In today's Devana Yelli? seminar organised by Bangalore Mirror, the general consensus in terms of connectivity to Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) was getting TO Hebbal flyover, once beyond it, things are rather smooth.
Additionally, a major solution will be the proposed rail link. However can you imagine the absolute chaos that will reign in the BRV grounds area, with large number of passengers arriving and departing. On my way back from the seminar I had the misfortune of running in to the IPL match traffic at KSCA stadium.
The solution to many issues plaguing Bangalore, is the decongestion. We can commence with the city centre. I have some ideas, but I am not an expert by any stretch of imagination. I invite Praja members to make some concrete proposals.
I will commence with three.
1. City Centre Surcharge
Impose a Rs. 50 (for two and three wheelers) and Rs. 100 (4 wheelers) per entry surcharge for any vehicle to enter the city centre weekdays between 8am and 11am, and 5pm to 8pm and on Saturdays from 10am to 3pm. Public transport buses exempted.
2. High Parking fees
33% of Bangalore's roads are taken over by parking and another 33% by those looking for parking. Impose Rs. 50 per hour parking fee on all roads in Bangalore. For 2 wheelers a flat Rs. 1000 per month parking sticker which can be enclosed in a secure transparent holder. A pre-paid parking ticket system like in Singapore can be implemented. This is a card about 6 inches by 3 inches, with punch out holes for the year, month, date, and starting hour. The rate is fixed in two denominations. Rs. 25 and Rs. 50. The parker decides for how long they want to park and places the required number of cards on their dashboard. It will avoid heavy investment in fancy parking meters.
3. Take a cue from BIAL for public transport
Allow PPP in public transport in Bangalore. Allow private companies to offer public transport services in addition to BMTC.
Proposal 1, will provide a disincentive for people to rush to the city centre. Proposal 2, will disincentivise parking on the road, and make private multi-storey parking lots economically viable. Once these parking lots come up, a free shuttle service can be provided that will allow people to move around the city centre.
Proposal 3 will provide relief to BMTC financially, and will also provide competition that will force BMTC staff to mend their ways aka Indian Airlines and BSNL.
Your thought filled comments are requested.
Thanks in advance
Devesh
Forward this Blog entry
Comments
Revamp the whole traffic infrastructure !
I would suggest that all concerned take a pragmatic view of situation on the ground and take steps to ease some of our traffic and commuter issues. It is a reality that:
Having said that, I strongly believe that with the scientific and realistic approach we can decongest B'lore traffic to a large extent. That should be done with 2 prang strategy.
1. The newly developed areas should be built with wider roads, signal less junctions and with space for pedestarians, bicycles and with ample space for mass transit stations / stops.
2. Revamp the whole traffic infrastructure for the existing ones.
I would comment on #2 as # 1 is self explanatory. A complete overhaul approach should be adopted in order to decongest the trrafic.
A. Need to do a comprehesive study / survey of present day main roads, arterial roads, junctions, Public Transport services, private transports and financial aspects of policing the traffic.
B. Based on the study and its analysis it should not be difficult to:
Hope my thoughts becomes visible to all those who matters.
Regards,
Syed
Annual tax and fuel surcharge
Devesh,
I like all your points.
Need to add lane discipline in at least the city center, using bollards as lane markers if necessary and a zero tolerance to any violation in this limited area. Residency Road is an example of a wide road with chaotic traffic. Bangalore seems to have this problem that traffic gets going very slowly when lights turn green because people don't follow lanes (it is like untangling a knot ). Laminar traffic flow can reduce congestion to a great extent.
Point number 1 is difficult administratively. We need to define the boundaries of the central area, cover every entry point, etc and unless we move to the ERP Singapore style with gantries and stored value cards, it will make congestion fairly high at the entry point - (may not be such a bad idea). The buses might end up getting stuck behind the long line waiting to pay the surcharge and become a victim of unintended consequences.
