buses.

The government of Mysore State took over city transport from this private company in 1956 and named it

Bangalore Transport Service (BTS).

In 1997, KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) split and BMTC was incorporated as its

division. BMTC is the first STU of India to operate air-conditioned city buses for urban commuting. Buses

operated by BMTC are an important and reliable means of public transport available in the city. 

Variety of Bus Services: BMTC has been offering a variety of buses and services along with air-

conditioned buses, special airport services, free service from the central bus station to the railway station,

concessions in fares, daily and monthly bus passes for regular commuters, etc.

Red buses: introduced in 2011, the buses belong to a new batch of ordinaries that have arrived in the city

with Euro IV emission norms, the majority of them having red and some with a light blue colour.

Suvarna: silver colored with a red lining. Many Suvarna buses are now being re-painted into the white

and blue color or converted into Big Circle/Small Circle buses/Metro Feeder services. 

BIG 10: BIG10 services deploy (a Suvarna class of) buses branded in green and bottle green on 12 major

corridors coming in from surrounding sub-urbs in the city.

These buses are run on a direction-based concept where the commuter takes the next (high frequency,

every 15 minutes) bus in his/her direction of travel, and if need be, makes a changeover to another bus to

reach the destination. The service terminates on different points on the radius of the city core, to avoid

congesting the city centre. These buses are numbered with prefix ‘G’. (below left: Suvarna Bus (right) Red

Bus and bottom: Big10 bus)

BIG Circle: These buses are white colored with BIG Circle written on the sides and it also has arrows

painted in green, red, orange and black. These buses ply on ring roads connecting various parts of the

city. Some of these buses are numbered with prefix ‘C’ and with prefix ‘K’ (small circle on Inner Ring

road).

Pushpak: Launched in the late '90s. Single door bus with/without conductors. Driver acts as conductor

when there is no conductor (Janapriya Vahini). These are coffee coloured buses with fares similar to

Suvarna, generally provided on contract to IT companies and schools. (below left: Big Circle, Orange Line

Bus and different types of Pushpak buses)

Vajra: Hi-tech buses with LED destination boards running on routes serving the IT companies' locations

and various residential routes as well. Higher fares - about 1.5 to 3 times that of ordinary ones depending

on the route.

Vayu Vajra: luxurious buses to the airport operated on 12 routes. Free Wi-Fi access is provided to

commuters in these buses.

Atal Sarige: Low-cost buses with single seats along the windows and an LED display. Have a tri-colour

outside. On 1 June 2009, to celebrate their first anniversary, the government of Karnataka and

the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation sold off a pro-poor bus service called the Atal Sarige.

The service aims at providing low-cost connectivity for the economically backward sections of the society

to the nearest major bus station. (Below left: Vajra and right: Vayu Vajra buses. Bottom left: Atal Sarige

and (right) ordinary buses)

Other Air Conditioned and Regular Buses: Operate on routes where luxury buses aren’t popular and

their fare is 1.5 times higher than ordinary buses. Besides, regular buses are a part of BMTC fleet.

Metro Feeder: Introduced in 2011 after the launch of the 1st line of metro train, these buses have exterior

paint similar to the colour of the Metro train and run on 10 routes as feeder to the Metro stations. (Below

left: Metro Feeder and (right) Big Circle bus. Bottom: other modern buses of BMTC)

BMTC is expected to be introducing buses powered by solar energy in near future. BMTC has introduced

fully electric and hybrid electric buses in public transport to reduce ticket prices against increasing diesel

prices and keep environment clean.

Fares of BMTC are considered the highest in the country but, along with that, BMTC offers a variety of

concessions and subsidized daily travel passes. Besides these, BMTC has been exploring initiatives to

maximize use of IT systems in public transport by providing Electronic Ticketing Machines, integration of

common fare payment mechanism by smart card which can be used in BMTC, as well as metro rail

system, LED destination boards, vehicle tracking system and real time passenger information system.

