People stand on the road waiting for the BMTC bus at the Maruthinagar bus stop on Malleshpalya Main Road, even as a car that has gathered dust is almost permanently parked behind them, blocking half of the access to the bus shelter.
On Jeevan Bima Nagar Road, one stop away from the bus stand, a board on a tree announces that it is a bus stop, though there is no semblance of it being one.
Though the government is coming up with ways to bolster bus ridership by way of introducing the Shakti Scheme and feeder services to metro stations, in several areas across Bengaluru, there are either no bus shelters or the existing ones have been encroached upon by vehicles or vendors. Due to this, people are forced to stand and wait till their bus arrives.
It becomes an exhausting exercise for those who travel by buses with a lesser frequency. Rishita Suresh, a student who commutes from the Marathahalli Junction, said, “I have to wait for the Shivajinagar bus every morning for college and it gets tiring because the bus comes only once every 20-25 minutes. I wish there was someplace to sit.”
Another place where there is no bus stand is the Sarjapur Signal stop. Especially during peak hours, people have to wait, only to enter into a crowded bus and stand again. “I find it difficult to wait especially during the rain,” said Prakash K., a commuter at the Iblur stop. The Agara Petrol Bunk bus stop also does not have places to sit, so people end up sitting on the slabs next to the petrol bunk.
Inadequate seating
Another problem is inadequate seating, especially at key crowded junctions like Indiranagar, frequented by people commuting between the central parts of the city and residential neighborhoods like Jeevan Bima Nagar, Murgeshpalya, and Vignan Nagar.
The seating issue becomes even worse during heavy rains. Sreelatha, a college student, said, “I usually take the metro to Indiranagar and then a bus home from there. Last week I reached the bus stop around 8 p.m. and missed the bus. I had to wait another hour for the next one when it suddenly started to rain. I didn’t have an umbrella and everyone was huddled under the small roof of that bus stop so I got completely drenched. All of us could barely fit into that place till another bus came and half the people got on it.”
No signage
Most bus stops other than the major ones exist without any indication of there actually being a bus stop there, and the stops that are present, don’t usually have the name of the location attached, creating confusion for those travelers not regularly travelling along these routes.
Another issue people face while at the bus stop is how many buses don’t usually stop at the bus stand. This can be dangerous for people to get on or off, and their safety is put at risk. The Kalamandir bus stop right before the Marathahalli bridge is one of the places where there is no stop. “The metro construction has made the roads narrower, and because of this, the buses stopping before these bridges and flyovers create congestion,” said Arvind Dev, a techie who commutes by car.
Poor maintenance
Some other shelters are poorly lit. “I feel scared sometimes waiting at this bus stop because there are no lights,” said Meera S., a commuter from Koramangala at the Adugodi Police Quarters.
A senior BMTC official said that the maintenance of the bus stops is tasked with the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and the BMTC has taken up a project to put up digital LED boards informing commuters about the buses arriving at the stop in bus shelters.
The BBMP Traffic Engineering Cell (TEC) officials said, “In the bus shelters that lack facilities, we have decided to renovate and construct new bus bays also to decongest traffic. We want to offer commuter-friendly bus stops.”
There are a total of 8,500 bus stops in the city and major bus stands include Majestic, Yeshwanthpur, Kengeri, Satellite bus stand on Mysuru Road, and Shanti Nagar bus stand.