Parking fee can be simplified greatly by the method you have suggested. Again given the number of vehicles free riders can get away. We need traffic wardens to monitor and seeing the hooliganism prevalent in Bangalore, I fear for their safety. How do we ensure that it does not become their word against the person's? How do we ensure that the person actually pays a fine - wheel clamps? Law enforcement needs to go hand in hand with all these proposals and become ruthless. I can't understand why BBMP has let go of this excellent revenue stream and then claim it has no funds and go on to increase property tax saying it needs funds for infrastructure.
Point 3 is politically sensitive but not impossible. Private operators can be limited to premium services and be regulated. A PIL might do the trick again? This is critical for the success of all other steps. If the govt doesn't give people a good alternative then it can't do any of the other stuff.
Other options that can have the same effect as a congestion surcharge.
Bring back the annual vehicle tax on cars and bikes. A big sticker is given in return with a hologram showing that the person has paid the annual tax for that year. It should not depend on when the car was registered but by fiscal/calendar year (pro-rata for a car regd mid year). This should be in the Rs.20,000 range for cars and Rs.5000 for bikes - at least let car users pay for road maintenance and flyovers and expressways. Weekend only cars/bikes with a different sticker/license plate colour can be 2/7 of this or even free. (This might actually bring in the sunk cost mentality and people might think - let me make the most of the tax I have paid by using the car more - but would like to hear others as well).
Usage itself can be discouraged by making petrol more expensive within Bangalore limits. Have a Rs.10/litre cess - Bangalore uses about 280 million litres of fuel each year. If that does not work increase it even more - at some point people will treat private transport as something that is a luxury for weekends. That can bring in Rs.250-Rs300 crores of cess or more for Metro/Bus expansion.
If we can increase the average speed in Bangalore from 13/14 kmph to even 20 kmph it will make a big difference.
Make pavements broad and usable (check Jayanagar 4th main road) so that people walk for distances <1-2km.
Whichever government comes in should do it immediately so that in 5 years the unpopular stuff would have become business as usual and they can do all the populist stuff in the last year. Does any of them have the political will?
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Levy of User Charges !
Mr. Devesh,
I am not sure how simple or complex to implement the system of levying user charges for vehicles for using the selected roads.
Unless there is reasonable level of dependent public/mass transport system, this approach would not bear fruits.
We need to understand one fundemental fact here. Demand exceeds the supply for transportation specially in public transport. Unless you have address this issue, any other solutions would not be of any consequences. User Charges/Tax should be implemented as deterrant for not using the private vehicles, not as a solution.
Regards,
Syed
Traffic Restraints
Hi All,
For reference, the CTTP-2007 report states :
Thus, they are also in line with your inputs here.
The more I think about it,
The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that Bangalore’s infrastructure crisis is the result only of a lack of political will, combined with public apathy. I moved to the city some 13 years ago- long before the IT industry struck roots here. In fact, I remember meeting the then Head Honcho of the Metro Rail corporation to discuss project structuring and so on- services offered by the Big 5 firm I worked for at the time. 13 years on, all we have to show is a series of dug-up roads across the city. If only the powers-that-be had moved decisively at the time, Bangaloreans could have been spared much of their daily agony. Even now, I am not convinced that projects like the elevated road on Hosur Road will do much to decongest traffic. It may have been faster and cheaper to develop other roads that connect say Sarjapur Road or Bannerghatta Road with Hosur Road. All it will take is one accident or vehicle break-down on the elevated carriage-way and all hell will break loose. The same thing is true of the “magic box” at the Cauvery theatre junction. Vehicles going towards Mekhri Circle have no choice but to make a left turn at Cauvery, then make a U turn before rejoining Bellary Road after making another left turn. Not only will this slow down traffic considerably, but this also creates a new choke-point at that place. Again, if a vehicle breaks down at the turn inside the maig box, think of the mess it will create. And right now, this is right on the main road to the new airport at Devanahalli!
