In a welcome move for tech-savvy commuters of Bengaluru, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has begun a free trial run of 10 AC buses equipped with Wi-Fi services. The current service is available on a few buses running on Hebbal- Silk Board and Chikkabanavara-Majestic routes. Notedly, BMTC runs a fleet of mover 600 AC buses with the majority of them operating on IT corridors like Whitefield, Electronic City, Airport services. However, as the traffic jams have become a routine affair, the wi-fi facility would come as a big relief.
The city based corporation further plans to expand this facility in over 200 more AC buses that will include those taking the International Airport routes, reports Bangalor Mirror. “The contractor started a trial run on ten buses and informed us that the service would be provided in remaining 190 AC buses in a phased manner. We have also floated tender to provide Wi-Fi services in 500 ordinary buses”, Ekroop Cuar, MD, BMTC, told Bangalore Mirror.
There was a good passenger feedback during the trial run. The passengers could watch movies and see other entertainment programs, a BMTC official said. However, this is not the first time the corpaoration has taken up such an initiative. In the past, it had fixed gadgets at the back of the seat for air-passengers in the AC buses but the project failed due to several reasons. The transport body is also planning to provide facilities based on charter service, with particular focus on the IT corridor. This will also include more comfortable design with head rest, GPS-enabled tracking through mobile applications and internet facilities for entertainment and office work.
