Bangalore needs more buses

In 2018-19, BMTC had a fleet size of 0.5 buses per 1000 population, which is lower than the India’s average of 1.2 buses per 1000 population. For Bangalore, BMTC would require a fleet size of 14952 buses in order for it to reach India’s average of 1.2 buses per 1000 population. According to Transforming India’s Mobility report by NITI Aayog38, India lags in terms of bus fleet per population as compared to other countries, and in order to increase modal share towards public transport, the fleet size needs to be significantly improved.

https://twitter.com/bharathmp/status/1237253702479532036
http://fieldsofview.in/publications/BMTC_FareChangeScenarios_Report2020.pdf 

How to fix Bengaluru traffic

Dear @drashwathcn sir, you have been a city MLA for many years and you have spoken about urgent need for mass public transport. Please do not bring elevated corridor back. What we need now is faster completion of metro, suburban & bus. These 3 things will get us out of the mess. pic.twitter.com/Kss4vxLWGi

— Srinivas Alavilli (@srinualavilli) February 20, 2020

Bengaluru - workers say bus fares too high

A survey conducted by BBPV among the working class revealed
1. 80% bus user respondents find the bus fares too high! 60% of all respondents see high bus fares as a concern.

2. Bus commuters spend more (21%) of their income on commute than commuters using other modes (9.5%).

— BusPrayanikaraVedike (@BBPVedike) February 19, 2020

After establishing #freepublictransport for women, Delhi to get more buses

New Delhi:

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who took oath for a third term on Sunday, this morning assured there would be "no dearth of buses" in the national capital soon. The Aam Aadmi Party chief had promised to expand city's bus fleet ahead of assembly elections.
"It did take time. But finally we were able to overcome all obstacles. So, buses have started arriving. I can assure all Delhiites, soon there won't be any dearth of buses (sic)," the 51-year-old AAP chief tweeted this morning. He also shared a news report that said that the public bus fleet crossed the 6,000 mark in the city for the first time in 10 years under the AAP government.

https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/delhi-chief-minister-arvind-kejriwal-assures-there-would-be-no-dearth-of-buses-soon-in-delhi-2181742 

Bengaluru -- 10 days of your life each year stuck in traffic

https://bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com/bangalore/others/bengaluru-is-the-most-traffic-congested-city-in-the-world-report/articleshow/73698805.cms?

In India, only 6% of households own cars, how much is spent for their benefit?

How much parking space, how much road space, how much police costs, how much health costs.

Is the government subsidizing the 6% who own cars?

If that subsidy is cut back to a number consistent with 6% ownership, would there be money for #freepublictransport?

In India, #freepublictransport would save more in health costs than would be lost in fares

India spends around 1.28 per cent of the GDP on health while air pollution from burning fossil fuels costs an estimated 5.4 per cent of India's GDP.

...Exposure to pollution from fossil fuels also leads to around 49 crore days of work absence due to illness, the report said.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/the-cost-of-deadly-air-pollution-in-india-rs-3-39-lakh-per-second/a-loss-of-rs-10-7-lakh-crore/slideshow/74112762.cms

Young women call for #freepublictransport

Teen advocates in India demand free public transportation and better schools at their Freedom for Girls convention. https://t.co/NHc9mEMqno pic.twitter.com/wAJSnb7IYv

— Womenstrongintl (@womenstrongintl) December 11, 2019

#Publictransport fares reduced in Bengaluru

Twitter brainstorm: #BMTCforAll

Reform agenda 1: Reduce the fares

Yes, yes.. the govt has already announced its decision to reduce the bus fares and we are mighty happy about it! pic.twitter.com/v1N7G8c4c4

— BusPrayanikaraVedike (@BBPVedike) December 5, 2019

Ridership jumps 10 percentage points with fare-free plan

The number of female commuters in public buses in the national capital has jumped by nearly 10 per cent since the implementation of the Delhi government's free-ride scheme for women, official data released on Wednesday showed.