As real estate prices in Bangalore sky-rocketed, supply became limited. Whether land was bought up by speculators, sharks or parties with genuine needs for a home/office etc., the fact of the matter is that each passing day makes it more difficult to acquire land for public purposes, such as roads and MRT programs. The longer we delay decisions around building expressways, peripheral ring roads and so on, the more it will cost us as citizens of Bangalore- not just in direct costs of fuel, time, wear and tear and stress/fatigue, but also in terms of productivity, health and overall environmental degradation. So many of Bangalore’s famous tree-lined boulevards have been denuded in the last few months. I understand that trees need to be cut to make way for roads. But can’t new trees be planted or existing trees be transplanted? It will of course cost more to transplant trees, but maybe that should go under the head of “intangibles”- after all, there is a certain joy and pride to having trees that are 50+ years old. Here, I am not talking about the Casuarina or Gulmohur trees; I am referring to Neem, Peepul and other such trees that are inherently strong in terms of resistance to rain & winds.
On a recent visit to Hyderabad, I was struck by how much that city has improved visibly over the last five years. Multiple flyovers, wide roads, swanky shopping arcades with bright neon signs…. the traffic snarls are still there in several places, but overall, Hyderabad arguably has better road infrastructure today than Bangalore. Of course, the new airport there will surely cause heartburn and chaos for a few months. After that, people will only remember the facilities offered by the new airport, and not worry so much about the 1.5 hours it takes to get there!
Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF), Bangalore Forward, Unlock Bangalore…. so many initiatives, but so little progress. I suppose we only have ourselves to blame.
( source)
I tend to agree with the above view
An old thought
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
Think bigger
{deleted}
removing my comment to stick to short term suggestions requested by Devesh.
Decongest Bangalore
I am no expert in traffic management nor in planning processes of city development plans. There are many comment, all of which seem to focus on lack of connectivity because of inadequate road widths etc etc. These are fair comments, but are we not talking rather superficially on something that has a historic (recent) aberration and unless that cause is addrerssed we will only do a "Band Aid" solution?
Bangalore's roads are congested not only because we have too many people using them, but because we have
(a) A city plan that has given into the demands of "Lobbies" and given incentives for land speculators and builders to turn every place into a commercial one, without mandating and enforcing provision for adequate parking spaces. IT/ITES are the biggest enablers of this mess.
(b) Lax entry levels for driving licences, where skill and not road sense/etiquette are judging parameters, and where even the inspectors are ignorant of road etiquette.
(c) Inadequacy of space for non vehicular traffic, where by they are forced to walk on the carriageways, even at their peril.
(d) Totally inadequate enforcement machinery in handling road misuse. A sense of 'deja-vu' pervades across all sections. 'Jungle Raj' if you ask me. The state does not seem to have the heart and will to govern.
(e) A visionless, un accountable and disconnected approach of the planners (sic)and officials in making the roads user friendly. Have you noticed the presence of electric poles right in the middle of carraige ways on the widened roads in Bangalore? Or the presence of makeshift places of worship on footpaths? Or electric transformers, on the roads and on footpaths? Or the continuous digging up that leaves rubble on the roads for months on end? Or the garbage heaps lying directly in line of the traffic?
(f) Roads being widened, but ending up in bottlenecks like traffic signals or right turns. Unless and until bottlenecks are removed, no amount of widening is going to help ease the flow of traffic. All that we have achieved is enable more vehicles to wait on roads between two bottlencks. In the bargain, more trees chopped off, adding to global warming, increase in gas consumption and not enough saving in time.
(f) IT/ITES not taking the responsibility of removing the congestion on roads by providing mass transportation to their employees. Hiring of taxis - 24x7, who are the biggest nuisance value to normal road users of Bangalore are also the biggest congesters of roads.
Was Bangalore not "unlocked" for those two days when these taxis went on strike? Did the IT companies shut their business on those days? I doubt. The alternative is obviously there, but will the Captains of the most pampered segment of businesses, respond and rise to shoulder their responsibility to city from which it demands the most?
first things first
Devesh - agree with you totally, may be some little tweaking would be required here and there. However, first and foremost, we need to have reliable public bus transport services. And, we can't depend on the government monopoly BMTC to provide that.
