• 78% of car users do not car pool [21] mostly because they dont have colleagues who live nearby or they prefer travelling along [24].
• 52% of all car users do not want to commute by bus [25] but 70% hope to use Metro [28].
• The non-car-poolers also do not consider buses because they are crowded, infrequent and the routes are not good. [27]
• 57% of all people said they would use buses if the service was improved [29]
• Of the people who do car pool, 83% think it is convenient [21] and 57% have been pooling for more than 2 years [20].

How do I use public transport where there is none? The following is my personal experience:

When I’m in Bangalore, I drive to office everyday. It will take me at least 2.5 hours to reach office if I try to travel by BMTC (including waiting time). I will need to change three buses, and there is no guarantee that the buses will arrive and run on time. Spending 5+ hours everyday just commuting is an inhuman experience at best. By car however, I can reach in approx. 1 hour by using the ORR.

In addition, I generally end up spending a fair amount of time in Office once I’m in, and the average time I leave office is 10:30 PM. I simply cannot expect to travel by BMTC at this time. First of all, the frequency of buses at that time is almost NIL, and most routes do not run at all. Add to that the dangers of hanging around on bus stops in Whitefield late in the night.. it does not matter whether you are a college girl, or a retired banker, or a young IT professional. Bangalore is getting to be an unsafe city.

I don’t get any great pleasure by driving on the clogged roads of Bangalore, in the midst of rascally auto-drivers, thuggish BPO/Call center cab drivers and drunk truck drivers. I don’t enjoy spending Rs. 300+ on a daily basis just to get around. Driving to work is a compulsion for me, and one I would gladly get rid of.

Most of my acquaintances who drive to work are in a similar situation. They would prefer not to drive, but they need to, coz’ they don’t really have a choice.

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welcome vinay, sure enough, this condition that you cite is not lost upon folks here. Some really observant folks here have pointed out that there are some gaping holes in BMTC routing. I am pointing you to a very approximate source, but look around this. It will be great if you can post some specifics. What are your travel patterns? if it is generic enough then it might be worthwhile to consider if it can be suggested to the BMTC to ply such routes. if you are serious about this, look around and dont hesitate to chime in.

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Vinay

Instead of BMTC, if TVS (my first exposure to TVS was as the public bus transport service provider in the city of Madurai - before emergency) or TATAs were operating the bus services, and within some 3 months of their starting the operations, they

1) set up a comprehensive web-site detailing out their operations, based on professional demand assessments,
2) run comfortable and clean buses, with destination boards clearly written in Kannada as well as English,
3) have courteous conductors who don't short-change you, or foul-mouth you if you don't speak Kannada,
4) provide the "Yelli Iddira?" service so that you track a bus and reach the stop in time to catch it, rather than waiting indefinitely not knowing when or if it will come at all,
5) provide skeleton services between 10 PM and 6 AM;

would you then not choose to leave the car at home and take the bus? Any way, that's what I'll do.

And, when more and more people start doing that, and if the government facilitates the process by disincentivising use of individualised forms of transport through measures such as

1) levy of congestion charges in crowded city centres,
2) barring of entry in narrow road stretches, during peak hours, etc,

the buses will be able to travel faster, helping them make more trips, and thereby improve their revenue earnings. This will then go on to improve riderships, providing further boost to the revenue earnings, thereby motivating them to improve their services.

If you ask, "why can't this happen with BMTC?", my answer is "it will perhaps happen once there is effective competition; but, not without it". And, when that happens, it will be win-win scenario for all concerned.

For more, click on:
http://praja.in/blog/murali772/2007/12/12/better-bussing-green-bangalore

Muralidhar Rao

PS: Shastrigale' - calls for a fresh survey

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Murali:

You asked: "would you then not choose to leave the car at home and take the bus?"

My answer: YES, I WOULD TAKE THE BUS, LEAVING MY CAR AT HOME!!!!! As I mentioned, driving within Bangalore these days isn't my idea of fun :-)

I read your article on 'Better bussing for a green Bangalore'. I do agree with almost all action items outlined in the article. Thats the way forward I guess, but again, will it be implemented??

