288 more modern bus shelters

By Our Staff Reporter

BANGALORE, SEPT. 26. To improve the quality of facilities for pedestrians, the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BMP) will soon take up the construction of 288 more sophisticated bus shelters in prime areas in the City.

The tenders for the work on these bus shelters have already been floated. The BMP issued 11 tender applications till Wednesday, the last date for the purpose, sources said.

The tender forms would be received between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on September 28 and will be opened at 4 p.m. the same day. The construction which was being integrated with improvement of bus bays would be completed by December, sources said.

The project, being executed by the BMP in coordination with the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF), was another example of public-private partnership. The new shelters combining ``utility and aesthetics'' would give a new look to the City's landscape.

Following the overwhelming response from people towards the 144 shelters built in the first phase, the BMP identified 300 more places in prime areas for setting them up.

Modelled on international standards, the 144 shelters had been built under a pilot project by private companies on a ``build- operate-transfer'' (BOT) basis. The pilot project was executed by Vantage, Moore and Empire Publicity.

The BMP had classified the City into three categories -- commercial, semi-commercial and residential -- for installing the modern bus-shelters.

A side of the inner space of the bus shelters had been allotted for advertisements and the other for displaying bus numbers, routes and timings.

Though the private companies invested money on constructing the shelters, the ownership rights were with the BMP. The private companies were given advertisement rights up to 10 sq.metres on the bus shelters.

The companies could charge for advertisements. The BMP charged them Rs. 50 a sq.metre and a health cess of 15 per cent, sources said.

The BMP expected an estimated annual revenue of over Rs. 70,000 from each of these bus shelters, sources added.

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