And Major Sahab - I wouldn't blame IT/ ITES sector for all the ills of Bangalore. This sector brought about the much needed rapid growth. If the government couldn't gear itself to manage the growth, can they be blamed? They have tried in many ways to help out - BATF, FBAS (for BBMP) etc are some examples. That they may not have been handled properly is another matter.
Muralidhar Rao
OLD THOUGHT I totally agree
OLD THOUGHT
I totally agree with narayan82.
in fact if you see my views on paraja they are very similar and same. in fact i have gone an extra mile & suggetsed that we should have arteries like these 6 lane or preferable 8 lane (WITH NO SIGNAL LIGHTS ONLY FLY OVERS & UNDERPASSES) passing in the North South & East West diretions ( at least 2 in each direction). once the utility of these arteries are established, the administration will be encouraged to build dmany more arterial road like these. ONE IMPORTANT ASPECT IS THAT THESE ARTERIAL ROADS SHOULD BE TOTALLY CEMENTED.
it is high time that we praja members sit down, draw a plan and implement the same at the earliest.
Srinath Heragu
response to Srivathsa's
response to Srivathsa's suggestion
regarding your suggestion for increase in pterol price in Bangalore alone, his is not at all a wise idea as it would proprtionately increase the prices ofall othe commodities in Bangalore alone
Srinath Heragu
PPP in Public Transport !
Friends,
I would like to add few of my thoughts on the Mr. Devesh's proposal/suggestion on PPP for Public Transport. Instead of trying to place competitor, PPP should be added to compliment the BMTC in areas where it is not able to match the demand. There are quite a few:
1. More Mass Tarnsit Centers - Design, build and operated under PPP. This should allow transit for BMTC, Prvate Buses, Taxis, Auto-Rickshaws and ample Parking for 2 wheelers, cars etc.
2. PPP Buses for Industrial concentration areas like ITPL, Electronic City etc, to replace the Taxi Cars, SUVs etc. Atleast they can ply upto teh nearest transit center
3. PPP buses or Schools ( Smaller Private vehicles should be discouraged / prohibited)
4. PPP Buses to Mass Transit area like KBS, between Railway Stations.
5. Should allow 1 ticket purchase sufficient for the whole journey with limited/unlimited transfers.
Syed
PPP for Signal Free Intersections !
We should also explore the PPP for signal less intersections like Underpassess/ Overpasses. Intersection should be absolutely signal free with exit/entry ramps, pedesterian crossings and U turns availability.
PPP executor can design, built and operate the intersection with full advertising rights for say 30 years extended for another 10-20 years. Land acquisition and utility shifting should be the responsibility of single government entity like BMTC.
Suggestions Please
Thanks for the tremendous response. However, I want to avoid "discussions". Its time to move to some action.
I request for hard concrete suggestions preferably something implementable in the next 6 months, with minimum investment from the government, and if possible backed up with some numbers. Murali will be joining my committee meeting this week, hopefully some of these points can feature.
-----------------------
Regards
Devesh R. Agarwal
Visit my aviation blog at http://aviation.deveshagarwal.com
Regards
Devesh
Bangalore Aviation
Enjoy life, destroy FUD
short haul and long haul segregation
There are two types of traffic that go to the CBD. 1) Those who will terminate/start at CBD. 2) Those who must pass through CBD.
Devana'yelli' Devesh Sir
Was passing thru the news stands yest and noticed a familiar face on Bangalore Mirror with the subject topic Devana'Yelli'..bought it..to find more pictures inside..
Congratulations Sirji..hope this effort gets blr to better shape!
Bangalore Mirror
Thank you.
I had raised points about the employees and cargo, and also told Mr. Praveen Sood about 2000 Bangalore ready to volunteer as wardens provided they are given the right to issue traffic tickets.
But nothing appeared in the paper.
