The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Metros trying to catch up with Vayu Vajra

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Sunday, Jul 20, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Metros trying to catch up with Vayu Vajra

Anil Kumar Sastry and B.S. Ramesh

Transport undertakings of many States have evinced interest in BMTC’s bus service to the airport

More than 6,000 air passengers use the
airport bus services every day
There is provision for online and offline
advance reservation of seats

BANGALORE: Besides winning accolades from Bangaloreans, the Vayu Vajra and Suvarna services being operated under the brand Bangalore International Airport Special (BIAS) by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) have caught the attention of other metros in the country.

At a time when bus services for airports were not heard of in the country, the BMTC under the stewardship of the former Managing Director Upendra Tripathy introduced BIAS, a fleet of cosy air-conditioned Volvo buses and specially designed ordinary buses to the new airport.

The BMTC vigorously pushed through the proposal. as otherwise, NH 7, the only major road connecting the city and the airport would have been crowded with thousands of cars. The sophisticated and state-of-art Volvo buses have created a brand, which stands for quality and reliability, that other cities now aspire to follow.

The BIAS success saga has made many transport undertakings in other States to approach the BMTC.

The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), which operates intra-city as well as inter-city buses in Andhra Pradesh, is keen on introducing a similar service from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport to the city.

BMTC Chief Traffic Manager Dastagir Sharieff told The Hindu that besides APSRTC, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation Chennai Limited, the Kolkata Transport Corporation, the Gujarat State Transport Corporation and the Brihan Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) had evinced keen interest in BIAS. Personnel from these corporations would shortly arrive in Bangalore to learn more about the system, he said.

Connectivity

State Advocate-General Uday Holla, who is representing the Government in a case relating to connectivity to BIA, said that Delhi and Mangalore were keen on introducing similar services. Mangalore’s Bajpe international airport is not well connected by a bus network.

BMTC operates 73 BIAS schedules with 929 trips covering 33,627 kilometres a day at a frequency varying from 30 minutes to 45 minutes at origin points, and at 20 minutes to 10 minutes at en-route points. Except between 2 a.m., and 4 a.m., BIAS buses ply to the airport from 10 destinations in the city.

According to BMTC, more than 6,000 people use BIAS every day and this works out to 20 per cent of the air passengers.

To make these bus services more attractive, BMTC has joined hands with two private taxi operators to provide first and last mile connectivity to passengers.

his service is provided at a very economical rate ranging from Rs. 100 to Rs. 225 with maximum of six persons for travel between the place of stay and the nearest BIAS pick-up point.

The BMTC has also ushered in a host of other features making BIAS attractive. It is offering online and offline advance seat reservation through two travel agencies. Seats can be booked by logging on to www.bmtcinfo.com or www.viaworld.in or by calling 080-4131000.

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