It helps no one except the driver of the bus when he decides not to cut left and go closer to the kerb at bus stands. Folks have to walk up, or wait on the roads, and not at the shelter (if one exists in the first place). And the bus blocks traffic on the road.
Reasons are plenty, BMTC says the bus stands are always occopied by either the autos or cabs, and what if a bus is already waiting at the stand, where does the other bus park? Okay, some reasons may be valid. But I just snapped a bus from inside as it went from Marathahalli to Domlur. 4 out of 8 stops were made far away from the kerb, and in only one case was the stand not empty (an auto was blocking). In this case at least, the driver of 411a was simply lazy to cut left and back right again, thats all. Captured some pictures for proof.
ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳು
Safety Hazard
User Interaction Designer
Bangalore
Enforcement shd work
getting fine-detailed?
nijavaada
i am intersted and read through your write up twice. i dodnot understand. maybe because i am one of those who believes that engineering(or lack of it) has a lot to do with problems(including behavioural ones).
city in a hurry
let me clarify...
bus bays absoulte necessity
nijavaada, was just an observation
No solutions are suggested here, and I do see the point you are making - can't target just one set of road users in isolation. If I got your gist right (holistic - whether planning or enforcement), I do agree.
A traffic rules enforcement drive that just targets BMTC drivers would be an unfair effort, because they are not the only unruly creatures on the road. The argument you can't beat though is that their behavior has greater impact on the traffic because of two reasons 1) they handle larger vehicles 2) there are a lot of BMTC buses doing the rounds.
An enforcement drive that makes everyone respect to parking zones and lines may work. That would involve drawing visible lines and markings all along the major roads with clear indications of who can stop or park where. Little more investment and will can provide a 'harder' solution that will certainly impact driver behavior - bus bays with dedicated stop lane. But there may not be place for bus bays on many roads on our city.
Anyway. the solutions are obvious. I just posted pics to show how far from the kerb the buses stop, and that there was nothing stopping the driver from going closer to the kerb.
A case for BTS Bus Driver, conductor and Commuter Training.
The Mumbai City Bus Service better known as BEST is an example for good training imparted to drivers and conductors. They were known for their professionalism. A BEST driver will be fined by the department for such mistakes which Silk Board is referring, I am sure!
A real life story comes to my mind. Long back in Bangalore there used to be a bell in the busses, which the conductor used for giving "Right". This was known as double right as the signal for go was double bell. To stop was a loud single stroke Bell. Sometimes the bells were operated by commuters’ themselves, wanting to get down etc. You could imagine a Bangalore Person trying to stop the bus in the same way in Mumbai. For that matter in Washington DC! In DC the driver stops in the middle of the road with a smile if you approach the exit in a hurry! That will be a training to the commuters, not to repeat the mistake!
BEST is truly best
You rarely see BEST buses overtaking each other the way our friends at BMTC do. They stick to the left lane as far as possible. Also they approach bus stops one behind the other and not cut in front of each other or stop wherever they want.
The other smart thing is that all persons enter the bus at the rear and exit at the front. Throughput is higher and people keep moving towards the front rather than standing at the back door.
The next time I am in Bombay, I will take a few pictures at Chakala (Andheri E) bus stop.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
BEST is truly best
You rarely see BEST buses overtaking each other the way our friends at BMTC do. They stick to the left lane as far as possible. Also they approach bus stops one behind the other and not cut in front of each other or stop wherever they want.
The other smart thing is that all persons enter the bus at the rear and exit at the front. Throughput is higher and people keep moving towards the front rather than standing at the back door.
The next time I am in Bombay, I will take a few pictures at Chakala (Andheri E) bus stop.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Second the view
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
A fail-proof solution
Techno-commercial feasibility
DIY,
this is indeed an interesting idea. You (like many others here, including me) seem to have a technological answer to all the problems :) Welcome to the club.
OK, lets say, we want to implement a 'proximity based' door opening mechanism. I am not too much of an electronics guy but hope you and others here would have enough experience to comment on the feasibility of this in terms of technology and costs involved.
My system specs would be as below:
Now based on these specs,
Technically: Is it possible to devices a accurate systeme with no false positives/negatives across all weather and road conditions?
commercially: is it possible to produce the whole system within a reasonable cost of say about 1000 Rs per bus?
If answers to both are yes, then probably we have a case for approaching the traffic/BMTC for a pilot on this.
-Shastri
-Shastri
Buses Parked in the Middle of Roads
Hi All,
Good to read this script.
I feel solutions to this problem can be approached better if we could focus on the following measures :
1) Try & reduce the no. of vehicles on our roads - reduce dependence on private modes of commuting.
2) Educate all - Commuters, Bus /Auto /Truck /Car drivers.
3) Segregate road space for the different types of users - such as pedestrians, bicyclists, buses, etc.
4) Much more committed & strict enforcement of No-Parking in /around bus stops as also stopping of buses closer to kerbs.
5) Equip all buses with mechanical doors & educate drivers to open doors only at bus stops.
Machines or Humans
Let us try it out
The Hard Truth
DIY - no doubt you are right.
If we probe into this further, we will find that cities in our country are so overcrowded, all trying somehow to make ends meet, that life itself seems a big pain for most. The country, in sixty years has come some way, but there are several goal posts ahead yet. The first problem is to eliminate or substantially reduce the nos. of those below poverty, but this will take several decades. Newcomers that arrive in cities, typically from rural areas are indiciplined, & most drivers hail from such backgrounds. Add to this, the increasing no. of vehicles & you sure have a recipe for utter chaos that is all too prevalent on our streets.
No matter how much you educate people, there will be millions more that keep arriving in cities in search of employment & still left to be educated - the immediate solution therefore is only to reduce the no. of vehicles by forcing priority measures for all public means of transport, & strictly enforcing discipline, as best possible. When dependence on public transport grows, with a concurrent reduction in private vehicle use, the situation wud become somewhat better to manage, at least on the streets, but it is obvious that some chaos will still remain for a long, long time to come.
The power of 'I'
You NEED to get 'fine-detailed'