-----------------------
Regards
Devesh R. Agarwal
Visit my aviation blog at http://aviation.deveshagarwal.com
Regards
Devesh
Bangalore Aviation
Enjoy life, destroy FUD
Underutilized left lanes and other "low hanging fruit"
I don't have hard numbers to back this up, but these are out of observations. I will limit it to a few roads that I regularly use in the CBD
Drive along JC Road, Lalbagh Road, Residency Road, Richmond Road and you will find that the left lanes (even where there is no parking) are underutilized. Everyone wants to drive on the middle (where there are one ways) and on the right lane. This could be because of mud, bad surface, nasty surprises in the form of pavement projections, etc. One way to overcome this it to mark a thick yellow line about 2 ft from the pavement so that one can drive confidently to the right of this yellow line. This becomes like the road shoulder markings on the NHs. Trucks there usually stay to the left.
At many traffic lights (Town Hall light on JC Road e.g, Brigade Road jn with Residency Road), there are far too many waiting lanes (4-5) and far too few lanes receiving traffic. We need to match waiting lanes and receiving lanes by building suitable islands and putting some greenery/fountains.
Bollards at traffic lights to mark lanes. Bangaloreans dont think too much of painted lane markers. Bollards every 10 ft starting 100m before the traffic lights can streamline waiting traffic and bollards at the receiving lanes can make sure people don't crisscross the roads slowing down everyone else.
Doing the above will mean more throughput at traffic lights. The traffic police can then shorten the green lights and reduce waiting time at the signal.
After doing all this communicate changes broadly through newsprint and TV so that people know what to expect. Bring back those Indian News Review style documentaries in movies - but this time about traffic safety and good driving habits. Rope in a few local celebrities to spread the message. Get your company heads to reinforce this message in their offices.
Metro work - why does the BMRCL dig up such big stretches and then take so long to complete them. Take one stretch complete the work in 3 months and then move to the next stretch. They need to plan work according to the total resources available. Digging and leaving it incomplete for a long time is not the way to go.
Regards,
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Praveen Sood @UB
If you remember Mr Sood point at the unlock bangalore conference, he insisted that "fines" are thw wrong approach. His take was "if we dont educate them properly, then how can we fine them?" to which he got a bit of an applause.
But not many know of the few angry citizens who questioned him on his take - to which he had no answers, and then walked away without any.
I dont agree with his point of view. You dont need to educate someone for:
The point is, people dont cut the law because they arent aware of it, they break it as they know then can get away with it. Instead of going the longer route they take a short cut by cutting a one way for example.
We even offered to go out and take pictures of these offenders so the police may follow up - but that didnt go down too well. Even giving policemen/constables more rights to fine people wasnt an option!! All his suggestion was - tell your friend to cut the law, and he will tell his friend....etc etc....not a very practical way!
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
Suggestion - repeated
I'd given this suggestion sometime back on other forums and in Praja in a different thread. I too, like narayan, feel education is not the problem. Lack of enforcement is. Ofcourse, this would be only first step. Then we could go on with other stuff (like improving design of junctions, analyzing traffic flow and design an integrated transport system, etc).
Suggestion:
1. Create laws similar to other cities like Mumbai, where after 3 traffic offenses, the license is cancelled. And also create a simple process (like punching or ticking on the license) to mark a traffic offense. Publicize (educate?) this in the media.
2. Create a squad of 6-8 traffic police (you can choose a more appropriate number). The only job of this squad is to randomly choose a road/junction and enforce all (or a random set of) the traffic rules VERY STRICTLY. Each day they would choose a totally different location.
The method that this squad adopts is also very important. The presence of this squad should not be obvious to the offenders. This is tricky. But you could choose to have one constable in the uniform and rest all in plain clothes.
If the above are done, I have full confidence that it would create enough fear in the offenders and we will surely see very good results and quickly too.
There are enough examples to show that this works. One: Mumbai. Two: Recently I was going from Hubli to Darwad via a 2-lane highway (not sure if this is part of NH-4). The speed limit is 40km/hr. And surprisingly almost all the vehicles were moving at that speed, though the road was good and empty. Reason? I saw atleast at three places in between on this small stretch, squads of police with RADAR speed detectors. And they were enforcing it.
If the police/right govt. agencies have the WILL to do it, they can. Its just that and rest all are reasons for the sake of it - they are just a curtain to hide in-action/in-efficiencies.
