A group of Bengalureans has started a Telegram group to share information about bus numbers and routes in the city. It is called Friends of BMTC, and it has 2,000 active users.
Enquiries about airport commutes come up the most, especially from residents of Whitefield and Electronic City.
The group has been initiated by citizen activist Srinivas Alavilli. Eight months ago, he brought Siddharth Srinivasan, Amogh A and Yathish Kumar S together to run the group as they were seen frequently answering bus-related queries on Twitter and posing questions to BMTC authorities.
Siddharth is a chartered accountant and a resident of J P Nagar, 6th Phase. Amogh is a second-year engineering student and lives in Hanumanthanagara. A Chandapura resident, Yathish is a software developer.
Siddharth and Yathish told Metrolife that their knowledge about bus routes come from personal experience. They have been commuting by bus since childhood. Additionally, they source updates about new or phased-out bus routes from a WhatsApp group they have created with BMTC officials, and the Namma BMTC app.
Daily requests coming their way have gone up from 2 to 3 when the group started to 10 to 12 now.
When asked what’s the need for this Telegram group when the Namma BMTC app exists, Yathish said the group is meant for people who aren’t conversant with apps or aren’t aware of BMTC’s app. “Sometimes the live tracking feature on the app stops. Sometimes it is slow. Live tracking for new buses is not there yet. However, we work closely with their app development team and communicate the issues we come across. They take feedback seriously,” he explained, adding that they are trying to supplement the efforts of BMTC.
Visit bit.ly/friendsofbmtc to join the group.