ToI is starting a column called big ideas. This week it is Mohandas Pai, NS Mukunda and V sathyamurthy's ideas - basically diagnosis and prescriptions. Thougt it will worthwhile to discuss them ...
TV Mohandas Pai
The biggest challenge
for Bangalore is to put in place a holistic policy for the movement of
her citizens within the city. Bangalore today has a population of about
70 lakh, with 30 lakh vehicles
registered, including 5 lakh cars, 1.5 lakh autorickshaws, 22 lakh
two-wheelers and the rest being buses, lorries, three-wheelers and
assorted vehicles. Bangalore has the secondlargest number of private
vehicles in the country despite having the most profitable public
transport system in India. Every day about 850 vehicles are being
registered adding to the chaos on the roads.
Bangalore has
other challenges. Its populace is getting wealthier and more mobile.
Land policies in Bangalore are skewed and irrationally in favour of
individual independent housing instead of high-density housing leading
to an urban sprawl and longer commuting. It lacks a classical city
centre with large employment generation centres on the outskirts. It
lacks ring roads within the city, with the outer ring road being as
busy as the city roads, ill-designed for fast traffic. Bangalore is
long overdue for a rapid transit system which is only now being built,
delayed by unnecessary political opposition. Bangalore displays all the
characteristics of an overgrown small town.
Adding to the
misery, the flow of traffic is chaotic with a distinct lack of
discipline by the road users. This is compounded by an illequipped and
inadequate police force. There has been no substantial investment in
the police force over the last ten years.
There are no easy
solutions. We need a plan of action spread over the next 24 months,
monitored monthly by a high-level empowered group to solve them. We
also need this group to create and maintain a 25-year perspective plan
like Singapore so that investments are made on time to manage traffic
and build transportation systems.
“The city has expanded in a
very short time beyond the imagination of everybody,” was the constant
refrain that came to the rescue of those in charge of the city’s
development. But that was some five years ago! It’s time to move on and
ensure action on the ground.
Some actions for immediate consideration include:
Staggered timings
1. School and college timings to be between 8 am and 3:30 pm so that there’s no clash with office timings
2. Offices to start by 9 am so that traffic on account of government employees doesn’t mix with this movement.
Intelligent Traffic Management
1. Study traffic patterns to devise intelligent traffic management alternatives — to give right
of way to peak-hour traffic in a particular direction. This will ensure
that traffic flows are managed with differential times on traffic
lights
2. Synchronised traffic signals based on traffic flows
3. Availability of police personnel on all roads and intelligent deployment of the same based on traffic volumes
4. Enlist help from local communities/ industrial areas for traffic management
5. Strengthen enforcement of traffic rules 6. Installation of cameras across the city with a common command centre to ensure that offences are recorded and punished.
Development of roads
1. Complete
diversion roads already sanctioned for the diversion of HTV — don’t
allow HTV to plough through daily office/ school-going traffic
2. Completion of NICE road connecting Hosur Road to Tumkur Road; this will reduce congestion in South Bangalore by over 35%
3. Completion
of the peripheral road linking industrial areas to allow easy access to
and from the location (Tumkur Road; Bellary Road; Whitefield Industrial
Area; Hosur Road)
4. Creation of inner ring road over major drains with drop-off points at various centres
5. Broaden the main traffic corridors as done in Hyderabad to hasten traffic.
Central Business District
1. Traffic studies in CBD area to deploy some intelligent traffic management strategies
2. Allocate space for parking and build multi-level parking facilities at identified locations based on traffic volumes study
3. Run buses on a merry-go-round basis from parking lots around CBD to reduce vehicles on roads
Improved Public Transport Services
1. Improved quality and frequency of buses, increasing buses at peak hours when demand is the greatest
2. Integrate rapid transit system, railway system, bus system and public parking to reduce load on roads
3. Train BMTC drivers who today stop in the middle of the roads and create traffic blocks
4. Cleaner public buses with better seats, lesser engine noise inside, with power steering for better throughput.
Infrastructure development is not just about building roads. It is about building caring and cooperative communities which will come together to work on themes for the city’s improvement that matter to them. It is about building cultures. Take the example of Bogota, and one of the largest revolutions in urban development that was achieved through unleashing the collective power of the common man.
High-powered committee
The
government must authorise and empower a committee under the leadership
of the chief secretary to identify and track progress the above
decisions and of infrastructure development in the city
1. The committee must consist of representatives of government; citizens, industry bodies and NGOs and other stakeholders
2. This
committee must be given the responsibility to bring different
government and private agencies together for infrastructure
development/ improvement programmes
3. Set milestones and report progress on the project to the public every month; prioritise short- and long-term projects
There
is a need for citizens, the government and other stakeholders to work
together. No longer can we accept that this is the government’s problem
and all we need to do is criticise. All of us need to work together to
change what is happening. I am optimistic that the citizens of
Bangalore can bring about change in the city. We owe it to ourselves.
