HoHo goes Ho Ho....!!!!

The HoHo (Hop On-Hop Off) service launched by the BMTC with huge fanfare has finally been redrawn! The initial routes made sure that all important points were skipped, and had ensured that passengers had to depend on other buses for their journeys around the CBD, while these fuel-guzzling monsters ran across without any passengers.

Six Volvo buses were used on these service (branded as Kendra Saarige) and almost all the trip went empty. One couldn't ever see more than a couple of passengers in these buses at any point of time. However, sometime early last week, these services were completely revamped. 

Now these buses touch all the three major transit points - KBS (Majestic), Shantinagar and Shivajinagar.

The revised routes are as under:

Orange Line: Kempegowda Bus Station (KBS/Majestic) - Corporation Circle - Lalbagh Main Gate - Shanti Nagar Bus Station - Richmond Circle - Mayo Hall - Trinity Circle - Begum Mahal Junction - Commercial Street - Cauvery Emporium - Anil Kumble Circle - Shivaji Nagar Bus Station - Vidhana Soudha - KR Circle - State Bank of Mysore - KBS

Blue Line: Kempegowda Bus Station (KBS/Majestic) - KR Circle - Vidhana Soudha - Indian Express Junction - Mahatma Gandhi Park/Chinnaswamy Stadium - Cauvery Emporium - Commercial Street - Manipal Centre - Trinity Circle - Police Housing Corporation - Vellara Junction - Richmond Circle - Shantinagar Bus Station - Lalbagh Main Gate - Minerva Circle - Corporation Circle - KBS

The revised routes follow a new path altogether, as compared to what these buses used to take earlier. The fare remains the same - Rs. 10 (flat charge). Currently four buses each do the circuit on either routes - reliable information point that the number of buses are to go up to 8 on each route. However, public awareness about these services are poor. The BMTC website is yet to be updated.

Given the fact that these buses connect places which were hitherto not connected directly, I am sure these buses would now succeed. Just a little bit more of publicity should do the trick!

An appeal to all: Leave your cars at home, and take a bus when you are around the city centre...