The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has won the Changemaker Award in the Innovation in Public Transit category, recognising its efforts to modernise the city’s bus network and strengthen sustainable urban mobility. The award was presented at the Mobility Symposium–2026 held in Bengaluru on Thursday, October 8.
Sunita J., BMTC’s public relations officer, received the award on behalf of the corporation from retired IAS officer Vikram Kapoor. According to the information released by BMTC, the recognition acknowledges its continuing efforts to modernise Bengaluru’s public transport system, improve connectivity and promote more sustainable travel across the city.
The award also covers several initiatives undertaken to expand and update Bengaluru’s public transport network. These include airport transport services, services operating through the NICE Road corridor and technology-based passenger facilities. Together, the initiatives are intended to improve access to bus services and make public transport more useful for different categories of daily travellers.
BMTC operates about 1,000 airport-service trips every day and serves between 12,000 and 15,000 airport passengers daily, according to the corporation. Its NICE Road corridor services account for around 250 trips a day and are used by approximately 18,000 passengers each day.
The corporation has also introduced an updated mobile application called Namma BMTC 2.0 as part of its continuing digital transformation. The application provides live information on buses in operation and estimated arrival times, along with route and bus-stop information.
Passengers can use the application to buy digital tickets, access bus-pass services, plan journeys and make digital payments. BMTC has also stated that the platform supports integrated BMTC–Namma Metro ticketing, allowing users to plan bus journeys, metro journeys and combined bus-and-metro trips through a single digital interface.
The award places these operational and digital initiatives within the wider effort to modernise Bengaluru’s public transport system. For passengers, the services described by BMTC combine expanded corridor and airport connectivity with real-time information, digital ticketing and multimodal journey planning. The corporation’s next steps will involve continuing these services and its technology-led passenger initiatives.