Tarlesubba:

The link you have provided: 'look around this' seems to be incorrect.. Anyhow, my route is from M.S.Ramiah area to Whitefield. In general, it involves a walk to new BEL road bus stand (20 mins), bus to BEL circle (20 mins), bus no. 500/501 till K.R.Puram (45 mins), bus to Whitefield (30 mins) and final walk (10 mins). Add a total wait time of 20 mins (all three stops combined) and the total is approx. 2.5 hours. And this is the 'best case scenario'; the travel time could increase, especially on the K.R.Puram - Hoodi - Whitefield route, as could the waiting time..

Of course. this is the 'Normal BMTC' bus, no idea about Volvo, since I have not been to Bangalore for nearly a year now and the Volvo concept was just catching on when I left..

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Well, in my office located on Bannerghatta Road, most of them are from nearby places living in Basavanagudi, Jayanagar, JPNagar,BTM or Banashankari.

Our office is getting to shifted to Sarjapur Road to its own campus. Most of the employees are planning to leave the company and plan for another office on the Bannerghatta Road, so am I.

Now, it takes from these mentioned places not more than 30 minutes of commute. Earlier most of the colleagues were 'car' savvy. Now, they have realized it infact delays the commute and back to earlier days of 2 wheelers. In those days, it was difficult to find parking for car in the campus. Now car parking is easily available. Also office bus was also started which reduced the car population.

I myself was travelling in a small car. It used to take not less than 45 minutes. After reverting back to 2 wheeler, it takes around 20 - 25 minutes only. Fuel bills have reduced to a large extent. Some people say safety .. this .. that.. to use the car. But, hardly we will be travelling at around 30-40 kph. Not much impact will happen. Ring road/major highways should be avoided to avoid trucks and buses. As a private vehicle, these economical 2 wheelers are better. Many Bangaloreans (80%) still do not have access to cars, even if they have, they cannot afford to run. It is so easy to goto a hotel on your bike, you can park it right in front and get inside. So much headache to find the parking and park in case if you are travelling in a car.  I personally feel as a private mode of transport, 2 wheeler is easy for Bangalore. Car is good if travelling along with the family, on rainy days, late nights.

Lots of 2 wheeler drivers (mostly relocated from rural areas to Bangalore) drive very hapazordly without showing any indications, turning right-left. These guys are accident prone.

Media and Surveys only compare between Cars and Public Transport and never on these 2 wheelers who form the major chunk of the private transport.

I would say, we should plan for nearby office compared to way far off office. Buses (Company provided or BMTC) are advisible. If not, 2 wheelers along the internal roads are an easy go to the office.

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Letter from Amsterdam, posted by Ms Carol Upadhya on HU yahoogroup
 
I would like to take some of our BBMP and city decision makers on a 'study tour' of this lovely city. In much of the 'downtown' area here, roads are hardly wide enough for one car, or at most two. Yet I have never seen a traffic jam. Why? There are hardly any cars on the road, except the occasional taxi. Why is that? Because half of the people are on cycles -- businessmen in suits, mothers with two kids on little seats, students... The other half are in buses, trams, trains and now the metro. It's cold and rainy half the time, not exactly conducive to cycling, but still that's how many people move around most of the time. It's a wealthy country where people can certainly afford cars. In fact many people do have cars, and fancy ones at that, but they use them mostly outside the city, for weekend and long distance trips and the like. Thanks to these alternatives, and I suppose rules that make parking too expensive, the city itself does not suffer from our traffic jams. The story is similar across much of Europe. The roads in central London are more narrow on average than Bangalore's. Still we insist that we need more roads, wider roads, more flyovers, etc, to handle the inevitable growth of the city. Is it simply a matter of population density? I don't think close study would bear this out. It's just bad planning and management, underwritten by other agendas that see more profit in new projects than in more rational transport management.
 
When will our political and corporate leaders start to believe that 'development' in Bangalore does not have to mean creating a poor replica of LA? That there are other models that could be followed, or new ones that we could dream up, drawing on the help of all the intelligent people that live in this city? The argument about cost will not wash either -- would it cost more than what is now being spent on our great road widening campaign and all the other 'infrastructure' projects, to invest in better bus services, light rail transport, and to formulate saner transport policies -- whatever it takes to reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads? And when will our 'new middle class' begin to think that middle class status does not have to be established by owning a car?
 
