The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation will enable passengers to book tickets and track buses through Ola, Uber and other ride-hailing apps by the end of September, while its upgraded Namma BMTC Mobile App 2.0 is expected to launch by the end of next week, a senior official said.
BMTC Managing Director Raghunandan Murthy said the corporation was discussing a common agreement with private ride aggregators before allowing them to use BMTC data. The proposed integration is intended to help passengers access bus information while planning onward journeys after getting off a cab.
“We are holding discussions with private ride aggregators and will roll out a common, standard agreement. Whoever abides by the conditions can use our data. We want to introduce this feature without burdening passengers,” Murthy told Deccan Herald.
The upgraded BMTC app is expected to address problems reported by passengers and add new features. Murthy said the corporation would resolve issues affecting live tracking and that every bus operating under the BMTC network would be available for tracking. BMTC has 6,938 buses, including 1,771 electric buses, and operates around 6,200 buses daily.
The announcements were made during a meeting involving senior officials from the Transport Department, BMTC and the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation at Vidhana Soudha. Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh said sharing BMTC data with ride-hailing platforms would help passengers coordinate bus travel with other modes of transport.
BMTC also plans to purchase 200 diesel buses measuring seven metres in length for metro feeder services and other routes. Murthy said the smaller buses would be better suited to narrow lanes around metro stations. The corporation currently operates 255 nine- and 12-metre buses as metro feeders.
The proposed purchase is part of a budgetary announcement to procure 1,000 buses for Karnataka’s four state transport corporations. BMTC is awaiting government approval to issue the tender, and the procurement process is expected to be completed within six months, Murthy said.
The feeder network is planned to cover all metro stations, including the six stations on the upcoming Pink Line along Bannerghatta Road. BMTC, the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd and the traffic police are conducting a survey to identify feeder routes connecting stations on the Pink, Green and Yellow lines.
Suresh separately directed BMTC to operate 200 mini air-conditioned buses within a five-kilometre radius of metro stations. These buses would be drawn from the 4,500 electric buses being procured under the PM E-Drive scheme. Officials were also instructed to discuss increasing air-conditioned bus services to technology companies, with the stated aim of encouraging employees to reduce dependence on private vehicles.
The minister further directed officials to take steps to prevent revenue leakage in BMTC and other road transport corporations and to curb unnecessary expenditure. The app integration, bus procurement and metro feeder plans remain subject to the stated agreements, approvals and tender process.
