Veena Carmel sets out to investigate how the BMTC kiosks work.
In February, BMTC installed passenger information kiosks in twelve bus stations across Bangalore, with the aim of helping commuters access information about routes and schedules easily. The kiosks, however, don’t quite fulfill their purpose.They are inconveniently placed and barely used.
Out looking for Passenger Information Kiosks, I asked people at the Shanthinagar Bus Station where I could find them. I was met with confused expressions and puzzled counter-questions. The man at the enquiry desk didn’t seem to know either, and directed me to the adjacent building, the office.
At the office, I was courteously received and escorted to meet the concerned officers. All of them spoke about how the kiosks allowed the user to access information such as bus numbers, bus routes, the number of stops the bus made and where, fares, details about the available passes (monthly, weekly, etc.), casual contract buses, information about the available careers offered by BMTC and much more.
It seemed really impressive. At the office, a staff personnel showed me an article by Vijaya Karnataka titled ‘Kiosk Screen Touch Maaduvarilla’ (Kiosk screen touched by no one). It raised questions about the utility of these kiosks, and the thirty lakh rupees spent on their installation. The article said that the amount could have been better spent on buses, bus shelters and other necessities.
It also raised the question of who would use the kiosks.The target users according to the BMTC fall in the category of people who have no access to smartphones.While ignoring the fact that some people might not know how to use them. Furthermore, the kiosks are hard to find amidst the commuters and various small shops. So, most people resort to asking others which buses to catch.
Undeterred by the sharp remarks made by the article, M Ganesh, junior training officer, BMTC, explains, “It takes time for a certain type of technology to set in and be used as much as it can. Like, when cell phones were first introduced there were few users but now, years later, almost everyone has a cell phone. People aren’t aware of the machines and how to use it. But it is quite simple and easy to use, and will catch on over time”.
In response to the article by Vijaya Karnataka, BMTC authorities sent in a statistical report showing 1,89,093 users between the months of February and June, with the number of users increasing every month. One of the BMTC staff (who wishes to remain anonymous) explained that the kiosks were introduced on a trial basis, and their use would be monitored before their introduction in more bus stations.
Undecided about the kiosk, I walked downstairs to try it. I stood in front of the simple screen mounted on a stand. The homepage loaded pretty fast, showing clearly various options in an uncluttered layout. However, the touchscreen quality was quite poor.
The routes were shown, the buses listed, and maps displayed. Being a person who has never owned a smartphone, I admired the kiosk. It let me check the buses I could take from Shantinagar to Shivajinagar, Kormanagala and other areas. However, the fixed buses and schedules didn’t help when I checked how to get to Kelkere (on the outskirts of Bangalore) by catching connecting buses. At the end of the day, I looked around for a person to tell me which bus I could catch to get home.
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