Share of public transport can reach 78% with implementation of bus-priority lanes: Experts

According to experts, with over 640 informal settlements accommodating 44 percent of Bengaluru’s population, residents from the informal sector often cope with issues like unstable housing, limited transportation access, unfair distribution of economic and environmental benefits, and policies.

Ashish Verma, professor, civil engineering department at Indian Institute of Science (IISc) said that with a 149 km of bus priority lane in arterial and sub-arterial roads of Bengaluru with accessible footpaths and cycle lanes, the share of public transport can increase to 78%. “The first such beneficiaries of such a network would be the low income section of the society. A lot of these people are pushed to the outskirts of the city while their livelihood lies in the core city areas. This is because of the lack of inclusive public transport connectivity. A study also revealed that in Bengaluru, a low income woman spends 14% for their expenditure on transportation while a white-collared woman spends only 5%. Without bus lanes and access to affordable public transport, people from low income individuals continue to be disadvantaged,” said Verma.

He also added that, “The city requires more social spaces such as Church Street which boosts the economic and social indicators of low income groups.”

Issac Arul Selva, editor of Slum Jagattu, a monthly magazine by slum dwellers said that the very fact of renaming Bangalore Transport Service (BTS) to BMTC (Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) shows the intent of profit and not service. “Renaming BTS to BMTC itself shows that the government is driving towards profit and not service. This will only make the informal workforce more exclusive than inclusive. The Bengaluru metro also poses a major challenge to slum dwellers and the informal workforce, given that the authorities do not allow equipment and tools in trains that are mostly used by informal sector workers.”

As part of Alli Serona’s ‘mobile bus stop’ tour it was also identified that Hosa Nagar, Seegehalli, Priyanka Nagar, AKG Colony, Byrasandra, are some of the areas with densely populated informal settlements and who are deprived of bus stops and adequate frequency of buses. Urban planners and mobility experts also strongly contested against the big ticket project of constructing a tunnel road for decongesting Bengaluru, instead advocated the need for using the funds to develop efficient infrastructure for public transport.