[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by PPS

Super-duper traffic today on the highway from Santacruz to Kherwadi signal.

Hello PPS,

Suprising. Infact, today morning Western Highway was absolutely free moving from Malad to JVLR Junction & till Powai. Infact it took me just 25 minutes to reach SEEPZ from my home at Malad West on two wheeler. This was today morning at approx 9:45 am.

Probably due to 21st March being a holiday on account of Navroz festival traffic will be little cool this week. Also next week there are two holidays (27th & 29th March) which will mean real difference in traffic on highways.

Thanks,

[faustus77]

Hi everybody
On 21st march I crossed Dahisar toll naka at 4.33 PM and within 30/32 minutes I stopped at the Mahim church signal.Could easily drive in 3rd and fourth gear all the way.Very good and easy run.
Regards

[honeybee]

Originally Posted by carboy

How does that help?
That one cab will congest the roads as much as the 8 to 10 cars....

The cab would anyways be on the roads. It's only that rather than it plying empty it would always be ferrying passengers. If the cab is the livelihood of the driver/owner, they would ensure it's always on the roads. By providing an easy option to car owners, you would ensure the car owners, who could opt to leave their cars home, would do so. So IMO it should still lead to less traffic on the roads.

Originally Posted by carboy

Actually cost is the only way cabs may make sense. You have forgotten to include the cost of the car and maintenance in your calculations.

You are right, I didn't factor in the capex. However even after adding that up, the calculations today are heavily biased towards owning a car. Today if I were to hire a Meru cab (which is the only option available to me), it costs me more than Rs. 1k to and fro to my office. At this rate I would spend Rs. 12,00,000/- for five years, a typical period for owning a car. Even if I had gone for a costlier hatch than the Nano, I would have spent much lesser than that amount. For about Rs. 5L, I could go for a big hatch, and if my monthly bill was Rs. 4,000/- it would add up to Rs. 2,40,000/- in five years. Adding up interest on the loan and other sundry costs, it should still be well below the amount I would spend on cabs.

To make matters worse, the cab fares will increase every year at least, which will be huge compared to the monthy increase in the petrol prices.

So I still believe the cab rates of today are not conducive enough to provide a better option to car owners.
[/quote]

Originally Posted by carboy

How will you monitor the kms here - are you planning to put a traffic policeman in each car?

I am sure modern electronics would give us a better option than that. Doesn't Meru know if they have any free cabs available in my area? What stops us from linking that system to the RTO and monitor how many kms the cabs travel without passenger?

I accept there are challenges, but these are all people challenges, not technology ones. I am sure if we were to implement such a thing, the technology would rise up to the occasion and provide a solution. All it needs is a willingness to implement it.

Originally Posted by Jignesh

I understand that driving & parking habits of Taxi, Auto & Bus is a problem. But thinking from their point of view, they are plying on these roads literally fighting for their livelyhood / survival.

Most car owners are not out for fun, they too are driving to their offices to earn their livelihood. Please do not support the blatant disregard for the law on the part of these categories to their need to earn livelihood. I can't justify breaking rules on the grounds of earning my livelihood. Otherwise thefts and robberies would have to be legalized soon.

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Now, coming to private vehicles, I feel they have to share the equal blame of current situation of Mumbai traffic. ... you will see how educated & upper middle class people park their cars literally on roads just enjoy a pizza or grill sandwich or juice.

Just notice at any junction & you will witness many private vehicles cutting lanes merrily & even abusing others who are waiting silently.

Further vehicle owners should themselves not take their cars out if they are travelling very short distances like 1 to 3 kms (except they have to ferry old / disabled passengers)

I feel if we as private vehicle owners observe discipline, Mumbai traffic & roads will be in much better shape.

Why is it that despite the road congestion because of a high number of vehicles coming onto the roads every day (new car registration), the government is doing nothing to stop the inflow of vehicles? Why not hike the road tax to 20% of the car's invoice value? This will also pay for the numerous toll nakas opening up all across the states which waste more time and fuel than that saved on the road.

