The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation has installed sanitizer dispensers at its major bus terminals like Majestic, Banashankari, Shantinagar, Jayanagar, and Kengeri. A total of 10 sanitizer dispensers have been installed as of now.
Talking about the new initiative undertaken by the corporation, the Managing director C Shikha said,
“This is an initiative of BMTC’s central workshop and they built it at a cost of Rs. 6,000 per unit. This is for our staff and passengers. They can sanitize their hands without any physical contact.”
However, the commuters felt that the dispensers should be installed on buses too. The Bangalore based NGO Political Action Committee conducted a survey in which 76 percent said that they would prefer a provision of hand sanitizers on public transport. In another survey conducted by RedBus, 42 percent of the respondents said that the sanitizers on buses are a must.
A member of the Bangalore Bus Prayanikara Vedike, Shaheen Shasa asked for a mandatory hang sanitization before boarding a bus would make the transport safer for everyone. Responding to this, the Managing director Shikha said,
“There are some financial constraints. But we have provided sanitizers to all our staff.”
BMTC revises fare
The Bengaluru bus transport body, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) recently decided to revise its fare rate after receiving severe backlash for allowing only pass holders to commute. The pass could have either been a daily pass, monthly pass, or a weekly pass.
The standard fare for a daily BMTC pass is Rs. 70 and the newly introduced weekly pass was priced at Rs. 300. The move to go pass only was to ensure that the passengers don’t come in contact with the conductor often. However, the BMTC was severely criticized for the move as many of the poor could not afford to buy the passes.
According to the new structure, the fares have been slabbed under 6 categories. For the travel up to 2km, the price of a ticket is Rs. 5. For the travel between 3 and 4 km, the fare is Rs. 10, between 5 and 6 km is Rs. 15, between 7 and 14 km the fare is Rs. 20, between 15 and 40 km the fare is Rs. 25 and for the travel beyond 40 km, the price is Rs. 30 per ticket.
Source: The Times of India
