BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday flagged off 100 new BMTC BS-6 model buses from the grand steps of the Vidhana Soudha. Out of the 840 buses to be purchased at a cost of Rs 336 crore, 100 buses are being deployed in the first phase.
The-newly inducted buses have special features with fire warning, panic buttons, CCTV cameras, public address system, fire extinguishers, and environmentally friendly emission control. They will be introduced on high density routes in the city.
Speaking on the occasion, the CM said the new buses will make commute easier. “The BMTC is adding 840 more buses to its fleet of which 100 were launched today. The government has already released Rs 336 crore for purchase of the buses. There are 50 BMTC depots in the city and over 7,000 buses. Every day, about 40 lakh passengers travel on BMTC buses”.
The CM said BMTC buses ferry 5-6 times more number of passengers than Namma Metro. “Bengaluru has a population of 1.5 crores and there is a huge working class. For their benefit, we have restarted the Indira Canteens which had been closed by the previous BJP government. On June 11 last year, we started the Shakti free travel scheme for women and so far 287 crore women passengers have travelled, generating revenue of Rs 300 crore”, he said.