Rants on Bangalore's traffic situation

[rshanker]

Originally Posted by nagarjun

Looks like traffice police have created a bus lane from MM temple to KRPuram railway station on old madras road and diverting all private and BMTC buses through this.

Can someone using this road confirm if this is helping? These buses used to create quite a mess with haphazard stops enroute.

Bangalore Traffic Police have posted a short video about this

Twitter Link

[nambiarshreyas]

Originally Posted by nagarjun

Looks like traffice police have created a bus lane from MM temple to KRPuram railway station on old madras road and diverting all private and BMTC buses through this.

Can someone using this road confirm if this is helping? These buses used to create quite a mess with haphazard stops enroute.

I passed by that setup around 9:30 AM today morning. The bus lane starts just after the down ramp of the flyover and routes buses into the bus stop in front of the temple. 5-6 cops were there, herding buses into that lane.
After the stop it is open as usual.
It was certainly a breeze to get by that junction which is usually crowded at that time. I dont remember the last time I smiled when I crossed this junction but need to watch it for a a few more days after the cops have left to conclude that it has helped long term.

[dailydriver]

This is less about traffic as such and more about the traffic policemen of Bengaluru. Bangalore Mirror reports that traffic cops will henceforth be rewarded for booking cases. Here is an excerpt from the article:

A booking contest for city traffic police

It seems the corporate bug has bitten the city traffic police as the men in white have rolled out incentives and targets to their men when it comes to booking unruly motorists violating traffic regulations on the city streets. Special cash incentives are also given to those men responsible for towing away maximum number of vehicles in the city. Ironically the decision to announce cash incentives have come at a point when the traffic police have been receiving lot of flak from the general public for their overzealous men often crossing the limits with general public while penalising them or towing crew disappearing with vehicles from street corners. And like in the corporate sector there are no free lunches in Bengaluru city traffic police also as minimum targets have been fixed for each traffic police station and some of the cops claimed that it would be a struggle to meet them every month...

PS: All emphasis are mine.

The full article can be found at http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/A...10032017003014.

[Sree73]

The newly opened U-turn provision near the More Mega Store / VIMS hospital on Outer Ring Road is closed now. Saw this opening closed with the help of a huge pile of construction debris yesterday. Not sure whether police brought back the status quo on the Marthahalli bridge signal. (This U-turn was provided when they re-designed the signal setup on the bridge)

[itwasntme]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Bangalore Mirror reports that traffic cops will henceforth be rewarded for booking cases.

Instead of towing vehicles away which can potentially be termed a grey area (no clear NP signs, lack of NP paint on kerb etc.), let them simply stand at intersections and look for the following classic and highly visible violations!

A. Equipment infractions:
1. Lack of number plates or in incorrect font/language
2. Banned air or musical horns
3. Non-working or missing lights like taillights, headlights
4. Usage of illegal lights like strobes, HIDs (in non-HID casings), 130/100 rating bulbs
4. Tinted windows

B. Usage infractions:
1. Overloading of (especially) 2 wheelers
2. Riding without helmets
3. Driving with front seatbelts
4. Using mobile-phone while driving
5. Driving on wrong side
6. Breaking one-way rules

Conservatively speaking, BTP will become the world's most wealthy traffic police force in 6 months time. The number of riders/drivers I see consistently on a daily basis is amazing!

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

This is less about traffic as such and more about the traffic policemen of Bengaluru. Bangalore Mirror reports that traffic cops will henceforth be rewarded for booking cases. .

Sounds like a good idea. There should be some measures taken to prevent offenders from getting away by tipping the police and make them pay the fine they are supposed to rightfully. That will increase seriousness among riders and drivers.

This will definitely pressurise police and might lead to more arguments, but that will mostly be with people who do not know the rules, or those who want to stay on the edge. If the signal turns orange, that indicates that we should take the foot of the throttle, not gun it down. It is this category of people who will end up with arguments.

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Instead of towing vehicles away which can potentially be termed a grey area (no clear NP signs, lack of NP paint on kerb etc.), let them simply stand at intersections and look for the following classic and highly visible violations!

A. Equipment infractions:
1. Lack of number plates or in incorrect font/language
2. Banned air or musical horns
3. Non-working or missing lights like taillights, headlights
4. Usage of illegal lights like strobes, HIDs (in non-HID casings), 130/100 rating bulbs
4. Tinted windows

B. Usage infractions:
1. Overloading of (especially) 2 wheelers
2. Riding without helmets
3. Driving with front seatbelts
4. Using mobile-phone while driving
5. Driving on wrong side
6. Breaking one-way rules

Conservatively speaking, BTP will become the world's most wealthy traffic police force in 6 months time. The number of riders/drivers I see consistently on a daily basis is amazing!

To make their task easier and have the best outcome, let them just focus on the following categories of vehicles

1. BMTC buses - for rash driving, driving on wrong lane, jumping signals, blocking traffic signals etc

2. Cabs / Autos / Tempo Travellers / Private Company buses - name an offence and they are guilty of it. Literally ORR becomes an F1 circuit in the evening with all the Infosys / SAP / TCS company buses and the TT's

3. Trucks / Commercial vehicles, incl Tata Ace and its siblings - most of these are overloaded, dont have working tail / head lights, have sharp rods protruding beyond the length of the vehicle etc

By enforcing rules on these 3 categories, i am pretty sure a substantial part of traffic offences in Bangalore can be curbed and the roads will be a better place to drive. The few days of cab strike (and last year's BMTC strike) proved how much of a menace these folks are on the road. And an earlier post which stated how KR Puram traffic was smoother just by enforcing a separate lane for buses vindicates it

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

let them simply stand at intersections and look for the following classic and highly visible violations!

