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Dedicated Bus / High Occupancy Vehicles (HOV) Lane around CBD

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We see huge number of Buses passing through some of the CBD Area in Bangalore few of the roads. Despite of that, there is no dedicated lanes for BMTC buses and other High Occupancy Vehicles such as office shuttles. This slows down Public Transport Buses and also leads to accidents such as Buses hitting 2 wheeler leading to fatalities. Many of the roads are just 2 lanes on either sides such as Airport Road which does not allow for dedicated bus lanes. But the same road becomes one way and all 4 lanes are available in a single direction. But this wide road is not properly utilized, single occupancy cars occupy most of the space slowing down High Occupancy Vehicles such as BMTC buses which cannot negotiate traffic like cars due to its size.

This is a Proposal to start dedicated bus lanes on the left side of the road on wide one way roads. Earlier, there were discussions on BPS or Bus Priority System on Praja which has not materialized so far.  Following are the roads:

1. Majestic to Corporation Circle via Anand Rao Circle Flyover and KR Circle.

2. Part of Kasturbha Road and Mallya Hospital Road.

3. Residency Road from Richmod Circle  to  ASC Public School via Garuda Mall & Hosmat Hospital

4. ASC Public School to Richmond Circle on Old Airport Road.

5. Woodlands Hotel on Fort Road till Majestic via Hudson/Corporation Circle.

6. Mantri Mall to 18th Cross on Sampige Road.

7. 18th Cross till KC General Hospital on Margosa Road.

This is not a high speed BRT like Janmarg with level boarding. Existing BMTC buses and company shuttles with a special permission from BTP can start using this. 

Attached is the map..

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Comments

blrpraj's picture

enforcement

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how do you propose to prevent vehicles other than buses from using the bus lanes?

Vasanth's picture

RE : ENFORCEMENT

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Basically we need to have traffic cops monitoring bus lanes and issue tickets if any. This has been done throughout the world and even in India in Ahmeadabad and Delhi.

Apart from that, there are some devices which will allow only buses to enter which may be expensive.

MaheshK's picture

Are the roads wide enough?

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I dont know much about other roads apart from 6 and 7. I use these two roads most of the time. Though the idea is good, I am not sure if these two roads are wide enough to have a left lane blocked / dedicated for bus lanes / HOVs. I see number of BMTC buses coming one after the other. The concern is the width of the road.

Here are other concerns:

Will there be a barricade to separate the lanes

Will there be traffic police present to enforce the rules

How will the pedestrians cross those roads as there will be heavy traffic on the right lane (as the left lane would be potentially blocked for HOVs)

Will there be traffic lights so that the vehicles from each cross pass through these two roads

Vasanth's picture

It is wide enough to incorporate

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MaheshK,

These roads are wide enough to incorporate this.

See this post posted earlier in Praja about how bus lanes are incorporated in London in very narrow roads:

http://praja.in/en/discuss/forums/2009/02/london-bus-lane-action-snap-shot

In India, we need a barricaded bus lane due to lack of discipline. Airport road is  4 lanes in one direction and KG Road is als 4 lanes wide. Same is the cases of other roads. Infact we could also have such a system in Mission road from Subbiah Circe to Lalbagh west gate, but the number of buses passing here is less compared to other places.

Pedestrains will be crossing the road in zebra crossings. Additionally, they can plan for skywalks on PPP model.

Traffic lights will be there as usual in junctions. But buses do not have to struggle with 2 wheelers and cars which will improve the speed of buses.

Worldover BRTS bus systems have been the thumbrule to increase the travel speed of people. Metro is constructed only as a last resort if roads are small and cannot afford.

Our ORR is also a candidate for a full fledge BRTS, and as per CIsTUP  report, we should have had a BRTS between Silkboard o Hebbal, but nowhere the project is going. Government spends money on flyovers encouraging more cars and more traffic, not on Public Transport apart from buying buses and fancy TTMCs.

Even cities in Pakistan like Lahore has started BRTS along with cities like Ahmedabad, Indore and Bhopal. Delhi and Pune failed due to not following BRTS standards as set by Bogota and Curitiba which has set standard for BRTS throught the world.

 Video on Lahore BRTS : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kh7StCV_iUw

We always feel the road width is insufficient, but do not think how efficiently the road is being used. Single occupancy cars and SUVs is wastage of  precious road space and wide buses with high occupancy have to compete with them in vain. So more space has to be reserved for buses for better utilization of roads. Movement of people is important than movement of vehicles.

