Monday, January 26, 2009

Traffic woes of Bangalore

I think, I am nth person or probably even the last person to write/ talk about the traffic woes of Bangalore. I also read/ know several of those, infact some of them are extremely innovative e.g. separate lanes for autorickshaws, even/odd numbered vehicles will be allowed on alternate days, use public transport, use alternate routes, different timings for offices (e.g. 7am - 4pm), companies incentivizing employees who come early, car-pooling etc. But have we seen any improvement?

In my view, we have to understand the problem better to give a solution. Problem is not autorickshaws, office timings etc. but the problem lies in 3 simple things
a) Lack of roads or space to expand roads
b) Highly heterogenous vehicle traffic and a majority of vehicles are 2-wheelers
c) No traffic regulation

The solution is also simple but requires a tough traffic police, intelligent administrative system, cooperative society and genuine effort from politicians.
These solutions are
a) majority of area in Bangalore is owned by Army and Airforce units, these installations need to moved outside of city and area has to be freed up for optimal utilization of resources. This will increase the area available for development by at least 80%
b) All new layouts should compulsorily have elevated flyovers and speedways - pre-designed
c) Separate lanes for 2-wheelers and this should be strictly implemented. This will avoid the choke at major junctions most of the times.
d) Whether it is bmtc, ksrtc, autorickshow etc. or any other vehicle, anyone who violates the traffic should be penalized and the license should be on hold for 3 months after 3 offences. We have extremely poor respect to traffic rules especially the BMTC buses and autorickshaws.
e) Trucks etc. shouldn't be allowed anywhere in the city including the outer ring road between 6am and 10pm. This will reduce the congestion by at least 40% on every road.

As a responsible bangaloreans we should all respect the traffic rules, if it is red light then it means STOP, it doesnt mean that we can jump it if there is no traffic coming! Zebra crossing is for pedestrians NOT for yours and mine car/ bike! Honking is avoidable all the time.

Just a thought, why we all become human when we are in USA/ Singapore or any other country where as we loose our human behaviour when we are in India.

Problems are human therefore the solution needs to be human-based only.

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