The strange thing about Bangalore is that it's never difficult to travel here from other towns — there are enough bus services from Hyderabad, Chennai, Mumbai and the like to give passengers a plenty of choice — but once in the City, the last few miles home can pose quite a problem.
Most inter-city bus services either drop passengers near the Majestic Bus Stand, or at other specified areas — including Madiwala, Silk Board and Kalasipalyam, depending on where they are coming from. But after that, further transport is nothing short of a nightmare.
These stops are not always along the routes of the BMTC buses and since most
inter-city buses reach Bangalore at odd hours in the morning, public transport isn't always functional. To make matters worse, autorickshaw drivers in these areas capitalise on the lack of options faced by passengers, hiking their prices to unimaginable amounts.
Most frequent travellers face this problem on every trip — and the sad part, feels Deepak Bhattachar, an entrepreneur who shuttles between Hyderabad, Chennai and the City, is that nothing is being done to solve the situation.
"It's a common problem. If I travel to Chennai, I take an overnight bus back which reaches Silk Board at around 4.30 am. The buses from Hyderabad generally stop at Kalasipalyam — again, very early in the morning. At a time like that, autorickshaw drivers ask for ridiculous fares. Sometimes, they charge as much as Rs 450 to get from Silk Board to Banashankari," he laments.
Since the drivers often wait in groups for passengers to disembark from a bus, he feels there is a strong gang dynamic which spurs them to collectively raise their charges. "Most of them decide beforehand on the kind of fare they want to demand and not one of them will go below that amount. Travellers have no other alternative — of course, this situation isn't unique to Bangalore. It happens in most cities," reflects Deepak.
Since he normally carries very little luggage on his trip, he isn't averse to catching another bus back home — but this, too, is anything but easy. "The BMTC buses generally don't operate at such early hours. Besides, it's often quite a walk to the nearest bus stop," he explains.
Radhika Yelkur, a translator, agrees that this is a glaring oversight in the City's transport system.
"I stopped avoiding buses that stop at Kalasipalyam for exactly this reason. You get down and you find yourself in this maze of buses and autorickshaws — and it isn't exactly the cleanest place. This problem of last-mile connectivity is fairly common," she says, adding, "it would help a lot if the traffic police identified these bus stops and set up prepaid auto stands at some of them. People don't mind paying a little extra if they know they are following standardised, pre-fixed rates. They can avoid the problem of constant negotiation and haggling."
But M A Saleem, the additional commissioner of police (traffic), explains that this is a rather difficult initiative to implement. "We do have prepaid auto stands at major bus terminals — like Majestic — as well as the railway stations. But it's difficult to operate them at the places where private buses stop, since we don't know which areas these are. If the buses all stopped at the already existing stands, rather than anywhere on the road, it would solve the problems of passengers," he reasons.
Others feel that a little prior planning can help avoid getting stranded.
Nithya, a professor at NIFT, explains that she plans her trips so that she doesn't disembark at odd hours in the morning.
She also tries to find bus services that stop at points like the Majestic Bus Stand, where it's relatively easier to find further transport.
"I haven't had much of a problem because I generally get down near Majestic or the City Station — and from places like this, transit is pretty quick, since there are further buses. Wherever they are available, I take prepaid autorickshaws as well," she shares.
Most inter-city bus services either drop passengers near the Majestic Bus Stand, or at other specified areas — including Madiwala, Silk Board and Kalasipalyam, depending on where they are coming from. But after that, further transport is nothing short of a nightmare.
These stops are not always along the routes of the BMTC buses and since most
inter-city buses reach Bangalore at odd hours in the morning, public transport isn't always functional. To make matters worse, autorickshaw drivers in these areas capitalise on the lack of options faced by passengers, hiking their prices to unimaginable amounts.
Most frequent travellers face this problem on every trip — and the sad part, feels Deepak Bhattachar, an entrepreneur who shuttles between Hyderabad, Chennai and the City, is that nothing is being done to solve the situation.
"It's a common problem. If I travel to Chennai, I take an overnight bus back which reaches Silk Board at around 4.30 am. The buses from Hyderabad generally stop at Kalasipalyam — again, very early in the morning. At a time like that, autorickshaw drivers ask for ridiculous fares. Sometimes, they charge as much as Rs 450 to get from Silk Board to Banashankari," he laments.
Since the drivers often wait in groups for passengers to disembark from a bus, he feels there is a strong gang dynamic which spurs them to collectively raise their charges. "Most of them decide beforehand on the kind of fare they want to demand and not one of them will go below that amount. Travellers have no other alternative — of course, this situation isn't unique to Bangalore. It happens in most cities," reflects Deepak.
Since he normally carries very little luggage on his trip, he isn't averse to catching another bus back home — but this, too, is anything but easy. "The BMTC buses generally don't operate at such early hours. Besides, it's often quite a walk to the nearest bus stop," he explains.
Radhika Yelkur, a translator, agrees that this is a glaring oversight in the City's transport system.
"I stopped avoiding buses that stop at Kalasipalyam for exactly this reason. You get down and you find yourself in this maze of buses and autorickshaws — and it isn't exactly the cleanest place. This problem of last-mile connectivity is fairly common," she says, adding, "it would help a lot if the traffic police identified these bus stops and set up prepaid auto stands at some of them. People don't mind paying a little extra if they know they are following standardised, pre-fixed rates. They can avoid the problem of constant negotiation and haggling."
But M A Saleem, the additional commissioner of police (traffic), explains that this is a rather difficult initiative to implement. "We do have prepaid auto stands at major bus terminals — like Majestic — as well as the railway stations. But it's difficult to operate them at the places where private buses stop, since we don't know which areas these are. If the buses all stopped at the already existing stands, rather than anywhere on the road, it would solve the problems of passengers," he reasons.
Others feel that a little prior planning can help avoid getting stranded.
Nithya, a professor at NIFT, explains that she plans her trips so that she doesn't disembark at odd hours in the morning.
She also tries to find bus services that stop at points like the Majestic Bus Stand, where it's relatively easier to find further transport.
"I haven't had much of a problem because I generally get down near Majestic or the City Station — and from places like this, transit is pretty quick, since there are further buses. Wherever they are available, I take prepaid autorickshaws as well," she shares.