Pedestrians Right of Way

nanhi - 11-MAY-2010

Bangalore is such a civilized city populated by the highly educated working class. But in most civilized cities around the world motorists, motorcyclists, scooterists ... give the right of way to pedestrians, but alas not in Bangalore. Why is this so?

To illustrate a point. I was recently in California, as an invitee to the Stanford University, Palo Alto. The morning walks required I cross the famous El Camino Real highway. Crossing an exit is a dangerous experience. But each time all manner of folks would stop their car and wave to me to cross over. What humility. And I am certain half these folks were not as educated as our gentile in Bangalore. Few  folks go to college in the US.

In Bangalore the abusive horns of our motorists seem to shout at high pitch, "move out, or be run over". What a shame.

I have aged and cannot move out fast. I am not angry, but I feel sad. My wife keeps reminding me to look out. And I even have to do so for cyclists.

Agara Flyover

tellvkb - 3-MAY-2010

Can someone tell when is the flyover construction at Agara junction to be completed ?

Vehicles must be allowed to take right from this junction at 27th Main. Also the one way implementation at 27th main HSR layout is not justified. AFter entering 27th main the road joining the agara village (1st cross) must be left open to public so that all vehicles need not go round about route. Few suggestions to improve traffic are -

1. Allow right turn at 27th Main
2. Allow LMV vehicles to go straight at agara/27main junction
3. Extend 2 ways on 27th main till 1st cross
4. Remove all the blockings made at 8/9/10/11 cross on 27th main and allow normal flow of traffic
5. Re-route BMTC bus to paringipalya via Agara at earliest

Mr Praveen Sood, can we do a Monthly Enforcement Day?

silkboard - 30-APR-2010

On the lines of Bus Day, where citizen groups and volunteers support BMTC in executing a real on-ground event, will Bengaluru Traffic Police be game to lead us for a "Traffic Enforcement Day"?

In theory, BMTC should treat every day as Bus Day, and traffic police every day as enforcement day. But we know the realities. But then, what could be special in this once a month event? Some possibilities would be:

How about BOT Traffic Signals and Signs?

Bheema.Upadhyaya - 16-APR-2010

 After seeing elevated hosur tollway, I started thinking why not BTP can try BOT with traffic signs,signals, road signs.  

Silly? Not really? Why?

The idea/concept is to convert rule-breaking nature of people into revenue for short period, or till people become alright. Imagine every rule-break ,except non-humans :) , specially where is there is a clear signage/signal is fined/collected without fail. Example : in my short travel of 30 mins,today I noted at least 20 rule breaks where there was a signal/signage. Let us say minimum of 20*Rs. 100= Rs.2000 is fined and collected. 

I noted following where was clear traffic sign/signage:

1) Passing Red light : 5

2) Left turn where not allowed : 3

3) Leftmost lane vehicle right turning right. Lane is marked clearly with a " -> " sign. : 2

4) Crossing stop lines : 10

5) I did not observe for other rule-break.

Can Bangalore ban motorcycles ?

Naveen - 31-MAR-2010

At some stage soon, auto-rickshaws & motorcycles will have to be banned or atleast, confined to city's outskirts to streamline traffic within the congested CBDs of Indian cities. Bangalore, with it's relatively richer citizens can perhaps lead the way in this!

A case study report, full of good explanatory maps & photos by Karl Fjellstrom, ITDP (dtd 15-Sep-2008) about how motorcycles were banned in a span of about 16 years can be downloaded from this link on filesanywhere.

Excerpts from this report are worth looking at (especially, the section "Lessons from Guangzhou’s successful motorcycle ban") in relation to our own future needs :

Gradual implementation

Fixing the great mistake

murali772 - 8-MAR-2010

"Fixing the Great Mistake" is a new Streetfilms series that examines what went wrong in the early part of the 20th Century, when our cities began catering to the automobile, and how those decisions continue to affect our lives today.

Traffic Cops Charging too much eh??

Runforyourlife - 28-JAN-2010

I have seen many people often caught by the Bangalore's traffic police. If this is the same case all you guys experience, then here are some important things you need to know when it comes to traffic fines.

What is the next scheduled event on Praja's interaction with BTRAC officials?

Naveen_Sanjay_Nagar - 27-JAN-2010

Bengaluru is in the threshold of becoming a megapolis but it is not able to handle the ever increasing road traffic. The infrastructure is just not sufficient to handle the unprecedented growth in the number of vehicles on road. I would like to participate in issues related to improving traffic management in Bengaluru city.

Sumanahalli Flyover and the Outer `Ring' Road.

rs - 21-JAN-2010

About a week ago the CM inagurated the Sumanahalli flyover, which is a fancy name for the overbridge over Magadi Road on the Outer Ring Road. This leads to a new part of the ring road which is supposed to make the Outer Ring road more of a ring than it currently is.

Are two wheelers exempt from traffic rules ?

rs - 21-JAN-2010

Hi I've noticed that increasingly two wheelers - essentially motorcycles violate all possible traffic rules. This afternoon I was walking back along 17th Cross road, Malleswaram, which is a one way. A motorcycle rider was about to enter the road and I stopped him, informing him that it is a one way. He said he had to deliver some flowers, so it was okay for him to go that way.