In a first of its kind service in India, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) on Saturday announced that it will allow commuters to book seats in advance for its services to the airport and back to the city.  BMTC said the seats can be booked in advance through the KSRTC (Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation) booking counters,online (www.ksrtc.in), KSRTC Mobile App and authorized franchisees.

As of now the advance booking will be allowed in nine select routes KIA-4, KIA-4A, KIA-5, KIA-6, KIA-8, KIA-8C, KIA-9, KIA-10 and KIA-14. BMTC in a statement said that passengers must show printed ticket/e-ticket booking SMS (through mobile/laptop,etc) along with any one of the specified identity proofs while boarding.

Further the statement said commuters will be given a 5% discount on fare if more than four tickets are booked in a single transaction. Return journey discount of 10% on basic fare is allowed when both onward and return journeys are booked in a single transaction.

A note said, “BMTC is committed to provide efficient, adequate, economical transport services to the travelling public. BMTC has implemented various services and amenities for the benefit of the travelling public and has gained the encouragement and patronage from the commuters. Currently air conditioned “Vayu Vajra” services are being operated from different localities of Bengaluru city to Kempegowda International Airport (164trips) and Kempegowda International Airport towards city (171 trips),totally with 335 single trips daily.” 

Currently due to the COVID-19 and reduced patronage, other air conditioned services by the BMTC have been discontinued. Commuters can track the real time movement of the city’s buses using the MyBMTC app. The app also has a trip planning system, to allow people who are not used to the city’s bus routes to go to the app and figure out how to go from A to B, based on the current bus routes.