Bussing in Bangalore

Reporting hours early at the airport for a flight is now an accepted norm, but it wasn't uncommon to allow such lead time for public transport buses in Bangalore a few years ago. The city's buses were so notorious for delays, breakdowns and missed trips that any journey from point A to point B in the city, required detailed planning. It earned such a bad reputation that BTS, short for Bangalore Transport Service, was better known as Bittre Tirga Sigalla (Miss it and you won't get it again), or Banni Tholli Swami (Come, give it a push).
After an endless wait at the bus stop, commuters had to squeeze themselves into the red, rickety buses if they ever halted at the stops, and get ready to alight again since it would take ages to wade through the crowded aisles and reach the jam packed exit. And then, after one or two stops, there was more waiting on the bus to allow the conductor to finish issuing his tickets, licking his fingers each time he tears one off the pad.
Today's conductor carries little gadgets to print tickets, the buses are equipped with LED scrolling displays within and outside, with a GPS system announcing the approaching stop, they run on air suspension and have pneumatic doors, low-floors and some even have airconditioning.
Buses still are over crowded during peak hours but one can now afford to give such buses a miss and wait for one on which one gets a toehold, unlike in the past when a missed bus meant returning home or an autorickshaw ride. One would rarely be able to make a round trip to Malleswaram from Jayanagar in one day. If one walked past people waiting at a bus stop, it was not uncommon to see the same set of people with their faces showing greater anxiety and impatience, even 45 minutes later and with no bus visible on the horizon.
Though complaints still pour in about the transport system, BMTC, as it is called now, has been trying to keep pace with the city's growth.
With Bangalore's erstwhile outskirts now turning into the city centre, suburban buses, which used to ferry villagers, their farm produce and sometimes even their farm animals, are now the preferred mode of commuting for laptop laden techies. Smoking, which used to be a norm on these buses, has virtually been stubbed out, thanks not only to new smoking regulations but also because it is not acceptable today.
For a sleepy city with a leisurely pace of life, the erstwhile BTS didn't seem too out of place. But with Bangalore now on the move, it's citizens have no time for the lumbering old bus service.
And with the metro promising some hope, commuters can now finally commute and not just wait. But with the launch date, getting pushed again, Bangaloreans hope they don't have to wait for it like they did for the old BTS buses.