Why blame the private car owners who have to go through the PUCs rigorously, have to pay mandatory third party insurance every year and are stopped and fined by the traffic cops regularly for any violations of the rules? I have yet to see the traffic cops pull up a bus or a truck or an auto or a taxi for sending out more black/white smoke than the Vatican may have. No one bothers to check the PUCs, or the insurance papers of these vehicles. The congestion tax is proposed to be charged only to private vehicles. The toll is only applicable to the four wheelers and above, while two and three wheelers are exempt from it.

The BMC has failed to devise any parking solutions. What stopped the BMC from identifying key places with vehicle congestion and come up with a multi-level pay and park structure? Only existing lands are being used as pay and park areas, such as outside railway stations and roadsides. If a multi-level pay and park were to be available, I am sure I would prefer to park my car there and then visit a place nearby. It's the same as visiting a mall. Most people use the mall's parking feature because the mall provides a secure parking area, although most malls charge you. I don't mind paying Rs. 20/- for parking there.

Why not comment on the auto and taxi drivers illegally parked all across the streets?

I feel the private car owners are being singled out because they are a soft target. They don't have any unions, they don't have a lobby and they are not a vote bank.

[Jignesh]

Originally Posted by honeybee

I feel the private car owners are being singled out because they are a soft target. They don't have any unions, they don't have a lobby and they are not a vote bank.

Hello Honeybee,

You points are accepted & most of us probably know what needs to be done by the authorities. But somehow these authorities are not able to understand or probably their hands are also tied by high command.

Not to justify my comments. But I made them after observing traffic situation in Mumbai. Even I accept beyond doubt that private car owners are literally targeted & penalized just for the the matter of fact that they can afford to buy a Car, which is assumed that we can bear further fines & charges.

But the fact remains that the things (mindsets) are not changing. There was a time when I used to reprimand auto drivers for violating basic traffic rules. But after a point of time I realized that there is no point in doing so because there are just too many of them who do not want to understand one word - discipline & little concerned for others.

That is why I feel that to survive in this city it is middle & upper middle class who will have to adjust with the reality & do what authorities (read political & rich people) & minority community (read - vote bank) decides.

Sorry for sounding negative, this remains the bitter truth, whether we accept it or not. Just to give two examples - 1. Authorities are planning to legalize hawkers & 2. Best drivers are openly challenging us to complain against them in BEST offices for traffic violations.

Thanks,

[apachelongbow]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

Hello Honeybee,

You points are accepted & most of us probably know what needs to be done by the authorities. But somehow these authorities are not able to understand or probably their hands are also tied by high command.

Not to justify my comments. But I made them after observing traffic situation in Mumbai. Even I accept beyond doubt that private car owners are literally targeted & penalized just for the the matter of fact that they can afford to buy a Car, which is assumed that we can bear further fines & charges.

But the fact remains that the things (mindsets) are not changing. There was a time when I used to reprimand auto drivers for violating basic traffic rules. But after a point of time I realized that there is no point in doing so because there are just too many of them who do not want to understand one word - discipline & little concerned for others.

That is why I feel that to survive in this city it is middle & upper middle class who will have to adjust with the reality & do what authorities (read political & rich people) & minority community (read - vote bank) decides.

Sorry for sounding negative, this remains the bitter truth, whether we accept it or not. Just to give two examples - 1. Authorities are planning to legalize hawkers & 2. Best drivers are openly challenging us to complain against them in BEST offices for traffic violations.

Thanks,

Points taken Jignesh. However no need to sound low and disappointed. We have a strong legal system of filing PIL, RTI and questioning the authorities in question. Lot of middleclass/everyday job holders go out of their way and prode the authorities to try and change the system. Currently running TOI initiative with citizen complaints have forced the BMC to clear roads of hawkers and encroachments.
I feel Mumbai today is lot better in terms of infrastructure (I mean only roads here and not public transport as such) compared to the 1990s or early 2000s. More flyovers, more wider roads and generally cleaner than before. Yes there is traffic and traffic jams during peak hours, but otherwise by and large the roads are free moving.
Public transport may have detiorated however the everyday users are themselves responsible for this. For example, Who asks the loafers to spit pan and stain new local trains? How much can railways do apart from water clean trains every week?

