Do we need a Commonwealth for Namma Metro?

We have been discussing BRTS and other mass surface transport means to tackle the traffic in Bangalore. All this gets us back to the basic question on the Bangalore Metro. The pace of building it!

There was a internet report on the Beijing metro and it read like..

Beijing's commuters are setting the pace in China, says new research from pedestrian simulation software company Legion. The Legion study reveals that pedestrians in the Chinese capital walk 10% faster than those in Hong Kong: 5.3 kph compared to 4.8 kph. In other words, in just 10 minutes, commuters in Beijing will walk over 90 metres further than their Hong Kong compatriots. That's almost the length of a football pitch.

The discovery of this substantial 1/2 kph difference, one of a number of findings obtained from hundreds of hours of video recorded in Beijing metro stations, will prove invaluable for architects and designers building in bustling Chinese cities. Accurate knowledge of walking speeds along with other behavioural data such as pedestrians' personal space preferences, enhances a designer's ability to predict how a building or urban space will perform. It informs critical design decisions about, for example, how wide corridors and pavements need to be or how many escalators or ticket gates are needed to minimise congestion and keep pedestrians flowing in well used spaces. (more of it at http://au.biz.yahoo.com/080326/43/1o3vo.html)

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Bangalore cannot even think such things exist..we are busy dreaming on how swanky our metro stations will be rather than how practical will they be!

Wiki says pace on the Beijing metro work picked up after 1999 when the news on the Olympics to be held came up..there is also news that Commonwealth games in Delhi has become a factor for rapid developments on building metro..so does Bangalore need a Commonwealth Games too?

Not necessary at all! Infact theres lot to learn from Delhi Metro itself..there is a very good article with facts at : http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/17052007/399/new-delhi-race-against-time.html

"Mass-transit systems are crucial to relieving urban congestion and associated ills such as pollution. The first phase of the Delhi Metro siphoned off 1.5m commuter trips a day, translating into 1,650 fewer buses on the roads, annual fuel savings of $110m and 30 per cent less pollution.

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I was exited to report to Praja on the work that started on OMR for the metro..it started off fast..they built fences and dug holes. The steel frames for the pillars were redied and thats it..all work has seized at the site..its been weeks and I have not seen one individual working on it..the same is for the work on 100ft road..the road was blocked for traffic..the huge drills came in but thats it..they have opened the road for congested traffic..

This has been the case for long on MG road..they say they will get out of MG road by the year end but that doesnt seem feasible at the current pace..pass close to the road everyday but nothing moves! Metro PR cites legal issues in acquiring land..how much private land do we need..why cant we have a strategy..the routes finalized anyways..get the lines ready to the point where the small private patch is an issue and make a compelling impact on the need to 'move on'!

I believe the reason for slow pace is more to do with the Contracts..get L&T on the job and see how fast the pillars will be up...

Btwn..commonwealth games is not the reason for fast developments on Delhi metro..its E.Sreedharan!