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Public Transport For Bangalore

1) Why is it that the excise duty is 16 per cent on buses and a mere 1-2 per cent for BMWs?
2) Why not stop registration of cars like Singapore did?
3) You talk of conserving fuel and at the same time promote large segment cars. There are no concessions for small cars. Reva gets an excise duty concession, not here, but in London!
4) Transport is not about travelling between two points but about making a statement on ‘having arrived’
5) The road transport authority constituted has only bureaucrats, instead of multiple stakeholders.
6) Broadways and more flyovers are not the answer, as Bangkok has found out! Despite widening its roads it has not been able to avoid traffic jams at bottlenecks.
7) Witness the spate of road widening in Bangalore that has seen hundreds of trees felled. To what purpose? Simply to allow a mind-boggling 2.5 million vehicles to speed for a distance and then cruise to crawling speed! We never seem to learn.

Solution to many problems: Bring in the buses!
Bangalores traffic woes can be tackled in a single step efficient public transport.
Jayalakshmi K, Deccan Herald

To enter London, lorries, buses and coaches must now meet EU pollution standards or else pay £200. The low emission zone thus created will ensure better air quality for 1,70,000 people. The congestion charges already existing levied a nominal $8 on most cars, but now this has been enhanced in those cases where emission is most.

Stockholm similarly introduced a congestion tax last year and that saw a 20 per cent reduction in traffic as more people took to public transport.

When can we expect such a measure in Bangalore? A city bursting at its seams and choking in polluted air.
Soon, according to experts but first, we need to put in place an efficient public transport. This should be “cheap, available and comfortable. Like Beijing has done. It has banned two-wheelers and reduced the bus ticket fare in an effort to woo more people and have less of private vehicles on the road during the Olympics,” says Joshi, MD, KSRTC.

There is also much to be done by way of excise duties and registration of vehicles, besides financing more public transport. “Why is it that the excise duty is 16 per cent on buses and a mere 1-2 per cent for BMWs? Why not stop registration of cars like Singapore did?” Joshi asks.

The government is not consistent in its policy, as H C Sharatchandra, chairman, Pollution Control Board, observes. “You talk of conserving fuel and at the same time promote large segment cars. There are no concessions for small cars. Reva gets an excise duty concession, not here, but in London!”

He is particularly critical of the IT crowd that is “loud in its complaints of traffic problems even as they travel in big cars with single occupancy. We need to sensitise them on public transport, if we have to decongest Bangalore. If at all we can!”

Public transport is neglected in the country even as the government encourages auto industry and has allowed 100 per cent FDI in the auto sector. India is the third largest auto industry in Asia-Pacific after China and Japan, but is the third largest auto market in the world!

Swati Ramanathan, Janaagraha, stresses on how public transport must have door to door connectivity and should become the “preferred choice of transport, rather than only meant for those who cannot afford private vehicles”. A total lack of coordination between departments involved and a total lack of planning has been the bane of Bangalore, she notes. “Even the road transport authority constituted has only bureaucrats, instead of multiple stakeholders.”

A regional approach will help, like holding the Mayor responsible for transport in cities and urban planning, she adds.

The other pertinent point she raises is of attitudes in the city. “Transport is not about travelling between two points but about making a statement on ‘having arrived’.”

Perhaps there will be some shift with BMTC’s plans to increase its fleet from 32 lakh commuter trips per day to 57 lakh trips per day by 2012. Proposals to have point to point pick ups in limousines that pick up people from volvo buses and drop them to their houses, it is hoped to create a shift in people’s choices of transport.

Broadways and more flyovers are not the answer, as Bangkok has found out! Despite widening its roads it has not been able to avoid traffic jams at bottlenecks.

Witness the spate of road widening in Bangalore that has seen hundreds of trees felled. To what purpose? Simply to allow a mind-boggling 2.5 million vehicles to speed for a distance and then cruise to crawling speed! We never seem to learn.

Almost 25 per cent greenhouse gas emissions are from transport and of this 75 per cent is from road transport. If we are serious about our emissions, here is a point we can start from — a really good public transport. Later comes the disincentives, taxes on fuel guzzlers, tax reduction on the green vehicles, alternate fuels, etc.
Sweden plans to be fossil-free by 2020. Brazil intends to stop all oil imports by 2009 and UK is planning for the next Olympics to be the greenest by cutting emissions by 50 per cent. What can our mission statement be?