[honeybee]

The BMC was supposed to have appointed marshals to fine people spitting and littering the streets. I hear the scheme was wound down after a year or so, and while it ran, the cleanup marshals did net a good income by way of fines.

The spitters should be publicly humiliated: Instead of fines, they should be made to do sit-ups in public, on the platform, wherever they are caught.

On second thought, I believe this same type of punishment should also be handed out to the traffic rules offenders. If a car jumped signal, instead of fining the car, the occupants should be made to disembark and perform situps. Cops could also put up stickers on the car with statements like "I jumped the signal today".

[Jignesh]

Hello All,

We all know of scam running in BMC parking lots, where contractors charge very high parking charges at parking your vehicles in BMC provided parking zones. I have personally noticed contractor charging Rs. 50 per hour under JJ Fly-over bridge (where official parking rates is less than Rs. 10 per hour).

To counter this problem civic body had planned to provide handheld (like ones in BEST buses for issuing tickets) devices to parking lot attandents, which will issue printed receipts & the data can be easily uploaded to a server.

But unfortunately the proposal is caught in red-tape & it is deferred. The reason given is there are loopholes in proposed which needs to be plugged.

Full article here: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/c...w/19138385.cms

Thanks,

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Jignesh

...To counter this problem civic body had planned to provide handheld (like ones in BEST buses for issuing tickets) devices to parking lot attandents, which will issue printed receipts & the data can be easily uploaded to a server.

But unfortunately the proposal is caught in red-tape & it is deferred. The reason given is there are loopholes in proposed which needs to be plugged.
...

Almost 2 years back, a vehicle from my family was parked outside the Hinduja hospital for around 3 days. The parking attendent used to give us a printed ticket which mentioned the vehicle no. and the entry time besides the amount charged. Please note that this was a BMC contractor.

[PPS]

Talk of timing, there was a jam today at 6pm from Hub onwards as the concerned authorities were carrying out road work as soon as you get down from the Oberoi mall flyover! I'm sure it must have got worse by now.

[engrohit]

What is with authorities in Thane? They have opened the new Manpada flyover but retained the signal at Soham. What is the point of having a flyover then, if you enter straight into a signal.

[honeybee]

Well, from the other side, you have to wait for the signal before taking the flyover. So you can now decide who has drawn the short straw!

[Desmosedici]

Traffic jam at Aarey near Chota Kashmir. I turned back and took JVLR to go towards powai. My friend who took the entire aarey road said some event is going on hence the traffic.

[Desmosedici]

Please read today's Times of India page 5 on Aarey Road reconstruction. Seems like another crooked scheme to make a fast buck.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by engrohit

What is with authorities in Thane? They have opened the new Manpada flyover but retained the signal at Soham. What is the point of having a flyover then, if you enter straight into a signal.

The Signal would be removed very shortly based on the converations I was having with one of the traffic cop. The turn at the signal is barricaded at the moment and will be permanently shutoff soon, when that only TMC can say.

BTW guys anyone noticed that the Ramakrishna hotel (the same one which blocked the traffic opp IIT main gate) on the JVLR has been officially pulled down. This makes way for the service road to be made so that the buses dont spill on the main JVLR. Now the only obstruction is the Hanuman temple, hope the authorities do away with it too minus any commotion/riots.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by ghodlur

...BTW guys anyone noticed that the Ramakrishna hotel (the same one which blocked the traffic opp IIT main gate) on the JVLR has been officially pulled down. This makes way for the service road to be made so that the buses dont spill on the main JVLR. Now the only obstruction is the Hanuman temple, hope the authorities do away with it too minus any commotion/riots.

YES!! Was just about to post the same update here!
Brilliant! I sincerely hope that the stretch becomes bearable soon.