The Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) is collaborating with corporate firms to issue bulk passes for their employees, allowing them to utilize the metro for daily office commutes. Kalpana Kataria, Executive Director at BMRCL, announced this during a panel discussion titled ‘Bengaluru: ready for a transformational mobility shift?’.

With the complete operation of the Whitefield – Challaghatta corridor (Purple Line), daily metro ridership is expected to rise from 6.3 lakh to 10 lakh passengers. Already, Applied Materials in ITPB (International Technology Park Bangalore) has purchased 500 Metro smart cards for its workforce.

Corporate firms and tech parks can directly purchase bulk smart travel cards from BMRCL. These cards can be recharged, and travel patterns managed by employees, and can be transferred to new employees when needed. The initiative aims to reduce office cab expenses for companies and promote metro ridership, offering a traffic-free commute.

More tech parks and companies in Whitefield and Outer Ring Road are expressing interest in obtaining bulk passes. Two types of cards are available: closed-loop cards and NCMC (National Common Mobility Card).

Plans to Improve Feeder Bus Connectivity

As part of the ‘personal2public’ campaign, the state government and NGOs are working to enhance feeder bus connectivity from metro stations. Static timings of feeder buses will be displayed at metro stations, with plans to introduce dynamic boards providing real-time information on bus services.

Five major tech parks with a combined workforce of 3.75 lakh employees have been identified for direct point-to-point services using a fleet of 45 feeder buses during peak hours. Here are the nearest metro stations for each tech park:

RMZ Ecospace (1 lakh employees) – Nearest station: KR Pura
Embassy Tech Park (70,000 employees) – Nearest station: KR Pura
Prestige Tech Park (85,000 employees) – Nearest station: Seetharampalya
Bagmane Tech Park (85,000 employees) – Nearest station: KR Pura
Cessna Tech Park (35,000 employees) – Nearest station: Seetharampalya
Efforts to address last-mile connectivity issues include increasing bus frequency, enhancing walkability, improving lighting, and providing adequate bus shelters. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has committed to strengthening first and last-mile connectivity.

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