Tow Truck Needed
Srivathsa's suggestions are invaluable..especially about the uniform width lanes for roads. This is an urgent need, the additional road space saved can be creativley used for bus turnouts and other pedestrian friendly purposes..
For maintiaining smooth flow of traffic on our roads we need desperatley tow trucks which can get to the site and remove stalled vehicles..almost all the time..all the roads and flyovers face jams because of small cars and trucks which would have broken down and the cops will try guiding the traffic around it..rather all thats needed is a tow truck which can move the vehicle out of the free flow..I hit traffic jams on blr roads becos ot broken down vehicles atleast 3-4 times a week on my route and nothing happens..
First of all, we are not sure how these vehicles, some very old, get the FC's from the RTO's when its evident from their looks itself that they cannot run..but that apart we need to have a back up plan to tow them out!
The need for this on roads like the new airport road will becomes mandatory..I see that Blr doesnt even care for broken down vehicles..suggest to ask Volvo or Toyota to 'gift' tow trucks to the BBMP/BTP..they can maintian these and clear jams as needed!
The cost of towing needs to be paid by the broken down vehicles themselves..
We need atleast one for each traffic zone..
Suggestion - Start Rationalizing the bMTC bus services/Routes
I am sure rationlaization of BMTC bus services and routes can be attempted within next 6 months.
A. Select 4 corridors which needs urgent help for easing the traffic with public transport.
B. Introduce connecting service from these Transit Centers to other centers like ITPL transit center to Electronic city Transit center etc.
Hope that these suggestion are solid and worth considering.
Regards,
Syed
The limitations of senior police officers
I get the impression that the senior officers in the Police of Bangalore, want to do something to relieve the situation, but something is holding them back.
One can consider the obvious. Given the rampant violations, a person is tempted to believe the old addage of corruption, but is that the only reason or such a compelling reason ?
If we cannot count on enforcement, then most of our proposals, whatever we propose, will fall of deaf ears, regardless of the desire of the senior officers.
On the face of things, it appears that if the traffic police get serious about proactive enforcement, they will probably earn enough in fines to double the entire police force.
If things are that obvious, why are the police not acting ? Going back to the original question. What is the reason ?
-----------------------
Regards
Devesh R. Agarwal
Visit my aviation blog at http://aviation.deveshagarwal.com
Regards
Devesh
Bangalore Aviation
Enjoy life, destroy FUD
Indore City Transport Services Ltd.
As per Swati Ramanathan of Janaagraha, Indore has implemented something like a PPP. Indore City Transport Services Ltd. is a roaring success.
http://www.citybusindore.com
http://urbanindia.nic.in/...
http://www.indianexpress....
http://timesofindia.india...
A google search should help expand further.
-----------------------
Regards
Devesh R. Agarwal
Visit my aviation blog at http://aviation.deveshaga...
Regards
Devesh
Bangalore Aviation
Enjoy life, destroy FUD
PPP or privatization for city transport, Indore etc
Devesh, I will create a new thread just for that topic. but do see some olds posts from Murali sir and others
Let us keep this thread focused on short term suggestions as you suggested, preferably actionable items that we can pass to some people we think can parse them for us.
[PS: we do have the challenge of keeping informative discussions organized as this site grows, we are working on it]
far from satisfactory
Devesh
I beg to differ. Indore has adopted the BRT model. They possibly can afford to widen their roads. But, Bangalore has serious limitations on this score. And, I agree totally with Dr ASJ when he says that it does not address the basic problems. That apart, my biggest reservation is that it is harking back to license-permit raaj over un-naturally created monopoly situations. We have gone over this before. Do look up http://bangalore.praja.in...
Muralidhar Rao
PS: Recommended additional reading: http://traffic-transport-...Proper Forums
Absolutely. As the great lord Nike says ....... JUST DO IT.
