Abide Transportation Plans - Letter from RK Mishra

 RKM, ABIDe,

 Here are my suggestions on making KS & BIG-10 a grand success.

1. Spruce up the whole HoHO * BIG-10 stretch/routes - Get the roads, footpath, bus stops cleaned up and keep it stench free.
2. Increase police presence on this route.
3. Allow transfer ticket facility - i.e. Promotional Free transfer from BIG-10 and other regular service to HoHO.
4. Promotional Fare for a week as an advertisement.
5. Re-look at all the current bus stops for HoHo & BIG-10 service - its location, its surroundings. I am very certain that you may need to add more bus stops (not necessarily shelters). Studies suggest bus stop at every 500 meters, at least in CBD area.
6. Introduce priority for HoHo service on these CBD routes - Ban all private vehicles with single person occupancy.
7. Tweaking the signals on HoHo & BIG-10 routes to create the necessary buffer time for smooth ride.
8. Re-look at the current Ped-Xings on both HoHo & BIG-10 routes. Very positive that we may need more Ped-Xings.
9. Short term dedicated Customer Service for HoHo & BIG-10, until the service becomes popular and choice for daily commute.
10. Add another important circular service route - City Railway Station - KSRTC Bus Stand, KG Road, Corporation, K R Circle, Maharani's College, Anand Rao Circle and back to City Railway station.

 Syed

...there seems to be some progress for the better. Going by recent discussions, praja members are interested to make this initiative work. Seems like Prof. Ashwin Mahesh is all ears to constructive feedback. Can we give it a fair chance? Since our news media seems not all that interested (what's new?) we should rather help spread the word around. Can we take it as a simple request to "pitch it to yourself and your friends"?

Ravi

Mr. RK Mishra is a great and honourable person living in Bengaluru for the sake of improving lives of all the poor souls that have made this city their home. Let us all please bow to this samaritan in town, and accept the terms and conditions that he lays, and of course consider as holy epics all the letters he sends to the public, directly, or indirectly.

Let us not forget that it is because of this samaritan that Bengaluru has been improving, and of late has found newer and newer buses on the road which ferry us all to where we want to go. It is because of him and his acquaintances that we're reaching where we want to..

Sometimes, stating facts, or even lending to discussions about one's opinions about facts & myths sound like "hate mongering" and "personal attacks" - this has become commonplace nowadays on Praja - will you refrain from doing so at least now? Instead think of a possibility of how these opinions could also be used in the direction of a useful debate on the topic.

Sincerely, of what avail is a letter by RK Mishra here with a tone of self-proclamation, talking about the Big10 buses that *he* envisioned for Bengaluru? Talk about the bus.. dont get into political tones.. which can actually be deviating away from the topic of the thread.

-Nijavaada

Here is Dr.Vijay Kovvali's (a Traffic Engineering Consultant) response to the plan.  This is not with reference to any particular road or route.  I have posted this with his permission in its entirety. (emphasis below mine)

• Sixteen lane freeways haven't helped mitigate congestion in other countries, I can tell you that making access-based arterials (that have pedestrians, shops and driveways) signal free will NOT help Bangalore congestion. All it will achieve is create extremely unsafe arterials with heavy fatalities for pedestrians. Most probably, by building flyovers at junctions you will create heavy congestion during the construction, and by the time the construction is done, the city traffic would have increased to the extent that these roads will be again congested. Vehicle-centric planning hasn't helped any city in the world, there is no reason why we should make the same mistakes other cities have done. Even if you strongly feel the need for mobility corridors, create new ones, Don't change corridors with pedestrians and access (shops, driveways) to mobility corridors. My suggestion is to look at creating new underground freeways with limited access. The cost is worth the liveability it will create in the city. 

• The speed bumps on Outer Ring Road are a great example of mobility gone bad. If you are going to make these 10 arterials signal free and then put speed bumps to slow down traffic, you are not really achieving the goal of mobility and congestion relief. 

• If the plan's focus is public transportation, bus planning should be the priority. Making roads signal free is generally detrimental to passengers trying to access buses. Hence, please first focus on the bus service planning and then improve the roads accordingly. Please note that signal free roads adversely impact other road users (road neighbors, pedestrians, cyclists, passengers not yet on the bus). You might kill your "By Choice" transit ridership by making your first focus as signal free junctions. Also, Passenger Information Systems (PIS) are essential for making transit friendlier. 

• In the plan, please provide inputs on metro development and expansion. As another public transport mode for the city, metro planning should also be used as a tool for congestion mitigation. If you have a metro corridor parallel to one of these 10 arterials, please do not improve mobility on this arterial. Cars, two-wheelers provide door-to-door service, hence for people to shift to public transport(PT), there should be delays for vehicles on these arterials.  

• Please look at putting money into transportation research that is performance driven. As of now, there is no research for Indian conditions on what is the benefit-cost ratio of any said transportation improvement. Putting money into research will help us focus on the right solutions for the city. 

• While the plan does discuss data driven approach, most of your recommendations (including Ho-Ho service) do not seem to be data driven, and there are no performance measures to check their effectiveness. I would like to know the load factors of the Ho-Ho buses throughout the day, the mode shift achieved by the new Ho-Ho bus services, and the profit/loss at which these buses are running. If we have these data, we can check in three months to see if the bus service is moving in the right direction.  

• All signalized junctions in Bangalore are performing below capacity. Please look into running them at capacity before upgrading them to interchanges. Improvements like shorter cycle lengths, pedestrian signals, bus stop locations, enforcement will go a long way in enhancing the junction capacity. Again, these improvements should be data driven. Level of Service criteria should be used while upgrading signals. 

• Strong lead organization with teeth, sensible transportation policies, research and data based guidance documents, driver awareness programs and appropriate enforcement will all lead to smoother traffic flows. These are the things that I request ABIDE to take up first, before actually suggesting infrastructure based transportation solutions. 

• Please start out with a vision. A vision like "Creating a Safe, Efficient, and Sustainable Transportation for a Liveable Bangalore", will go a long way in refocusing on the priorities. Safety should always come first.

I would take a rain check on your recent comment posted.. for I'll surely look forward to finding RKM attending one of your meetings - for that seems to be the most agreeable way of participating in Praja undertakings.

Besides, I dont know when there were requests for any help on moderation - how would I even qualify for that!? And if I havent already mentioned it on any occasion, all my comments on this forum have always been with constructive intentions, be it short/immediate term, or on many occasions, keeping long term goals (that Praja should have) in mind. I am only waiting for those things to be looked at with that eye, thats all.

-Nijavaada