r2i forum

I had never traveled in a public bus since we R2I'ed in Sept. 2005. Today, I decieded to take the Volvo public transport bus from Majestic to ITPL in Whitefield. A few people I know had said it was pretty good. I had the most pleasant experience. The fare is Rs. 55 one way and it is an air conditioned bus with nice cushion seats. The journey time was about 1h 15mins. The driver was announcing each stop along the way on the microphone. Even though the traffic was really bad for the most part, you don't feel tired at all at the end of the journey, you can work on your laptop, read a book or listen to music. I met a guy on the bus who said he has been doing this for almost a year and works at SAP labs. The bus stops at all the major IT companies along the way like Oracle, SAP and so on.

Here's the link for the bus info system in Bangalore :
http://www.bmtcinfo.com/jsp/

I was planning to ride the Volvo in my last trip along w/ the kids but wasn't able to :(

Hope there were enough riders on the bus. It would be great if more people rode these buses on hosur road.

Traffic congestion can be eased by proper planning w/ a combination of these buses along w/ similar (smaller) A/C shuttle coaches with in E-city campus

Did any one ride the double-decker sightseeing buses? I plan to do that and the slow train to Mysore next time I'm in B'lore.

The entire seating was filled up in no time. There were a few people standing in the bus as well at the starting point. At the stops along the way, there were more people who got on board, it was pretty full but not too crowded like the regular buses. They have these running every 20 minutes in the peak times. I have seen the electronic city area Volvo buses also running to capacity during the peak hours.

I had taken someone I know on the double decker sightseeing bus in Bangalore. That seems to be a huge flop with not enough riders. At any given time I haven't seen more than 10 people on the bus. Talking to the people who operate it, they are feeling it's just a matter of time before it gets winded down.

GAtor, Nice to know that. Thanks for the link. I hope more people use public transport sytem to reduce the traffic congestion.

Was searching for this thread. Good to know already the info exist here.
I plan to use these buses instead of buying a car/travel by an auto.
Believe me these Volvo buses are excellent and they are worth for the money, even though it is slightly on the upper side.I would not like to see these services wind down because of want of passangers. So i am doing my bit.Hope they expand to other major routes.

here is the info on bus routes and timings and fares.

http://www.bmtcinfo.com/english/volvo.htm