-----------------------
Regards
Devesh R. Agarwal
Visit my aviation blog at http://aviation.deveshagarwal.com
Regards
Devesh
Bangalore Aviation
Enjoy life, destroy FUD
Devesh, You are questioning
Devesh,
You are questioning the reason for police inaction on enforcement. I think first is, as you pointed out, corruption. Again as you pointed out, that doesn't look like a compelling reason.
The real reason seems to be lack of motivation. I mean, what do they gain if they enforce? If at all, they may earn some bad name for being tough and for "inconveniencing" and "harrassing" the public. But if they have the will and support of govt. they can do it. Ofcourse, support from govt. here need not be something great. If govt. stands by them while they enforce, general public will eventually realize that its helping them and soon the traffic offenders would be minority and isolated.
Support from Govt. for Traffic law enforcement
Absolutely. Support from the Govt. thru' thick and thin for such initiatives is mandatory and given that our Govt. Machinery is too busy to think about traffic law enforcement, we know all too well.
One look at how politicised and how long it took to just implement the Helmet rule explains a lot.
Strict enforcement will ensure that everyone gets a fair treatment and a fair chance. I guess it is because of insecurity on the road, that road users resort to breaking rules, to a large extent. If everyone knows that his/her turn will come, maybe a few seconds later, but definetly will, adherence will improve and so will respect for other motorists.
Use of BRTS on Mayo Hall (MG Road) to Electronic City Route
Given all the shortcomings the we have in Bangalore, we should give a try on using BRTS features on stretches where ever it possible. We should definitely try on the route:
Mayo Hall (MG Road) to Electronic City
1. Dedicated Bus lanes where ever it is possible on streches where the road is wide. I am sure this is definitely possible from Koramangala onwards.
2. Bar 2 wheelers, trucks and autorickshaw traffic on the stretch from Johnson Market till Koramangala. Divert them through alternate route to take a detour on Mico Road towards Bannerghatta Road.
3. Should have increased bus frequency of atleast every 5 minutes.
4. Supplement these corridor with connecting service from Shivaji Nagar (at MG Raod), KR Market (at Koramangala), KG Bus Station (Koramangala), Jaynagar/Banashankari (at Silk Board).
5. Should have the bus stops at right stops and location serving large neighborhood area. If needed should be relocated/cancelled/added to the existing ones.
Requirements:
1. Strict Enforcer authority to clear traffic mess on the whole stretch.
2. As many suggested, transfer of ticket feature should be also be tested so that it appeals more users.
Feedback on this propsal is very much appreciated.
Regards,
Syed
Industry Chambers must step forward !
Devesh Sab,
With you as the Chair of Infrastructure Commitee for Bangalore Chamber of Commerce, it makes my job little easier. Atleast I can use the Praja platform to convey my 2 cents worth of suggestions.
In my opinion, for decongesting Bangalore roads, Industry chambers must come forward both in terms of their influence as well monetary resources. It is not charity, but I will call it a long time investment.
Lets say, Industry chambers pools money and provides for the needed relief of decongestion on roads and a good public transport system. This will not only help others, it helps businesses, Industries, private companies, government offices and everybody. From Industry point of view, it will help get employees who will be on time, have more energy for the rest of the day, willing to stay longer and can look forward to quality talent who otherwise choose close proximity for work. I can bet here that efficiency and quality will peak. Industry and businesses can spread where they can afford place, power and rentals/buys.
My above suggestions are based on close analysis of Bus services run by the various Public sector units like HAL, BEL, HMT, ITI, BHEL, MICO (BMTC Bus), Escorts etc. When these came up in B'lore in late 60s and early 70s, each one employed about 5k to 20k employees. There was a huge influx of employees for these units from all over India. We have not heard of any decongestion, tarffic pile ups etc. Reason, they had dedicated transport service and with reasonable/subsidised/no charge fares. This also meant work starting at time, no travel stress and tensions. People living in Yeshwanthpur would travel all the way to ITI in KR Puram. If these now has become unprofitable/defunct not because of employees bus service, but for lack of effective business mind in running factories, Employee unions and their ever growing demands. It also had the political patronage.
