COVID-19

Bengaluru

BMTC

coronavirus fear

intelligent transport system

We have also cut down the fleet size that is in operation by 10%. More than 200 buses have been kept off road as many are working from homes ­ –A senior BMTC official

Coronavirus

Ticket revenue of transport utility has come down by about Rs 1 croreThe fear over the spread of viral diseaseis ringing a death knell for theMetropolitan Transport Corporation, which has already lost footing in the City. It’s daily ridership has come down by around 7 lakh, reducing the ticket revenue by about Rs 1 crore.Official data accessed fromshows that the ridership has come down by anywhere between 7 and 8 lakh passengers every day. That includes three lakh students, who have been given holidays in the backdrop of. The ridership has also fallen as many companies have asked their employees to work from home.Over the last one year, the average ridership was around 35 lakh a day. As the transport utility’s(ITS) that used to provide real-time information on the revenue and ridership, is plagued by several issues, the corporation is currently forced to collect such data from all depots, which usually takes a day or two.Last Saturday, the BMTC saw a dip of 13% in revenue, which is about Rs 60 lakh. While the daily collection in air-conditioned buses fell by Rs 15 lakh, the ordinary buses saw a revenue shortfall of about Rs 45 lakh. Over the last couple of days, the corporation continues to report fall in revenue and ridership.“We have also cut down the fleet size that is in operation by 10%. More than 200 buses have been kept off road as many are working from home,” a senior BMTC official said. He said the revenue of air-conditioned buses has come down considerably as demand for airport bound Vayu Vajra buses has dropped.A BMTC driver said the daily collection has dipped from about Rs 3,000 to just Rs 1,000 and sometimes to even Rs 500. “Each bus makes six trips a day in eight hours, covering a length of 125 km. The buses are now running partially empty,” the driver said. “The management could split duties and provide long leave for employees instead of wasting resources,” he added. He also said the BMTC was not providing medical examinations in the wake offear.Citizens for Bengaluru co-founder Srinivas Alavilli said the current ridership figures should not be used to measure the performance of BMTC. “The BMTC has a role to play as a public transport service provider given the present circumstances. Whatever the revenue loss be, the government should compensate them. Free bus passes should be given to daily wage workers and poor people whose daily income has gone for a toss,” he said.