https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/10-rise-in-female-commuters-in-delhi-public-buses-since-free-ride-scheme-launch/story/390739.html 

Cities need free public transport to create some space

Free public transport is something that all cities should try and work towards. It is one of the important set of measures that can help sustain urban spaces in India going forward with most cities clogged by pvt vehicles. This has been attempted by several cities in the world

— Ayush (@AyushyaKhanna) November 16, 2019

Savings in pollution costs will more than pay for Delhi free public transport

Do you know how much Delhi/country losing for pollution..it is up to 8.5% of GDP...…. this cost will be reduced if pollution gets reduced.. that cost will be more than enough to fund free public transport!!!!

— Sachin Pandey (@serioussachin) October 31, 2019

Disingenuous attack on fare-free public transport

This is how they attack the idea of free public transport:

First, reduce it to an accounting problem.

The key to operating a free public transport is to identify alternate sources of revenue to finance it. Sustaining a free transport policy in the long-term, especially during times of economic volatility, can be highly strenuous. ...

We wonder if the automobile system could withstand a sharp pencil analysis. But that will never happen because the costs of cars are never included specifically in budgets. They are just considered necessary costs of development.

Second, repeat the big lie: "Fares are needed to pay the costs of public transport"

While financial performance is critical for operating public transport, increasing the fare is not the best solution. The approach to the problem will change once it is realised that the objective of operating public transport is not to generate revenue but to offer affordable services to citizens. The need of the hour is to find innovative solutions to make public transport affordable for all.

Here, the same writer admits that fares are for rationing, not revenue. 

Use public transit, reduce traffic

If you are a resident of Delhi and complain about steep increase in penalty for traffic violations. Please sell you vehicle and use the money to travel on Metro. 1/n@nsvirk @FreePublicTrans @ArvindKejriwal @IPSMadhurVerma @KapilSharmaK9

— Akhil Sehgal (@akhil_shgl) September 6, 2019

Does this look like a good way to move people?

The Metropolitan Traffic Police Division office said that on average the hotline responds to 2,000 to 3,000 phone calls every day. Most of the calls are inquiries from the public about traffic jams in Kathmandu Valley and the highways, and complaints against public vehicles.

http://kathmandupost.ekantipur.com/news/2019-07-10/traffic-police-hotline-103-gets-thousands-of-complaints-every-day.html 

India - Bank CEO calls for #freepublictransport

A developed country is not the one where poor have cars, but where all including the rich use public transport. Small country called Estonia leads the way. Free public transport for all! https://t.co/4m87JN6DGz

— Uday Kotak (@udaykotak) June 8, 2019

Fare-free fever in India

Shortly after the Delhi Chief Minister’s decision to provide free transport to women, a Shiv Sena corporator from Pune has also demanded that the city follows suit of the national capital.

https://punemirror.indiatimes.com//pune/civic/pmpml-mulls-over-corporators-demand-for-free-transport/articleshow/69639945.cms? 

Kochi, India, promoting #publictransport

Public transport as the way ahead - The Hindu: "Through this initiative, we want to make public transport the preferred choice for Kochiites and visitors.”

He urged members of the public to jointly bring about a change in the way public transport was perceived and utilised in Kochi."

India needs to revamp its public transport system: Nitin Gadkari

The Economic Times: ""For long term, we need a good policy which is going to encourage public transport... We need to revamp public transport," the road transport and highways minister said. "

Invest in public transport instead, say mobility experts

The Hindu: "“The city administration needs to first make a conscious choice to opt for public transport instead of private,” he said.

Srinivas Alavilli from Citizens for Bengaluru said the alarming levels of pollution in NCR should ring warning bells for Bengaluru. “The State government hasn’t got the message from the Steel Flyover Beda campaign right. The campaign was a clear expression of people’s opinion against all flyovers, which are essentially stop-gap temporary solutions, not against that particular steel flyover alone,” he said."