I wish that the like-minded people in this group would get together and do a comprehensive study of the alternatives, with solid facts and figures, that might convince our decision makers that there are other options that are not only better but also cheaper. Any volunteers? It may not persuade the decision makers, but maybe with enough public pressure as well as viable options to put forth, we could actually influence what is happening here.
 

Muralidhar Rao

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Following is the letter published by Maj Kapur (from London/ New York) in HU yahoogroup  

Dear folks,

I have been reading the debate on Downtown and its affiliate topics with interest.

I travelled through the busiest roads in London, in a car and in buses. Traffic was slow but NO JAMS. Bus lanes are marked with brown asphalt and the penalty for car drivers who get onto the bus lane is 120 British Pounds Sterling. There was not one car on these lanes. Buses moved freely without having to zigzag their way through. No traffic signal stopped you for more thn 30 seconds (at major junctions) and 10 to 12 seconds on others. And there are so many traffic signals to contend with - its not funny. Buses moved faster than cars and did not stop anywhere other than at specified bus stops. That is how London has facilitated movement by mass transport and that is why it is so popular. Ofcourse there is the underground (our Metro??). The width of Oxford Street is no more than 60 ft.(carriage way) and pedestrian walkways are more than 15 feet wide at most places, all along the street. Every pedestrian walkway is wheel chair friendly.

I drove through Manhattan, the road width (carriageway) is more than 60 feet, I was caught in a jam for more than 20 minutes. May be because it was the opening day of the US Open championship. Hardly any buses, but lots and lots of cars. Pedestrian walkway is not less than 10-12 feet wide. No horns, either in London or in New York.

Bottom line: Road width has least to do with traffic movement. It is in the way that people use and the way traffic is planned and laws are enforced. We can go on debating the merits and demerits of all systems till cows come home, but nothing will improve traffic on our roads unless:
1. There is a decent public transport system which works efficiently and according to stipulated traffic laws and road etiquette. Widening roads without an accomapnying drive to improve driving habits, and chopping down trees to make room for more vehicles invites more chaos on roads because there is no road etiquette any one will follow.

2. Very harsh and strict enforcement of traffic rules. We do not need too many policemen to do this job. Technology is there to catch the offenders. Use of cameras at a lavish scale, get the ofending drivers to the magistrate's office and deal with them ruthlessly. Cameras do not lie (unless a politician is catching another politician for scam use). In addition to hefty fine, detain the vehicle for more than 48 hours. You will notice that drivers of commercial vehicles (taxis and maxis)will be the first lot to be straightened out. Same with buses, and they are the worst offenders on the roads of Bangalore. But we need the will, political and as a people to change the ways our roads are used.

3. Projects do not solve transportation problems by themselves. They facilitate dealing with the problem. It is the people who use the facities and in the way they use the facilities will determine how much it has benifited.

I do not believe that people in authority are not aware of how traffic is controlled in various metros oversees, our system does not encourage them to use the knowledge. Unfortunate as it may seem, it is a reality. Amsterdam is another model, but catch the Indian middleclass use cycles on our roads. Where is the track and who will respect that track? And who will take care of the bloated egoes?

We can not import London, New York or Amsterdam traffic sense or norms to Bangalore, because that sense has to be home grown or it has to be ingrained ruthlessly. Are we prepared to bear a strong hand - as a people who have enjoyed un-alloyed freedom, freedom without responsibility to society? Think hard. Debates do not produce results. The reality is that all of us need to have a change in our mindset, our attitudes. Only that will bring about a change in our quality of lives as a society. When people still talk about the irrelevance of Metro - a project that has been under execution for the past several months now, then it seems to me that we are living in a vaccuum, because Metro project is a reality in Bangalore. Rightly or wrongly, it is there and we can no crucify it. We can not aford to have another BMIC type episode on our hands can we?