I feel these are already being done. Saw a couple of instances:

• In a junction close to where I stay, one road leading is a one way. There is a policeman stationed here most of time and there are violators, none of them are stopped, but their vehicle numbers are promptly noted down. I guess those will be challaned.
  
• Yesterday morning, while approaching Iblur juction from Agara side, there was a cop standing with a notebook and noting down the numbers. He was also closely observing the car drivers, possibly to check if they are on phone (or even on speaker phone) or wearing seatbelts, etc..

[Full_Minchingu]

I am not sure how many noticed this today, but I did see a separate lane being made for bus before KR Puram hanging bridge. At around 10:00 AM we did not encounter any bottle neck before the bridge.

Our cab moved so fast that I couldn't notice any other changes apart from this.

Regards,
-Badri

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by aroonanand

To make their task easier and have the best outcome, let them just focus on the following categories of vehicles

1. BMTC buses -

2. Cabs / Autos / Tempo Travellers / Private Company buses -
3. Trucks / Commercial vehicles, incl Tata Ace and its siblings -

By enforcing rules on these 3 categories, ...

I was thinking along the same lines, but with a dose of reality thrown in.

These privileged categories will continue as usual.

The cops know the 'bakra' types well, who will not try and negotiate, but will insist on paying directly to the government with their credit cards, expect them to target this class with greater zeal. This will get them the numbers.

Of the non-target crowd, they will penalize two-wheelers and out-of-state vehicles to collect their daily pocket money.

Expect the privileged category to break rules with greater abandon as now the cops will have to work for the state and for themselves - doubling their workload, without time to look at 'that' category (where neither monetary nor numerical targets can be achieved)

[gkveda]

Originally Posted by Full_Minchingu

I am not sure how many noticed this today, but I did see a separate lane being made for bus before KR Puram hanging bridge. At around 10:00 AM we did not encounter any bottle neck before the bridge.
Our cab moved so fast that I couldn't notice any other changes apart from this.

This is really good if followed everywhere else. I always think these BMTC buses will create traffic jams because of two reasons:

1. When a Bus stop appears, these drivers will stop the bus in mid of the road and allow passengers to enter /exit. This will block both right side and left side of the road. Bikers will some how manage to cross. But, cars and other vehicles will suffer

2. If the driver has courtesy to stop the bus on the left most part of the road in the bus stop, and if there are two /three buses in the stop, the bus in the LAST will leave FIRST by overtaking the buses in the front.

This overtaking of a big beast will block the entire road. And Every time the bus which tries overtakes, CANNOT overtake because, the bus cannot CUT due to presence of Mediens in the road.

This is NOT Some thing which the driver is NOT aware of. But, our bus drivers are so OPTIMISTIC, that they think they can overtake the bus in the front EASILY and start turning and get STUCK.

This is a very very common problem that gets addressed through the above step of having a bus LANE

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by gkveda

This is really good if followed everywhere else. I always think these BMTC buses will create traffic jams because of two reasons:

I personally feel that they should simply ban BMTC buses of the same type from overtaking each other. If there is a stop, follow first in first out rule. This is one of the biggest nuisances of the road. Bus A has stopped, and bus B comes ahead of A and makes a brief stop. When B is almost determined to continue, A also starts, and when we have two buses with similar performance and acceleration parallel to each other, it creates a huge pileup of traffic behind with two buses trying to race each other at 38 and 41kmph which will take a lifetime, probably till the next stop.

The only exception of overtaking should be for Volvo v/s the non AC buses and buses which are on company charter. Of course if there is some well maintained volvo with its original acceleration. Yet, the stop and start from bus stops should be FIFO. This one thing will make a huge difference in many narrow roads.

[supertinu]

Originally Posted by Sree73

The newly opened U-turn provision near the More Mega Store / VIMS hospital on Outer Ring Road is closed now. Saw this opening closed with the help of a huge pile of construction debris yesterday. Not sure whether police brought back the status quo on the Marthahalli bridge signal. (This U-turn was provided when they re-designed the signal setup on the bridge)

I noticed it too as well. I drive from Doddanakundi to Kadubeesanahalli for daily commute and this new U-Turn was a nuisance. Not big enough even for a car resulting in traffic choke on both side.

On a different note and Rant, I stay in Doddanakundi junction on ORR where flyover construction is on going. I still can't get over the poor planning of the flyovers and there lack of success in removing bottlenecks. From ORR traffic standpoint in either direction its just going to make the next bottleneck worse which is either KR puram or marathahalli underpass. My only hope is that it makes people living in that junction easier to go in or come out.

Originally Posted by audioholic

, A also starts, and when we have two buses with similar performance and acceleration parallel to each other, it creates a huge pileup of traffic behind with two buses trying to race each other at 38 and 41kmph which will take a lifetime, probably till the next stop.

On a lighter note, buses at 40kmph is fast enough. I dont think i manage to go beyond 40kmph anyways on ORR during rush hour.

[kiran_cr]

Originally Posted by Sree73

The newly opened U-turn provision near the More Mega Store / VIMS hospital on Outer Ring Road is closed now. Saw this opening closed with the help of a huge pile of construction debris yesterday. Not sure whether police brought back the status quo on the Marthahalli bridge signal. (This U-turn was provided when they re-designed the signal setup on the bridge)

Today morning the construction debris were removed so the U turn is open again.

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by supertinu

On a lighter note, buses at 40kmph is fast enough. I dont think i manage to go beyond 40kmph anyways on ORR during rush hour.

During rush hour maybe true, but in the morning hours when I have tried to take ORR to work, its a nuisance having buses all over the road, when you can maintain a faster pace. Road ahead will be empty, thanks to a bunch of buses trying to overtake each other and then as the stop arrives, they just halt in a haphazard manner.