(Below: Articulated bus of BMTC and fare tickets)

Infrastructure Creation: Bangalore has also achieved milestones in Infrastructure upgradation for public

transport in recent years. The below picture is the famous 'Majestic' Bus Terminus of Bangalore. Traffic

Transit Management Centrer (TTMC's) have been created in several areas as an exmaple of innovation

in modern transport terminal which are a mix of transit hub as well as commercial activity. 

Other Transport Systems – Metro Rail and Auto Rickshaws

Rapid Rail project named ‘Namma Metro’ is under construction. 7 kms. stretch was opened to public on

20 October 2011, while another 10 kms. stretch was opened on 1 March 2014. Once completed, this will

encompass a 42.3 km elevated and underground rail network comprising 41 stations.

This much-delayed project is the city's primary response to the worsening intra-city transport

infrastructure which has become a major deterrent to continued business growth. Bangalore is a

divisional headquarters in the South Western Railway zone of the Indian Railways.

Bangalore is well connected by rail to most cities. The sprawling Rail Wheel Factory is Asia's second

largest manufacturer of Wheel & Axle for Railways and is headquartered here. (Below (left) Namma Metro

Smart Card and (right) Metro Train. Bottom: India's first zero emission electric bus introduced by BMTC).

Three-wheeled, green and black auto-rickshaws, referred to as autos, are a popular form of transport.

They are metered and can accommodate up to three passengers. Taxis, commonly called City Taxis, are

usually available only on call. Taxis are metered and are generally more expensive than auto-rickshaws.

Milestone Achievements

14.5 m long multiaxle luxury bus introduced for the 1st time in India for local commute. It can

house 55% more passengers compared to ordinary buses;

Profit making STU for more than a decade;

Youngest fleet compared to other transit agencies and so fuel efficiency achieved is great;

Introduced 1st zero emission electric buses in India;

Has one of the longest circular routes of the country which is 117 kms. for a complete round trip;

Every 4th of the month celebrated as ‘Bus Day’ initiating citizens to use public transport more.

 

 

DECADAL PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT

BMTC at a Glance (as on April 2014)

Fleet Held 6747

Fleet Operated 6436

Average Fleet Age (in years) 4.3

Breakdowns (total) 3184

Daily Service kms. (in lakhs) 13.12

No. of Bus trips 82824

Every Day Traffic Revenue (in Crores) 4.70

Passenger Trips Per Day 4.95 million

Manpower 36,076

Depots 39

Bus stations 50 (6 of which are major)

Staff Employed 36076

Bus Staff Ratio 5.5

Fuel Efficiency 3.82 kms per litre  of HSD

Accidents 333

Fatal Accidents (average of decade) 81 (16% of total accidents)

Fleet Utilization 91.2%

Revenue Surplus (decadal average) 867 millions

The decadal graph of fleet held vs. actual operated shows that the gap was minimal during 2002 to 2004

(i.e. maximum fleet under operations with 97% fleet utilization achieved in 2003-04). Thereafter it differed

a bit, but not beyond a certain limit (92% fleet utilization is the minimum observed in the decade) as seen

from the graph below. Yet, the decreasing pattern in the graph of fleet utilization performance remains a

fact and a matter of concern for BMTC.

Maintaining the level of fleet age up to a certain limit is an appreciable best practice of BMTC (maximum

average vehicle age in the decade was 5.1 years which no other STU of India is able to achieve).

As well, the decreasing pattern in percentage of over-aged vehicles in the total fleet is also worth noting,

as seen from the graph below. This clearly represents BMTC’s policy of operating over-aged vehicles as

little as possible, thereby increasing overall fuel efficiency and a reduction in carbon and NOx emissions.

BMTC's management definitely deserves applause for achieving remarkable progress in ridership

increase along with fleet operations as can be seen from the graph below.

The increase in fleet as well as staff strength has been following a continuous pattern, as can be seen

from the graph (top left). But the graph of fleet held vs. bus-staff ratio gives us a sense of the degree of

intervention by BMTC in human resource management.

