Riders, Metro calling!

Namma Metro struggles to stay on track

BMRCL met just 27 percent of its commuter target in 2019-20, with a projected ridership of 15 lakh. It continued to expand, adding 14 kilometres to its rail network this year. With ridership in 2021 not even on par with 2019, BMRCL needs to see a 208 per cent increase in daily ridership to break even. Poor last mile connectivity, people working from home and a reduction in the smart card discount are possible reasons for this, reports Nischith N.

People working from home, the difficulties of commuting to and from Metro Stations and the BMRCL’s decision to reduce the discount on smart cards are possible reasons for the drastic fall in the Metro’s daily ridership. Namma Metro has seen a substantial dip in popularity – pre-pandemic numbers were at over five lakh riders a day, as of January 2020. Even as life returns to normal after the easing of lockdowns, the daily ridership has hovered at 3.22 lakh per day. The metro corridor line ran across 42 kilometres and had a ridership of some five lakh per day. Now, operating over a 56-kilometre stretch, these numbers have fallen to a little over three lakh. Ridership has fallen by almost 25 percent.

The data comes from a study conducted by BMRCL. In January last year, Namma Metro was generating over a crore each day. However, in terms of actual numbers, five lakh riders make up less than five percent of the 1.6 crore people in the city. It’s also not much when compared with the estimated ridership in the original Detailed Project Report of the Metro, which predicted some 12 lakh riders per day. BMRCL is banking on offices to reopen after the New Year, in hopes that the number of Metro commuters will see a significant improvement.

Missed deadlines:

BMRCL still has deadlines to meet, many of which have been missed several times. There is still no Metro cover in Koramangala and Electronic city, despite their concentration of IT parks. Officials say that land acquisition remains their foremost challenge. “This is a brown project, which means we have to obtain land that is already in use. A green project would have been simpler but we are building in a metropolitan city,” say BMRCL officials. “Building a mega infrastructure project in a city is a huge task and we are doing our best.”

According to activists, the less-than-projected patronage of the multi-crore metro project is no surprise at all. They have questioned the Namma Metro’s ability to make a profit on several occasions. Since more lines have been laid since January 2020, BMRCL is grappling with higher expenses and besides, even meeting daily operational costs requires a much higher number of passengers than it currently attracts. If the current pace of work in the second phase is anything to go by, project costs are likely to go up even further. In the end, it falls to the state government to provide the required compensation – another drain on the public exchequer.

“People working from home is just an excuse BMRCL is making,” says advocate and urban activist Purushotham P. “Pre-pandemic ridership was also low. The reasons for this are due to last mile connectivity, frequency of trains and reduced smart card discounts.” Metro connectivity has provided hassle-free transport options, has removed cars from the road and cut travel time to a fraction of the road commute. BMRCL might be able to pay back the loans but project costs have long since been overshot.

According to reports, Namma Metro met just 27% of its ridership target in 2019-20, while its projected daily ridership was 15 lakh. The average, however, stood somewhere around Rs 5 lakh. It is being said that the average ridership was just about 4 lakh when the corridor length was 42 km. Now it is claimed that Namma Metro needs a daily ridership of 12 lakh a 208% increase to break even.

About 79% of Bengaluru Metro’s operational revenue is from passenger fare. However, its non-fare box revenue like rent and advertisement forms is like 9%. So it is suggested that fares and non-fares revenue can be increased by applying different strategies.

BMTC, BMRCL exist in silos

Last-mile connectivity, or the lack thereof, is caused mainly by the lack of coordination between the various transport corps. The problem is felt acutely by people in outlying areas like Nagarbhavi and Outer Ring Road, making a trip by the Metro more trouble than it is worth. “I travel all the way to Indiranagar by Metro and find it really difficult to get back home late at night. We experience poor connectivity since there are no direct buses. While traveling by Metro comes with its pros, there are cons too,” says Sara, a commuter in Nagarbhavi, adding that she always has to ask someone t