 

Vasanth's picture

We have a post going on BPS on and around old Airport Road

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We have a post going on BPS on and around old Airport Road here:

http://praja.in/en/projects/3815/announcement/g1old-airport-road-corridor-detail-files

If this is clubbed with Dedicaed Lanes here, travel via Bus will be much faster on Old Airport Road.

 

blrpraj's picture

discussed in various threads

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Good thoughts, but i am sure most readers of this thread are aware that this topic has been discussed in multiple threads. Those threads would also be worthwhile to read when we are on the topic of HOV lanes.  I myself had initiated a thread for example on this topic - http://praja.in/en/blog/blrpraj/2009/09/18/draft-document-detailing-requirements-efficient-public-transport-system .

I am sure searching around in praja will yield other threads on the similar topic of HOV lanes. 

Harry's picture

Request to Introduce new volvo/marcopolo bus route

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R/ Sir ,

  I have requested for introduction of permanent new volvo bus route from Kumaraswamy Layout 1st stage to ITPL, as the existing bus route is temporary which runs from ISRO Layout to ITPL, this route is 500w, this route runs as 500w only till Banashankari and changes its display to 500c while going to ITPL, while going to ITPL we may get the bus, but this bus route is very infrequent, there are no frequent buses in this route. And another thing this bus route while running from ITPL to ISRO Layout, It runs as 500c from ITPL till a specified place and then changes its display to 500w. So, its very difficult for commuters traveling from ITPL to get this bus, actually its impossible. Hence I also have observed that there are plenty of 500NA, 500NB which runs from Silkboard to ITPL, so mty request is then why not introduce one frequent permanent bus route to ITPL from Kumaraswamy Layout 1st stage along with the existing temporary bus route 500w.

  So my request is to kindly grant a permanent route, volvo bus from Kumaraswamy Layout 1st stage to ITPL . It will be really helpfull for commuters travelling to ITPL on weekdays as well as weekends, as on weekends the frequency of volvo buses is less.

  Thanking You,

pathykv's picture

Bus routes

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Dear Mr.Harry,

You may post this in the mybmtc.com- under 'Complaints/ suggestions'.

K.V.Pathy

Harry's picture

Request to Introduce new marcopolo bus route

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Sir,

There are infinite number of buses running from banashankari to ITPL, that is volvo 500c, and no frequent buses from kumaraswamy layout 1st stage inspite of the existing route 500w which runs from ISRO Layout via Kumaraswamy Layout 1st stage to ITPL which is very very infrequent. Hence I request you to introduce one permanent new volvo or marcopolo bus route starting from Kumaraswamy Layout 1st stage to ITPL. It would be really useful.

 

Thanking You,

Regards,

Harry

pathykv's picture

Bus Routes

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Dear Mr.Harry,

As I wrote earlier,you may also post this in the BMTC website  mybmtc.com- under 'Complaints/ suggestions'.

K.V.Pathy

silkboard's picture

Vasanth - maps not clear

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Hey Vasanth - could you update the map. Lines are not showing properly. May be you can take screenshot of map with lines on it and then post.

Vasanth's picture

@SB, I have updated map

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Hi SB, I have updated the map. I had the macros saved, copied back. Now it is looking OK, but not in centre.  While extracting, I have not centred it properly, not sure how to centre it without creating fresh macros.

Vasanth's picture

Cycle lanes along with Dedicated HOV Lane?

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I was also thinking why not a cycle lane along with this dedicated high occupancy lane. We could also give bicycles two lanes although road is one way to encourage more cycling.

Between, wanted to share this documentary on streetfilms.org on the problems of NYC bike lanes:

http://www.streetfilms.org/physically-separated-bike-lanes/

MaheshK's picture

Let's be realsitic

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Thanks to Murali sir for the link (provided in the Ahmeadabad topic). The second photo shows it all. The roads are wide enough to accomodate the lanes for different vehicles. Margosa Rd and Sampige Rd are not wide enough to have HOV and Bicycle only lanes. If they have to be widened, the footpaths will vanish and the trees have to be cut. Let's be realistic. Also lets not compare London, NYC to Bangalore. Ground realities are different. Btw, what is the situation on Jayanagar bicycle only lanes? Has it started working?(sorry I could not paste Murali sir's link as the copy/paste is not working; also I cant jump to the next line while using the Enter key)

 

 
murali772's picture

illogicalness of BRTS

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The post referred to by MaheshK (in his above post) is accessible through the link below:

http://praja.in/en/blog/vasanth/2012/10/10/mini-brts-and-elevated-brts#comment-32376

Muralidhar Rao
Vasanth's picture

We had a conversation

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We had a conversation here:

 

http://praja.in/en/~pune/blog/asj/2008/11/09/implementing-bus-priority-narrow-roads-proposal-submitted-pune-municipal-c

Again, videos from London for have a feel on how London Bus Lanes are done on narrow streets:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jY0VeiJ1fz8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFCilA4S-Ok

Our roads through Malleshwaram, mainly Margosa Road and Sampige Road are similar to this.

