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Karnataka Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy Thursday, while responding to a question on the operation of Metro feeder buses in Bengaluru, said that 76,468 passengers avail the 134 Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) feeder bus services on a daily basis. He was speaking during the winter session of the Assembly in Belagavi
He added that 2,012 trips of the feeder buses are operated every day.
Out of the 134 Metro feeder buses, the MF-5 route has recorded the highest footfall till now with 13,949 passengers taking the bus between Central Silk Board and SV (Swami Vivekananda) Metro station on a daily basis.
It is followed by the MF-12 route, which sees 7,711 passengers using the service between Vijayanagara and Banashankari TTMC Metro stations.
The feeder bus ferrying passengers between KR Puram Metro station and Central Silk Board records a daily footfall of 4,824. The lowest number of passengers is recorded by the feeder bus service connecting Banashankari Metro station and BTM Layout (Kuvempunagar) — only 221 on a daily basis.
Meanwhile, mobility experts feel that a 76,000 daily passenger count is significantly low, considering that nearly 40 lakh passengers use the BMTC daily and the Metro ridership has crossed 7 lakh. Experts also believe that low ridership can also be attributed to the availability of other modes of last mile connectivity, like autos, cabs and other services.
Sathya Arikutharam, an expert on urban mobility, said, “The Metro feeder ridership numbers look promising. To reach its full potential, public transport modes have to collaborate with each other to achieve the target of 80 per cent mode share. The Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) should start to function soon and facilitate joint route planning conversations between the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited and the BMTC. In addition, the BMTC should also increase the frequency of the feeder buses and not just do so only during the peak hours. However, I believe once the full Metro network is complete, the ridership of the feeder buses will soar.”
Rs 1,600 crore released for Shakti scheme till November
Reddy, replying to a question on the amount reimbursed to all the four road transport corporations (RTCs) as a part of the Shakti Scheme, said the government has released Rs 1669.45 crore between June 11 and November 2023.
Giving out a breakup of the figure, he said Rs 625 crore was released to the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Rs 294 crore for the BMTC, Rs 417 crore for the North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and Rs 332 crore for Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation.
The Shakti Scheme, which provides free bus travel for women in Karnataka, has recorded a whopping 109 crore women benefiting from the scheme between June 11 and December 6 this year. The corporations together have incurred a cost of Rs 2,612 crore in the said period.
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