Despite having a fleet size of 6,798 buses, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is able to run only around 5,600. There is scope to run an additional 900 buses on a daily basis, but a shortage of drivers has halted those plans.
In 2013-14, the BMTC had a fleet size of 6,775 buses and the staff strength was 36,079. At present the corporation has almost the same fleet size (6,798), however the staff size has reduced to 29,726.
After the outbreak of the pandemic, the State government had directed the BMTC not to go for recruitment of drivers, as one of the measures to reduce the financial burden. Instead, the BMTC was asked to outsource drivers on a contractual basis. The corporation is still buying time to fill vacancies.