I do not mean to offend any one, and if I have inadvertantly trod on any one's toes or sensitvity, I sincerfely apologise. I could not bear to keep watching this debate from the sidelines because somewhere we seem to be losing the plot.

Muralidhar Rao

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The common thread I have observed around these cities is that traffic solutions are arrived at around the basic character of the city. LA is car centric and they dont try changing that Car pool lanes, freeways are built to support this. London/Singapore is mass rapid centric they dont try changing that. Amsterdam is Laid back ped and cycle centric they dont change that. What is the character of Bangalore. I am seeing it more on the LA style, should it be altered now? Can we evolve our own character? Does the CDP reflect this character? Can it be moved to be Reva & VV centric? The city needs to be restructured to fit into pushing people to a certain style of commute.

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I notice that if there is simple infrastructure / barricades in place, then lane discipline becomes rather easy. For example, for all these years, C V Raman Road that connects Mekhri Circle to IISc main entrance via Sadashivnagar police station did not have a divider white line in the middle.

In it's absence, people used to casually and dangeroussly overtake by driving on the wrong lane.

A few weeks back, the authorities decided to put two thick white lines and it did manage to regulate *some* of the traffic. *Some* people follow the regulations. 

But if one has to get 100% compliance, one has to put in physical infrastructure like barriers / dividers in between to enforce traffic regulation.

A friend of mine who works for the oil and gas industry in exploration has a popular adage when it comes to exploration. The idea is to try to reach for the lower hanging fruits first, before reaching for the higher ones.

We in Bengaluru should follow that. Lets try putting in simple infrastructure first.

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Isn't there standards that define when and why a particular road should have physical dividers or is it determined by the whims of some babus?  Basic metrics such as traffic density, road intersections and safety should autmatically force a physical (not painted lines)  divider.

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"Isn't there standards that define when and why a particular road should have physical dividers or is it determined by the whims of some babus?"

No babu whims required, clearly defined in IRC what type roads should have dividers.  

...Ok not clearly defined; it gives scope for interpretation. Here is how it is defined

"6.2.7, Medians : Urban highways of six lanes or more should, as a general rule, be provided with median. For four-lane roads, however, the provision of median should be judicious taking into account such considerations as safety, directional distribution of traffic, the proportion of slow-moving traffic, roadside development and quality of service, etc. As far as possible, medians should be avoided where there are significant tidal flows of traffic, or where the individual carriageways are inadequate for catering to peak-hour traffic volumes, or where there is intense roadside developments without frontage roads."

IRC 106-1990 which is an extension to 86-1983 focuses on Capacity redefinition and only has this to add on medians

"9.2 Some of the measures that could be considered for enhancement of capacity are as under:

ii Segregating the bi-directional traffic flow through central verge median;"

Unless there are other codes which adds value to this spec I find this inadequate and needs amendment to make it appropriate for current needs. Maybe Praja can give suggestions.

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Whie Mr Maj Kapur's observations in London / NY may not apply all the time (I was caught in a major jam in London while I visited), his assessment of the problems facing Bangalore are spot on.

Homegrowing a decent character is almost an impractical choice. My observation is that our society and culture has long forgotten what made Indians Indians! For whatever reason, as a population, we have become ruthlessly selfish, have lost our ethic of reciprocity.

The alternative option of enforcement is the only way out. Pragmatic policy making and strict enforcement of law created modern day Singapore out of a culturally fractured and malaria infected island. We may not be able to directly replicate the example. But given a good try, and with our culture's inherent ability to adopt, goal should not be too hard to achieve if things fall in place. Notice how our fellow countryment in Singapore don't ever make one false move. Have you noticed how our friends in the US proptly stop on a 4-way stop intesection and teach their kids how to follow traffic rules?

Have you also noticed how the same guy (or gal) decides to jump lines as soon as he lands in Bangalore airport and drives on the wrong side of the road?

It is interesting and also very frustrating to watch this happen in front of our own eyes....

Thanks,

Ravi

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"Have you also noticed how the same guy (or gal) decides to jump lines as soon as he lands in Bangalore airport and drives on the wrong side of the road?"

He has been honked, shouted down and overtaken into submission.

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