[RenuKumar]

I was going through the website of BMTC and I was shocked to see the figures!!!

BMTC at a Glance as on 24-01-2012

Every Day Traffic Revenue Rs. 3.62 Crores
No of Schedules 5899
No of Vehicles 6124
Daily Service kms 12.98 Lakhs
No of trips 78795
No of buses under PPP 17
Buses Infrastructure established
Depots 37
Bus stations 48
Staff Employed 32771
Daily Passengers CarriedAround 4.5 million
Bus Staff Ratio 5.3
Bus Day: 4th of Every Month

Kudos to BMTC for considering the launch of Hybrid Volvos

“Around 825 buses will be added this year, of which 450 are replacements for older buses, which are phasing out. One hundred of them are volvo buses”

I hope some day BMTC decides to use Jatropa Oil in full fledged operations. Currently they are using bio-diesel only on the eco-friendly buses (Parisara Vahini)

[mazda4life]

first off ...for all the brickbats it receives , BMTC and KSRTC are one of the most forward looking public sector undertakings. But, having been their consultant in circa 2000-01 for their business processes and also ERP backbone , I can vouch that it had some stellar leadership from very early days.

Not visible are their information systems that automates their business operations and data across the state and also across the country.

Might be it merits a separate thread just to talk about the systems and data backbone that integrate the B2B supply chain (booking to bus depot operations).

For upcoming information analysts and architects it would be a good
case-study to understand the operations and data growth and how a organization adopts them.

As more road transport corporations modernize , the learnings from these forward looking organization can be very critical and useful.

[mayankjha1806]

BMTC has the record for making profits for many years, it makes so much profit that they can offset the losses incurred by KSRTC which is a parent company to BMTC.

I might be wrong, but it was the first time i saw Air conditioned Volvos (the red buses) in Bangalore, i am not sure if they were the first ones to start such a service in India.

[libranof1987]

I was talking to a conductor on one of the Volvos on the 335E route.

He said, each driver+conductor is expected to complete 6 round-trips a day. He said, the regular shift extends from 6am to 4pm and the evening shift from 3pm to midnight.

The expected daily revenue is 10k : including tickets and passes.

It is without doubt that the entire BMTC operations is wonderfully handled but I have a major grouse with the way the ticket prices are decided. I pay Rs. 30 from Marathahalli to ITPL (8kms) and Rs. 50 for ITPL to BTM (23 kms). The ticket pricing is very aggressive for short distances but relatively economical for long distances. But again, that is why they make such profits!

Also, I feel the manner in which the Volvos are driven, a few years down the line, BMTC is going to spend a bomb on maintenance.

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

As a former owner, I am shocked at the figures. Revenues are grossly inadequate.

This translates to:-

1. Revenue 5,911.17 INR per bus. Peanuts.

2. A bus runs approx 211.95 KM per day. Very good (rather fantastic) utilisation, given the city traffic conditions.

3. At approx 3.5 KM / L of fuel, they would spending around 3K per day per bus for fuel. Means approx 3K of revenue per bus is available for meeting staff expenses, maintenance, depreciation, taxes, etc.

My guess is that They are making approx 7K per bus per day loss.

For a VOLVO, which should cost approx one crore, depreciation costs would be approx 2.3K INR per day, assuming a 12 year life span. Capital costs aka "interest on capital" would be INR 3,290 (at 12%).

Sorry Mumbaikars - your Volvos too are running at a loss.

A normal bus needs at least 15K revenue (at between 200 and 250 KM per day running), and a Volvo would require between 30 to 50 K per day to merely break even.

Unlike long distance / luxury / intercity services, wear and tear for intra city buses is high, with the constant braking, stop and go traffic, clutch riding, etc. Accidents / skirmishes too will be very high.

[girishglg]

One thing is really confusing, from all the calculations above it seems that BMTC should be in deep red where as it actually churns out over 50 cr profits on an average every year according to their financial results. One thing for sure are the grossly under utilized swanky TTMCs across the city which are barely occupied (atleast the new ones). Now where does the revenue figures fit into to the picture and how do they really make money!

