Dear Prajegaley,
Pls lets all start tracking this part of B'lore's Infrastructure too. This was supposed to have been thrown open in the month of June 2008. Now, recently when I was on this stretch, there is a LOT of work still pending [at some points, there are no Columns erected yet !].
I am thinking of taking some pics over the next week. Will post it here as soon as I can.
--Prash--
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BETL Tracking
Latest Pictures of the Elevated Highway ...
Dear All,
As promised, please find the latest pictures of the Elevated Highway. I am sure you will all agree that its still a very long way from bringing a smile to all commuters on this stretch.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26920027@N02/sets/72157605364075128/
Hope that even this project won't hit a road-block at this stage !
--Prash--
[Edited to include the photo- Editor]Elevated Road project - jury is still out on this
I hate to rain on the parade, but I still doubt the wisdom of this project even if it gives us our second (first one being the Sirsi circle flyover) elevated road and makes everyone feel that we are becoming like Bangkok (that city has a 90km long elevated motorway to Chonburi).
Can Silkboard junction handle the rate at which cars will approach it in the evening from E-City? Given our behaviour on congested roads, will we have just created a mega mess at Silkboard junction? What will be impact on the ORR near BTM? What flow analysis has been done? Have traffic simulations post BETL been performed - there are enough softwares to simulate traffic.
Would some flyovers at critical junctions (Kudlu, Bommanahalli, Naganathapura) have done the job just as well or badly at 1/5 the cost?
Remember we have pretty much ruled out construction of a Metro line towards E-City with this project taking the centre of the road.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
BETL - Another Mess in the Making
Srivathsa,
I agree with yr thoughts, & have said this earlier too. The end points of this elevated road, particularly Silkboard, are going to see heavy congestion & total chaos, & I foresee this grand elevated "Expressway" turn into a long "Parking Lot" in peak hours with cars inching their way towards their destinations.
BETL might then think of making it "One Way" - towards EC in the morning peak & towards Silkboard in the evening peak hours to accommodate more cars on their expressway (or "Parking Lot").
By building this unnecessary elevated road, we have also reduced possibilities for a Metro corridor or a BRT along the route, which might have made much better sense.
Apart from private vehicles, I think this road should also cater to buses to carry all to EC. Steps should be taken to increase tolls for private vehicles in order to subsidize the toll fee from buses - this may be the only way to tackle the imminent chaos at Silkboard.
Skybus
I had this thought long back. It is easy to spend private capital and make money through Infrastrcture. But it takes guts and inventiveness to innovate in Bengaluru. Shri B Rajaram of Konkan Railways had proposed a Skybus project and this could have easily acted as a feeder service to the Metro from Electronics City.
BETL latest pics.
MCadambi - Skybus UnTested
Skybus is an untested technology, besides costs are very high as elevated structures are required, similar to Metro. Thus, of the two Metro may have been preferable.
Due to road width availability, a much lesser expensive BRT, with options for express services may have sufficed instead of this ugly, elevated structure, a la los angeles & bangkok.
Is there an opportunity here to promote public transport?
I agree with all of you. Its very obvious that silkboard junction is awaiting a serious disaster. I think the working folk of EC would also be fully aware of this problem and will think several times before driving their car to EC. The BETL road has already closed doors for any more passenger capacity expansion along Hosur road.
Is there an opportunity here to promote public transport? We are trying to create one in the BIAL connectivity thread. My proposal is like this-
A well planned TTMC close to silkboard can come to our rescue here. All EC companies should use buses and only buses to transport employees from campus gate to either the silkboard TTMC or to the extensions (as Infosys does currently). VIPs and top managers can have their camrys and corollas... Leave them
The options I see are-
1. Shuttle service (non-stop from EC to silkboard TTMC and back) without entering the 'city traffic'. Silkboard TTMC should connect all parts of the city with point to point service and extra buses during peak hours. Suvarna, pushpaks and vajras can be used here.
2. BMTC chartered services- As being used by Infosys now. It is the most convenient option if people are not willing to change buses. BUT IT DOES NOT HELP US IN ARRIVING AT A TRANSPORTATION MODEL FOR BENGALURU!
