Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, officially Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), is a state-owned public road transport corporation in the Indian city of Bangalore. It is wholly owned by the Government of Karnataka. It serves the Bangalore Metropolitan Region. As of August 2022, it has a fleet strength of 6798 buses.
A new app named "Namma BMTC" has been launched to assist commuters to trac buses live, check schedules, plan their journey and calculate fare between stages. A special feature of this app is the SOS feature that can help women in case of emergencies by alerting any near-by police station.
History
Foundation
Mysore Government Road Transport Department was inaugurated on 12 September 1948 with 120 buses. The transport department of The Mysore state administered it until 1961.
Corporatization
It was subsequently converted into an independent corporation under Section 3 of the Road Transport Corporation Act, 1950 on 1 August 1961, In 1961, after successfully converting into an independent corporation all assets and liabilities of MGRTD were transferred to Mysore State Road Transport Corporation.
Merger
On 1 October 1961, Bangalore Transport Service was merged with it.
Renaming
On 1 November 1973, the Mysore state was renamed as Karnataka thus, renaming it Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation.
Bifurcation
On 15 August 1997, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (then Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation) was bifurcated to cater to the transportation needs of Bangalore Metropolitan Region Development Authority. It was formed by separating the Bangalore Transport Service. on 1 November 1997, North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation was bifurcated to cater to the transportation needs of Northwestern parts of Karnataka. On 15 August 2000, Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (then North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation) was bifurcated to cater to the transportation needs of Northeastern parts of Karnataka. This left the corporation to serve the Southern part of Karnataka.
On 23 November 2009, Vijayapura division was transferred from NWKRTC to KKRTC. On 1 November 2014, It changed to the present name Bangalore Metropolitain Transport Corporation along with other organizations in the city.
Services
Bengaluru Sarige: It is a non-AC bus service built on Ashok Leyland, Tata and Eicher urban chassis with a dark blue-white livery for Bharat Stage IV (BS IV) and light blue-white livery or turquoise-white livery for Bharat Stage VI (BS VI) connecting all parts of the Metropolitan region. Astra: It is a non-AC electric bus service with a turquoise livery for JBM brand buses, violet-white for Ashok Leyland's Switch brand buses and light blue-dark blue for Tata Motor's Starbus EV brand buses.. Vajra: It is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis with a light blue livery running on important routes serving the tech parks, industrial areas, major bus stations and major residential areas. Vayu Vajra: It is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis with a light blue livery connecting 20 routes in the Metropolitan region to Bangalore's Kempegowda International Airport. Free Wi-Fi access is provided to the commuters on these buses.
Bengaluru Darshini: It is an AC bus service built on Volvo 8400LE urban chassis with a special livery of pencil sketch depiction of important sites in Bangalore on a white background. This service was introduced for sightseeing in Bangalore. It covered routes connecting about twenty landmarks of great historical, religious and scientific significance.
Vayu Vajra Routes
Metro Feeder: These are AC and Non-AC services that act as feeders to major metro stations and provide last mile connectivity. They are usually prefixed with 'MF'.