(The writer is member of the board, Infosys Technologies. These are his personal views and do not represent those of the organisation)
N S Mukunda, PRESIDENT, CITIZENS’ ACTION FORUM
Traffic experts must plan, traffic
police must enforce. Sadly in Bangalore, the traffic department comes
up with all the plans, but fails to implement them. Talk of lane
discipline, where are the lane markings? BTRAC can be a good plan to
manage traffic. How about installing cameras at signals and booking
violators? Reward law-abiders and punish defaulters. Change has to come
from the individuals. How many IT-BT and BPO companies have taken
action against erring cab drivers? Are schools punishing bus drivers
for reckless driving? Has the police suspended licences of any repeat
offender? The traffic flow is affected by the huge number of signals.
Synchronise them or introduce underpasses to make roads signal-free.
V Sathyamurthy, PRESIDENT, RESIDENTS WELFARE ASSOCIATION, SANJAYNAGAR
If there is a superlative term to
“chaotic”, that should be used for Bangalore traffic. Bangloreans do
not follow rules. The first and foremost measure should be to
discipline road users. Only sustained efforts on the part of traffic
police coupled with hefty fines will bring about a semblance of
discipline. Separate lanes for two wheelers and autorickshaws should be
enforced ruthlessly. Even the work on World Bank-funded projects is
shoddy. Such projects should be entrusted to professional companies.
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Schools & Traffic
Choked roads as a result of vehicles parked around schools in the CBD (Central Business District) of the City reaching annoying proportions during mornings/evenings are a common sight today.
But it seems precious little is being done to sort the problem. While motorists fume at the lack of space on roads as a result of parked vehicles, the school managements refuse to allow them into their premises and police plead helpless.
This, in-spite of the ‘Safe Route to School’ (SRTS) initiative introduced more than two years ago by the Bangalore City Police and the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation to address the issue. The initiative received encouraging responses when first introduced as a alternative to private vehicles ferrying kids to school but it did not yield expected results further on.
Though about 50 educational institutions in Bangalore utilise the service of 245 BMTC buses under the SRTS initiative, many parents continue to prefer private transport such as cars, two-wheelers, tempo/maxi-cabs and auto-rickshaws to ferry their wards.
“It is an arduous task to relieve congestion around the schools’ vicinity and the responsibility also lies with the school authorities and parents. They could allow parking of vehicles into their premises or use BMTC buses but not many schools have the luxury of parking. Schools and BMTC should offer incentives to parents to switch over to public transport” adds K C Ramamurthy, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security).
Another police official says the education department must seriously consider issues of playgrounds and vehicle parking when permission is granted to start a school/college.
“The decision taken by the traffic police to convert both Residency Road and Richmond Road into one-ways has been a failure. What did the one-ways do? It increased the speed of moving traffic and pollution, causing great danger to school kids, wasting precious fuel and annoying everybody.
A vehicle from one point to another is on the street approximately for ten minutes because of one-way traffic” points out Prof M N Sreehari, a traffic and transportation engineer.
M A Saleem, Director (Security and Vigilance) KSRTC was earlier DCP Traffic (East), under whose tenure the SRTS was initiated. He says,
“The project to encourage use of BMTC buses by schools was successful with 207 of them taken by the institutions. Congested areas such as St Marks Road and Residency Road did see some relief. The only solution is to encourage travel by buses help the situation”
SCHOOLS SPEAK
Sister Preeti, Principal, Sacred Heart Girls High School
Colonel John Ellis, Principal, Bishop Cotton Boys High School
Ms Franklin, Principal, Bishop Cotton Girls High School
Safe Route To School
The ‘Safe Route To School’ initiative (SRTS) that was launched in February 2005 by the City traffic police in association with the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation aimed at decongesting traffic at peak hours in the vicinity of city schools. When introduced then, the police had banned parking within 200 mts at 16 English medium schools which braced the SRTS initiative in the CBD (Central Business District) of the city.
Police estimates put the figure of 3,000 cars and over 800 two-wheelers are on the roads every morning at the gates of schools in the CBD
Revenue model, a solution?
A former student of Bishop Cotton’s and secretary, Brigades Shops and Establishments Association, Suhail Yusuff suggests a solution to ease traffic in the vicinity of schools by advocating implementation of an automated ‘Smart Card’ system by schools across Bangalore to allow entry of vehicles of students into their premises with an added benefit of a revenue that could earn them Rs 30 lakh a year, which he says is too tempting to refuse. “This will reduce the number of vehicles parked on roads” he adds
How the ‘Smart Card’ works...
- The schools should provide an ‘Entry and Exit’ automated gate that works on a smart card which is sold only to the students who come in vehicles.
- Institutions should make it mandatory for the vehicles to drop students inside school premises.
- The entry gate of the school is automatic and opens when the smart card is swiped. The vehicle then enters in, drops the student and leaves by the exit gate, which opens on swiping the card again.