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namma_nadu's picture

blame game continues

Ever wondered why office goers prefer their cars for office commute. Let me cite my own example. To my office in CBD from BTM - i dont have a single good option -BMTC runs "201" -- a pickpocket got the better of me once -- and i ended up spending a good half day with the police (FIR-Thats another story), cancelling credit cards et al. With the buses jam packed -- there is no way i can or want to travel to office. No Volvo's run on this route. Autos - are completely erratic and one has to search and then beg/plead to be transported. So what's the choice i have ? BMTC introduced a volvo on 201 -- which would run efficiently during the non-peak hours (between 10.00 am to 5.00 pm) but would be scarcely found to have some elbow space during peak hours. I have written to BMTC enough times but to no avail. Why cant we have only seating services (albeit at higher price - twice the regular fare or even thrice) during peak hours. I am willing to pay more to travel by BMTC but dont want a service where i end up harried /tired at the end of the journey. Really, today there is no good alternative. BTW -- I have written thrice to BMTC on this and even spoken to them twice but no headway. Is there a way we can talk/write/petition Mr. Joshi on this? Any advice?
murali772's picture

the only solution

Mr Joshi is the MD of KSRTC. The MD of BMTC is Mr Tripathy. I had tried everything possible to improve the working of BMTC in my capacity as the co-Chairman of its Commuter Comfort Task Force, and more or less given up. I have put it all down under http://bangalore.praja.in... The solutions are also clearly listed. I see it as the only way out. Muralidhar Rao
Muralidhar Rao
Arun's picture

No hope

Vasanth - this is the problem with most corporators/MLAs in Bangalore, and now at Mys too. One exception is Jayanagar, where you can still walk on even pavements and roads decently wide as well. Look at B'gudi - Gandhi Bazaar Mn Rd, Road from Katte Balaga to Netkallappa Circle, Shankar Mutt Road, Jain College Rd. All these roads had good walkable pavements. During the last two years all these pavements were narrowed to accommodate parking and vehicle movements. What has happend is the peds are pushed to the road, increasing the chances of accidents. Generally, peds are the second largest group when it comes to casualties after 2Wheelers. And the visonless Corporators/MLAs/Traffic Cops care too less about. I wonder what is happening with BMTC's grid movement. Supposed to start by mid-Jan? Let BMTC start plying 2ways in the CBD. And follow this with paid parking.
Vasanth's picture

Good Points

I would say even don't spend money for tarring an average density potholed road. Recently, near our house, in Kattrigupe,all the roads were tarred which had lot of potholes, immediately after that people started driving recklessly and resulted in lots of accidents. All these days, potholes were controlling the speed of the vehicles!! Pregnant women and aged are the only concern who will . Yesterday night at around 10 pm,I had a narrow escape from an accident when I was walking on the road side from park to my home. Whole road was empty and 1 black coloured santro car driven by drunken IT guys who were enjoying the weekend suddenly rushed at 60+kmph towards me from behind and applied brakes suddenly when car's bumper was at less than a feet from my knees. I had to run a bit seeing the car approaching me dangerously.When I questioned them, that guy says "I stopped na??". Unfortunately there were no supporters to me. Everyone on the road side was just watching the 'scene'. Question is how safe is our city for pedestrains and how effective is our policing to tackle the drunken driving. I have seen traffic police only stopping the bikers and checking for alcohol consumption and afraid to check the car drivers since they feel cars will be owned by big shots. Drunken driving in cars are more dangerous than bikes as it can takeaway lives. But, our traffic police is afraid of big shots who will be driving the cars. Police and Afraid word shouldn't gotogether,but it is not so in India. In USA, George W Bush's daughter was sued and her license was cancelled for an accident. But, in India, our police is afraid to touch even a corporator's son. This road was full of potholes and at that time all the vehicles were going less than 40 kph and now after tarring people drive even at 70+ in a city road. Footpath was wide, our foolish corporator who has named a circle after himself !!, shortened the footpaths to widen the roads. Footpaths have got just electric poles and trees and nobody can walk on it, instead walk on the side of the road. Have effective MRTS and don't tar the road. Shorten the widened roads with widened pavements to walk. Don't ever cut the trees to ever increasing foolish traffic of Bangalore. Don't construct any flyover or underpass, instead invest the same on covering the area more with Metro,Mono and BRTS. Delhi took the right path of having dedicated cycle lane and Bus Lane and making the people who want to use private transport other than cycle to struggle in the traffic. Let the VIPs also use public transport - law is no different for them, but it is made so.

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