We could even allow private operators safely with BRTS on carriage contract basis, not safer without having BRTS. Already cabbies are making driving on Bangalore roads dangerous.

MaheshK's picture

Is it working well in Pune?

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Let's not bring London to this discussion as we live in India, not UK. The Pune link is almost 5 yr old. Has the bus only lanes working in Pune on the narrow roads?

Here is a link that is 4 yrs old for Pune BRTS issue.

Dedicated bus lanes ruled out on narrow roads: PMC

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-06/pune/28075932_1_bus-lanes-roads-brts-project

 

Things change every day. Back in 2007, Bangalore vehicle pop. was 25 lakhs. Now it is 47 lakhs. Please check the two roads in Malleswaram during peak hours and see by yourself how things are. I love to see dedicated bus lanes in these two raods and I will be happy to use them.

Though unrelated ot this topic, here is the link of the artcile from The Hindu on the Jayanagar cycle lanes dated July 12, 2013. The photo says it all. Let me not dwell on enforcement sisues.

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/wheels-within-wheels-of-cycling-project/article4907227.ece

 

Vasanth's picture

We need dedicated lanes since traffic is increasing

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Hi MaheshK,

You said:

Things change every day. Back in 2007, Bangalore vehicle pop. was 25 lakhs. Now it is 47 lakh

Because of this only we need to prioritize Public Transport, otherwise no one would be able to move at all. Movement of people is more important than movement of vehicles. Everyone would love to use a big car and zoom through roads, but no one will be able to due to high density of traffic. If the vehicle density would have been lower, we would not have needed bus priority at all.

Dedicated bus lanes ruled out on narrow roads: PMC

It was half hearted effort by PMC without following any BRT standards as proposed by ITDP.  Same is the case in Delhi, they did not follow ITDP standards and did not study successful BRTs like Curitiba/Bogota.

I am not saying BRTS is the  complete solution for Bangalore, we need other modes like Metro / CRS / Monorail. BRTS can be considered in many places where there is sufficient space which would save crores of money to Government and downtime of roads to people.

 

MaheshK's picture

Someone needs to check the width

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Movement of people is more important than movement of vehicles

That is the goal. We have Metro running to MG Road. Has there been any reduction in number of cars from Indiranagar to MG Road? No one has bothered to check. Even Mr. Praveen Sood himself made that statement last year. My point is to leave out narrow roads for dedicated HOV lanes. There are wider roads where HOVs can move easily. Margosa and Sampige rds are not wide enough for HOV lanes. someone can check the widths all along the roads and compare with the specifications.

Vasanth's picture

Projects not completed caanot be accounted

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Metro is not fully functional and also it does not touch core IT areas like Whitefield / EC. But even then people working in Bagmane Tech Park in CV Raman Nagar are using it and Indiranagar residents to reach MG Road which takes barely 8 minutes. Daily around 400 2 wheelers and around 150 cars are parked in Byappanahalli Station to reach the other part of the city.

If it would have reached any of the core IT areas or even KR Puram from Majestic, we would have seen better patronage which would happen after Phase 2 completion. Again, the immigration to Bangalore is increasing, especially in IT sector. So whatever the traffic being reduced by these infrastructure projects are immediately being filled up. That is why European cities have gone for congestion pricing to control the same which cannot be done in India due to strong Political Support.

Again in Margosa Road as well as Sampige Road, current scenario is two buses or two cars and a bus can pass through. The side parking needs to be moved to a central multistoried parking like done in JC Road and KG Road. Since two cars can pass along with a bus, it is definitely a candidate. All it needs is people's , politicians and local corporators will and mindset which is not there in India.

If we are using a private transport, we will always oppose such a move on the other hand if we use a bus and think in that perspective, we will then think in this direction.

This will also improve the safety of 2 wheeler riders.

Vasanth's picture

Watch how Bogota Transformed its City

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Slightly off topic...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0j3FVPeTwoU

This is a series of documentaries where how Pedestrains / Cyclists are given more prominence. Mayor and his vision.

Conditions in Bogota was worse than what is there in Bangalore. People were not even as educated as Bangalore. But a strong leadership changed  rather transformed the city. More prominence was given to Pedestrains and Cyclists than vehicles.

Here we always think that we do not have enough width to accomodate a lane dedicated.

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