3. Private hired buses - Same concept as point 2 but a private bus runs on customized routes
Elaborating on point 1-
->These buses could start from the farthest point in EC from 5 pm onwards with a bus every 5 or 10 mins depending on the reqt (Bus positioning and scheduling should be done properly for this).
->Consider vestibule buses to ferry more people at a time
->It can pick up employees enroute till the starting point of EC (ie, the progeon I think) at designated bus stops
->Bus stops will be very very close to a cluster of companies. No problem if there's a stop every 250m but make sure that the 'tired' guys of EC dont have to walk much. If this is not acceptable, 'request stops' at any point can be provided.
->After the last pick up point, the bus can travel non-stop to silkboard TTMC on the elevated road within 10-15 minutes which can be the drop off point.
This TTMC should connect all the major bus stands (optimistically the future TTMCs) by taking the shortest route. From there, if its a park and ride facility it'll be excellent. Otherwise, the 'BMTC branded Auto' might help. We could sense something from glimpses of Mr.Tripathy's meeting posted last week! We can comment on it only after it is launched. Lets hope it has something interesting in store.
Just reverse this arrangement for the morning trip towards EC.
This is a proven arrangement and works very well in Mumbai. Nobody even dreams of driving to far off industry hubs like Thane, etc... At best, the company arranges a drop/pickup service to the nearest local railway station. Otherwise shared auto or taxi is always there. People know this is the fastest way to reach their home. A similar system if planned and set up here could go a long way in promoting public transport in Bengaluru. Buses will definitely have much better 'Ride quality' than the Mumbai local trains.
A similar arrangement is seen to ferry devotees in Tirupati-Tirumala who come in buses and trains. Long distance (RTC and private) buses from all over South India terminate at the foothills in tirupati. From this base terminal, only APSRTC buses ferry the people to and from the top. I can imagine silkboard TTMC to be Tirupati where all the BMTC buses from different corners/TTMCs of the city terminate. From here, the EC shuttle buses can operate. It could be BMTC or private buses chartered by the EC companies.
According to me, this option can give a long term solution and will eliminate confusions in route planning. Only problem is that there are many stakeholders to be satisfied.
May be the 'Public transport Working Group' on Praja can keep this on their Agenda and help BMTC with a proactive move.
Will be happy if the debate continues and more ideas come in.
Cheers
Suraj
Satellite Bus Stand at EC?
I see many buses especially private buses as well as trucks on the Hosur Road causing the major hurdle. Outer ring road has now become inner ringroad.
I think a Metro which is badly needed to this portion and may be implemented in future and BRTS as of now from EC to Silkboard and forcing the people to getdown from intercity buses at Satellite Bus Stand cum TTMC at EC and take these Buses / Metro.
Trucks need to take NICE road which is I think going to be completed with Yeddi Government coming into power. Fewer bridges are pending.
I see lot of funky buses as well as lot of luxurious private buses travelling on the Hosur road. They need to start their operations from Satellite Bus Stand.
If people cannot travel to satellite bus stand, let them take train which starts from heart of the city.
Cars should be made to collect heavy tolls. There should be a seperate 2 wheeler lane only for the folks living on either sides. Lot of 2 wheeler drivers are loosing their life on this stretch which is very bad.
A lot more discussion and
A lot more discussion and photos about the Hosur road elevated highway here -
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=394998
How about Shantinagar?
Dear Vasanth,
A satellite bus stand at EC might be a difficult option for reasons-
Firstly, There is no concrete plan (even on paper) to provide hassle-free connectivity to EC (no metro or BRTS). So I think it will be a great inconvenience to public to have a moffusil hub at EC given that all TN bound public heavily depend on this road.
Secondly, if we force intercity buses to terminate near EC, then we'll have to provide a lot of infrastructure in terms of parking space, amenities, diesel bunk, basic maintenance facility(not sure about the last two) + definitely some more things. It will have to be a mini Majestic given that neighbouring state RTC will operate from here.