- The system records the time of vehicle entry and exit. The automated process does not allow vehicle to remain in school beyond the stipulated time of 1/2 or 1 hour.
- Exit gate blocks entry if vehicle remains beyond stipulated time. A fine of Rs 50 or 100 could be levied if vehicle violates rules.
- Smart Card could be issued at Rs 500 per month and allow 500 cars. Revenue to school could be Rs 2,50,000 per month and Rs 30 lakh per year.
- The system could be an answer to city’s traffic jams and reduce the traffic problem at the CBD (Central Business District) during peak hours.
On Planning & Traffic
Police, Palike Can’t Ask Traffic NOC For Buildings
Basavaraj Itnal, Wednesday December 19 2007
Further, city police has no expertise in traffic impact study. Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic) K C Ramamurthy told this website's newspaper that the department was relying only on empirical knowledge of his staff.
“Police had always been regulating traffic in the city. They are the best judges as to what impact a new skyscraper would have on the traffic. It does not need specialist advice,’’ he said.
Does it mean traffic management is left to left to empirical knowledge of policemen? Or do they have any team who have background in traffic engineering? Ramamurthy said: “We have none.’’
But then under what law Police would demand compliance? “Palike should answer that question. They had been referring building plans to us,’’ he said.
Palike Commissioner S Subramanya too had no straight answer. “Building bylaw does not demand such an NOC, but are we supposed to do nothing to address traffic impact due to new high rises? We have identified a problem and are trying to do something about it,’’ he said.
What about legal limitations? “We will amend the bylaw,’’ he said. Officials from the Traffic Engineering Cell and Town Planning Department along with traffic police comprise the building plan scrutiny committee.
The builders are asked to find an expert and make a presentation on traffic impact management to the satisfaction of this committee - while no law demands it.
Health & safety to be followed at infrastructure projects
great post ranjan.
uneven lanes
traffic plans
Big Buildings Regulated, but what about others ?
small businesss have it easy
Traffic Norms Big Buildings
Traffic Norms For Big Buildings (ToI, 11/11/2007)
Reducing Chaos
* Any project with more than 10,000 square metre of site area has to get the approval of the traffic police.
* Builders will not be given the approval unless a traffic management plan is in place.
* Builders have to sit with BBMP and traffic police to work out a traffic plan on managing vehicles coming in and out of their premises.
* The movement of traffic, parking of vehicles and men deputed to manage traffic are some aspects that have to be dealt with in the plan.
Once the massive commercial-cum-office complex on Vittal Mallya is fully commissioned, at least 200 cars will come out at the same time to the already choked road. Mallya Road residents had never imagined their peaceful lane would turn into one of the most chaotic stretches in the city.
Do civic authorities think of the impact on the road before sanctioning multi-storeyed complexes? Not so far. But they will, in future, for projects with more than 10,000 sq metres site area.
Along with civic authorities’ approval for mega residential and commercial projects, realtors will, henceforth, require a clearance from the traffic police too. The BBMP, which has taken decision on the new rule, has written to the traffic police, saying all major real estate developments should be allowed only if a traffic management plan is in place. The BDA’s masterplan does not provide for this, but the move is imperative as city roads are bursting at the seams already.
“All buildings, commercial or residential, coming up in over 10,000 sq metre area should have a traffic management plan. Builders have to sit with BBMP and traffic police to work out a traffic plan on managing vehicles coming in and out of their premises. The movement of traffic, parking of vehicles and men deputed to manage traffic, are some aspects that have to be dealt with in the plan,’’ BBMP commissioner S Subramanya told the Sunday Times of India.
A huge apartment complex coming up on Bellary Road has over 200 units. There will, invariably, more than 1,000 vehicles going in and out in a day. During peak hours, at least three cars will come out in a minute. The already clogged highway will be choked further.
Subramanya has discussed it with big builders and traffic police. Together, they are working out traffic management plans for major properties that are on the verge of completion.
A traffic plan will be drawn up after referring to the masterplan, which has prescribed the width of the road vis-a-vis sanctioning of building plans. Additional commissioner of police, traffic and security, K C Ramamurthy, said the spirit of the concept is to have projects planned in accordance with the road capacity and to prevent complexes coming up on roads that are saturated.
“The traffic department should be consulted before clearing mega-projects. Without a traffic management plan, the exercise would be futile. Since there are several malls, commercial and residential complexes lined up, it is high time traffic planning is done and the department is consulted,” he said.
As a precursor, the traffic police will conduct a study on the capacity of arterial roads. The jurisdictional police have been told to identify major roads and submit a list. The study will focus on the road width, length, capacity, existing traffic and future projections. Such data will be handy when mega-projects are placed before the department for clearance, he said.
wonderful thoughts, its about time!
AC(Traffic) KC Ramamurthy's Ideas
parking
My two cents
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
CBD - Bishop Cotton,
one ways on richmond residency roads..
Rationing Cars