The whole point is Industry must take the initiative. Political initiative would be like never ending BIAL Saga. If Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata had not taken that initiative B'lore/India might not had a premier insititute like IIsc. Here is an interesting story about IISc.
http://www.deccanherald.c...
Look forward to your feedback.
Regards,
Syed
Incentives for use of car-pools and public transport
Very good point Syed.
But when the HAL's and NAL's started in 60' and 70's the traffic on bangalore roads was not as high as it is now. Actually even 10 years back it was a fraction of what it is now.
Still, corporates employing higher number of people can set examples by encouraging the use of public transport or provide mass transport vehicles for the use of their employees which can save a lot of road space.
It feel sad to see single person driving cars on congested roads. Encouraging and incentivising the use of public transport and car-pooling can go a long way in reducing congestion on roads.
My suggestions in points are the following:
1) Provide incentives for use of public transport and car pools.
2) Reduce the number of free parking slots and charge the rest of the slots and use that money to partially suffice the cost of incentives given to people who use car-pools and other public transport.
3) If the number of employees is large, try to arrange for buses and other mass transport vehicles.
A result of such steps will be reduction of cars/bikes on the roads and buses will be able to move faster which can further encourage people to use buses.
A perspective - Many would agree !
Promod Kapur writes ... Wasn't the traffic smoother without IT/BPO staff bearing taxis?
For more read "http://www.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/125-unlocking-bangalore".
In defence of the traffic police!!
awesome
rains are here but still no tow trucks
My 20+ kms evening ride was dotted with 4 vehicle break down yesterday. This was the start of the monsoon..
Cauvery underpass had cars break down which slowed traffic creating jams..all thats needed is tow trucks to restore smooth flow.
Smaller vehicles can be easily towed by the Tigers with BTP...atleast this way it will be used for a better purpose than the money spinning one which is as of now!
For the BUsses/trucks we need heavy duty ones like the one shown here..we bought many busses from volvo..shouldnt they contribute by helping us procure these..Volvo makes may 'wreckers' which is the common name out there!
The real reason for police
Hi Devesh, One of the best
Hi Devesh,
One of the best ways to solve a complex problem is to first analyze the issues of what is wrong currently, breaking down the problem into smaller ones and then implementing the solution first on a small scale (a prototype). Once that works we can implement that on a larger scale. The simple problem of traffic congestion is the symptom of deeper underlying problems each of which needs to be tackled individually.
a) First and foremost, road & footpath design. CRRI(Central Road Research Institute) & Indian Roads congress are 2 institutions charged with research & design standards. These standards must be reevaluated and enforecement should be there
to have these standards implemented.
b) Enforce strict compliance to specificed building codes in terms of distance to be maintained from curb, how much distance to be maintained from footpath in order to maintain specified width of footpath for free pesestrian flow.
Commercial or residential properties must not tamper with the height of the footpath or the quality of the footpath surface to serve their own needs like building driveways for cars etc. Strict adherence to standards must be maintained for such alterations with due approval.
c) Obstructons from the roadway itself in terms of traffic poles, trees etc. should be relocated to provide for smooth traffic flow. Road itself should confirm to design standards (construction being strictly supervised and enforced) in terms of lane widths, markings, curves etc.
d) strict law enforcement of traffic rules.
e) adequate parking should be provided per city block. This needs deep involvement of urban planners. Commercial establishments and residential flats/colonies/houses should adhere to strict building codes and provide adequate parking within their premises.
The above need to be implemented first on a pilot basis on one or two stretches of major throughfares. This can be considered as a barometer of success and moreso, a barometer of the future. If it suceeds then further plans can be drawn and the above pilot can be used as a platform for educating & raising public awareness. For most of the problems Bangalore and Indian cities are facing in general, cultural and mental changes are required. The above suggestions may look simple, but if you notice I have stressed enforcement in more than one point. Without enforcement nothing is going to work even if the best technology is made available.
Believe me, this is a short term solution that if implemented successfully on a small scale can be extended slowly. Tackling this problem at once is going to be a major challenge considering the situation we find ourselves in.