Third, I'm not sure how the IT companies in the vicinity will react to this. Also, I doubt if sufficient/convenient space is available to accomodate an intercity or type-2 TTMC (referring to Narayan's wonderful illustartion of zone and TTMC concept) .
I think the wonderfully located, yet painfully underutilized ShantiNagar bus stand can be used very effectively as a type 2 TTMC. My only doubt is whether there is any chance of the brothers, BMTC and KSRTC discussing on this to convert it to a satellite bus stand similar to the one on mysore road?
My say is- Its a gold mine which is being awfully wasted. You can transform this in to a real "happening place". It is in public interest after all!
The advantages are-
1. It serves as a gateway to buses going towards Hosur.
If capacity permits, we go one step forward. Even moffusil buses going towards old madras road can start and terminate here (ie, Kolar, Chennai, Tirupati,....)
So, two ways out of this TTMC [wilson garden > dairy circle > Madivala > Hosur road] and [richmond flyover > residency road > MG road > old madras road]
2. Importantly, it has got the "Within the city" feel where people are not too far from any place (That was/is the beauty of Majestic right?). But it should be connected well to all areas. It is presently missing, but very much doable.
3. Its got decent space and amenities to house a satellite bus stand. It will add a little more pressure on KH road but that must be bearable. BMTC traffic inside this TTMC is thin and is of moving type. Its not a starting point. Two of the channels will suffice them and the rest can be for moffusil use. It can be like an interstate bus terminus. KSRTC rajahamasa depot is also present next to this TTMC.
4. The beauty is, this also reduces the pressure on city centre, ie Richmond, Minerva, Corporation circle, Hudson circle, KG road and finally Majestic because we are shielding traffic converging from two major NHs from piercing the heart of the city (saw a thread here to decongest city centre). Then, the KBS can be dedicated for inter-Karnataka operations and we will have fewer delays as considerable space will be gained
Only concern is "can BMTC and KSRTC join hands? "
I may sound very optimistic here but the idea is to trigger more ideas by this virtual brainstorming session! Probably some ideas to even make better use of the mysore road bus stand?
Suraj
Suraj, Vasanth - Good Ideas
Suraj,
Yr suggestions are all very valid.
However, a TTMC at Silkboard is unlikely to materialize unless the Police Dept foregoes some land NE of the junction. Further, a TTMC is already being planned at HSR layout, as per CTTP (probably near the HSR shopping complex).
Along Hosur rd, three TTMCs are planned, all past Electronic City - Dodda Tugur, Kalyan Nagar (at PRR Jn) & Sriganda Kaval, near Attibele. A TTMC at EC is thus, ruled out since land is at a huge premium there & govt bodies may not have available land for a TTMC. The TTMC at PRR-Kalyan nagar can be considered for a satellite bus hub, as suggested by Vasanth.
Yr ideas to convert Shantinagar to a Satellite bus hub on the lines of Mysore rd are bang on - I have visited the place a few times & seen the gross underutilization of available space. There is the problem of sharing resources between KSRTC & BMTC, though, as you rightly pointed out.
Some time back, I was dismayed to see an ad by BMTC, calling for tenders to convert a portion of the parking lot at Shantinagar depot to office space. So, there obviously is a lot of free space, which is now probably being commercialized instead of utilizing for public purposes, I think.
TS - BMIC & PRR will assist only those bound westwards (Bannerghatta rd, Mysore rd, etc. from EC. Most of the traffic on BETL will be to Silkboard - this is why the BETL project is being executed in the first place. So, I am more or less certain that BETL will become an elevated car park, crawling very slowly during peak hours !!
Tamilnadu buses starts from MCTC Bus Stand
It is very strange that Tamilnadu bound buses are starting from MCTC satellite bus stand and made the bus stand full of chaos. It was highly organized earlier. This creates traffic allover from Chamarajpet till EC.
It would have been OK only for the buses travelling towards Mysore. Kerala buses which are Mysore bound do not enter MCTC bus stand though. It is very strange.