NT Correspondent
Bengaluru

In an attempt to make commuting across the city accessible for the differently abled, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has introduced buses that have a wheelchair-lifting facility.
A first trial of its kind, under the FAME II scheme (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles in India), BMTC is all set to operate 300 non-AC electric buses with this option. They have already received 14 buses and plan to deploy 100 by the start of August, and have the whole fleet functioning by mid-October.

“The 12-metre buses have a capacity of 40 seats and the wheelchair lifting facility will be present at the middle of the bus,” said a senior official from BMTC. The facility can be used by the bus crew by pressing a button.

Once the passenger is inside the bus, the wheelchair is placed at the designated spot. “We will start the operation first in three depots – Yelahanka, Attibele and Bidadi. In a single charge, the bus can run 150 km and in an opportunistic charge of 45 mins, it can operate for another 75km,” he added.