As we can see, the staff-to-bus ratio was reduced from 2002 to 2006, then increased again until 2009 and

again decreased thereafter. It seems BMTC has been trying out with managing human resources to

achieve optimum efficiency. From the above graphs, one more thing becomes clear: that although BMTC

has been experiencing changes in staff-bus ratio, it hasn’t affected bus operations, passenger kms.

performed and ridership trends.

But it has definitely affected the fuel efficiency as can be seen from the graph below.

Although BMTC has been able to achieve and maintain highest fuel efficiency compared to other STUs of

India, yet the decreasing graph is a matter of concern.

The peak 4.8 kms./litre of HSD reached in 2003-04 hasn’t been achieved again; instead, efficiency has

been dropping down, recording a minimum of the decade in recent years.

Control over accident occurrence adds to the credibility of BMTC. The number of fatal accidents hasn’t

crossed certain limits and the decreasing trend of accident occurance since 2009 is noteworthy.

Financial Performance

BMTC is the only public transport agency in India which, inspite being a large establishment, is profit

making. This unique feature of the organization can be credited to its management.

The proximity of the lines and increasing curve of total cost and income as well as the curve of total profit

earned in the decade are seen in the graph below. The graph of profit saw continuous rise from 2002 to

2007 and reached the highest profit of the decade in the year 2006-07.

But thereafter the profit graph started decreasing, back to the minimum level recorded in 2002-03. The

decrease may not be a serious worry, but from a future investment requirements point of view, is a matter

of concern.

Now, if we look at the division of average annual expenses of BMTC under various heads, the costs

towards fuel/lubricants and staff share almost equal, whereas other maintenance costs include tyre/tubes

and spares together account for 5% of total expenses, 5% of the total goes into various taxes.

BMTC can accumulate considerable capital for future use if these 5% taxes are waived off in some

manner by State Government.

With the increase in fleet size and operations, income and expenses have increased too but with some

consistency and control which is a good sign. Henceforth, no doubt BMTC is performing very well from a

finance viewpoint.

 

Is the Financial Well-Being of BMTC due to High Fares?

Certainly not, as can be seen from the table below. In fact, the increase in fares becomes minimal as trip

length increase and fares become cheaper for long distance travel. 

Base Fare’s of Different Public Transit Agencies of India  (distance =2 kms) in Rupees

Regular Buses Air Conditioned Buses

Mumbai (BEST) 7 20

Navi Mumbai (NMMT) 7 20

Bangalore (BMTC) 6 15

Delhi (DTC) 2.5 5

Bhubaneshwar (BPTSL) - 10.67

Ahmedabad (AMTS) 3 -

Ahmedabad BRTS 4 4

Surat (BRTS) 4 -

Pune (PMPML) 5 -

Chennai (MTC) 3 (ordinary), 5 (express), 7 (deluxe) 15

So what can be accounted as the reason for good performance?

Definitely it’s the institutional structure and management of the organization.

It’s not that other STUs of India do not have a proper organizational structure. Rather, there is something

to be learnt from BMTC because its performance card speaks for its achievement.

Indian transit agencies have to learn from experiences and best practices and in coming years make

themselves able to promote public transport usage. For public transit operations, achieving financial

sustainability is the only future for survival and BMTC is the best example for Indian transit agencies to

study.

BMTC may not be a fully perfect model to adopt, but it is definitely the one and only ‘light of hope’ at the

moment for the promotion and survival of bus-based public transport in India. 

I am honored to write an article on this system as it is the only benchmark of ‘quality’ and ‘service

satisfaction’ in world’s 2nd most populous country. 

Also,BMTC plies 287 buses for 42 schools and five colleges in Bangalore. Sophia, Vidyashilp Academy and Kumaran's are some of the top schools using BMTC services.Besides, there is this "class" and style about BMTC which makes it awesome!