[flycatcher]

Originally Posted by girishglg

One thing is really confusing, from all the calculations above it seems that BMTC should be in deep red where as it actually churns out over 50 cr profits on an average every year according to their financial results. One thing for sure are the grossly under utilized swanky TTMCs across the city which are barely occupied (atleast the new ones). Now where does the revenue figures fit into to the picture and how do they really make money!

The ads that are on the buses should be contributing some good amount to the revenues.

[hdnivara]

I read somewhere that BMTC is the only state owned transport corps running in profits; their absurd pricing is bearing fruits.

But, I really like the way they maintain the buses - when compared to MTC. MTC buys new shiny buses every now and then, but 2 years down the line they look crap. Whereas BMTC takes good care of their buses. Hands up for that!

[srishiva]

It was mentioned a while ago that less rich people subsidize the richer guys for BMTC. They do indeed incur losses on Volvos. But its covered by other buses.

[mayankjha1806]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

My guess is that They are making approx 7K per bus per day loss.

Good calculations, but the results say otherwise. Would advertising revenue cover the rest (i.e. get them from red to black on its own), i mean would that add up to a significant value so as to turn BMTC to profits?

Apart from this i see they also lend Buses for corporates, which i believe are at a higher rate (Not sure though), and there are IT specific buses (Like Baghmane Tech Park Buses).

[poloman]

Passes should contribute significantly to the revenues. A large chunk of passengers in BMTC travel by monthly passes. I don't think BMTC volvos are making losses anymore seeing the crowd and the rates in these buses( As high as 3rs/km average).

[RenuKumar]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

As a former owner, I am shocked at the figures. Revenues are grossly inadequate.

This translates to:-

1. Revenue 5,911.17 INR per bus. Peanuts.

2. A bus runs approx 211.95 KM per day. Very good (rather fantastic) utilisation, given the city traffic conditions.

3. At approx 3.5 KM / L of fuel, they would spending around 3K per day per bus for fuel. Means approx 3K of revenue per bus is available for meeting staff expenses, maintenance, depreciation, taxes, etc.

My guess is that They are making approx 7K per bus per day loss.

For a VOLVO, which should cost approx one crore, depreciation costs would be approx 2.3K INR per day, assuming a 12 year life span. Capital costs aka "interest on capital" would be INR 3,290 (at 12%).

Sorry Mumbaikars - your Volvos too are running at a loss.

A normal bus needs at least 15K revenue (at between 200 and 250 KM per day running), and a Volvo would require between 30 to 50 K per day to merely break even.

Unlike long distance / luxury / intercity services, wear and tear for intra city buses is high, with the constant braking, stop and go traffic, clutch riding, etc. Accidents / skirmishes too will be very high.

Hi, the daily revenue does not include monthly passes. Almost 50% users depend on the passes and the daily ticket sales counts only for the maintenance and expenses

[srishiva]

Guys, BMTC Volvos run under losses. But ordinary buses produce profits. So combined, the corporation is under profit. IT routes make more money and only during office going hours.

This has been published many times in newspapers as and when Transport Minister or transport officials keep talking about it.

[poloman]

These loss stories are floated for public consumption to justify the high charges in volvos. The charges per km can turn out even more than intercity volvo services. Also depsite the losses BMTC has been drastically increasing the Volvo fleet size which may be close to 500 now. Routes like 335 and 500 are more or less dominated by volvos nowadays.
But looks like Vayu Vajras are in loss due to one directional traffic.
Despite all this I rate Volvo buses as the best thing happened to Bangalore in last 10 years.

[Ford5]

Well I guess if you can charge Rs 8 for a 2 Km distance, you'd be making good profits.
Whereas in Chennai, recently updated fares thereafter, for Rs 10 you can travel 8 Km/s in the luxury bus, and the same 8 km/s can be covered in Rs 5 if u choose the rattle tattle fully packed buses.