[sub.g84]

I think a part-singapore model may work out to be in our country's best interest:

-Having the concept of cars that can be driven only on weekends and vice versa
-Auctioning licenses to determine the number of legal drivers
-Scrapping vehicles after a certain number of years
-Most important of all would be to develop the infrastructure and public transport

I think gone are those days when our nation relies big time on the automobile industry to indicate growth. We could continue to build and export cars heavily while we limit the number of cars in our own roads. Something cannot be tagged as growth if it is a bane to the nation's population.

[turbodude]

I have read long back that most of the cars purchased in India are on car loan. In neighbouring China this percentage is very small.

The road which I drive on daily basis never gets clogged due to cars. It gets clogged due to over sized public transport buses, heavy trucks, lousy low speed three wheelers and lane cutting auto rickshaws.

There is something called road discipline which most of the drivers lack here. Also 8 months in a year we have good dry days and can drive a 2 wheeler instead of a four wheeler. But false idea of being rich blinds us and comments from office colleagues keep us on our toes.

I do drive a scooter to office even if I can afford a car, because I don't want to clog the roads. Cannot do car pooling because of different timings of team mates hence resorted to scooter. 3-4 times a month I travel by public transport too.

A simple idea of shared bicycle -> bus depot / railway station -> another shared bicycle to office can do miracles. Strengthening private office transport for end to end journey will help too.

Cap on new car registration will anger public. Have seen many cars purchased but not used due to traffic congestion. We need a car to show off dear government even if we are not going to drive it daily .

[rohitnp]

I think part of the problem lies in concentrating everything on cities. The bigger the city is, the poorer the surrounding countryside is. As a company owner I wouldn't mind building a new company HQ (all wishful thinking from here on) on 10 acres of land say 50 or even 80 kms from a city provided I get the infrastructure needed including quick transportation (wishful thinking ends here). I think the government should encourage decentralization of development instead of trying to put more and more into a few areas while leaving the rest undeveloped. All the metros are victims of this philosophy. Ahmedabad and Pune seem to be next on the list.

[hangover]

Originally Posted by timuseravan

I have to disagree. What is stopping the manufacturers is the cost...

..The Police commissioner of a city can issue a letter allowing sun films - only you and me will not get it.

I'm sorry I didn't explain properly. I meant a special coating over the glass. It's a semi industrial type of process.

It's not a solid colored glass. If you take a cross section, top few microns will be this hard coat of tint. Rest of it is transparent like water/glass.

Its not expensive. I've seen old zen (the original bean shaped) cars with a green tint. I'm sure that came from the original Japanese box of parts used to make those cars.

That isn't a peel-able cellophane that Garware was conning people with.

@Samurai, if you do want privacy just fix those rain guards on top of the door frames. You would have seen some good quality ones in accessories shops.
Their real purpose is not rain related. They create a dark shadow over half your side windows.

While shining your car, put some wax polish on the side windows. It's transparent. It also reflects light. So people can't really see clearly into the car.

I've read on some sites that the Suns UV rays damage the car upholstery. That isn't true. UV rays don't pass through glass.

No I'm not a scientist. I read a story once that Richard Feynman who was involved in the first A-bomb project is the only person to have seen the very first test blast (called trinity test I think). He sat inside a car (at a safe dist.) and rolled up the windows and saw the actual explosion without any special eye protection. HE says that UV does not pass through glass. Nor do gamma and whatever other rays created in a typical A-bomb blast.

Feynman lived on, 40 more years to investigate the Challenger shuttle disaster. Unrelated to this post, but he identified a frozen brittle rubber gasket O ring as its cause.

[Srikanthan]

Originally Posted by commonman

Sales of auto mobiles is one key bench mark of industrial development. So, I doubt the news and think that the centre will not go for the same.Government will try to enhance the road conditions rather than curb the sales of vehicles.

I think we are beyond the stage of bench-marking our development against auto-sales!

Enhancing road conditions is sure a priority, but I would say use of public / mass transport should be encouraged as well.

[saion666]

If we are to control pollution through vehicles, the public transport system needs to be scrutinized first. At least in the cities I have lived for an extended time(Kolkata and hyderabad), the main pollutants are the public buses/ trucks(mainly used for construction purpose) and autos(though Kolkata has gone LPG on this now).

Added to it the sheer torture of using public transport. Try getting into a non-ac public bus on these summer days during peak office time,the next thing one would do is run to the nearest 2-wheeler/ 4-wheeler showroom if he/she can afford.
At least in the perspective of Kolkata and Hyderabad:
1. Buses need to be revamped and they have to be regular. Even premium Volvo bus services are sporadic and unreliable.
2.Metro services need to be introduced/extended to at least all major localities. The never ending construction sites for Metro are also a cause for increasing dust particles in the air.
3. A strong vigil on the black smoke emitting buses/taxis/minivans and auto rickshaws.
4. Road condition improved for better average speed.
5. Lastly, plant trees not ornamental shrubs.

Then and only then can the govt. introduce these restricting measures if things still dont improve. It's like going to plan C directly w/o even trying plans A and B.

Originally Posted by turbodude

I do drive a scooter to office even if I can afford a car, because I don't want to clog the roads. Cannot do car pooling because of different timings of team mates hence resorted to scooter. 3-4 times a month I travel by public transport too.

Am in the same boat/scooter. I ride a scooter to office and my wife uses a public Volvo bus service even though we both have a car each.

[apachelongbow]

I am for the government banning each member of a family owning one car, or multiple cars in one family. But banning buying new cars, in replacement of old one is insane. Also authorities must look at tying up parking area ownership with car ownership, especially in crowded metros. We can't have everyone buying a car then parking it on roads, because they don't have a parking space.

[vinya_jag]

What if I register/buy a car in Tumkur, and then drive in Bangalore?
If Tumkur is exceding its cap for the month, I will go to the next nearest town. There will be some RTO who will register a car for me. Right?
I think it will only lead to another nexus of town RTO agents making money.

BAD IDEA

BTW, here was another novel idea, which never saw the day of light.
Reduce the number of parking spaces by 1/4th
You then are forced to car pool/ Use public transport. Or ride a two wheeler.

There was this plan to be implemented along with Bus lane.
BMTC was supposed to do a trial collaborating with IISC.

But this again was never going to happen. They could not convince the local corporators to make the left lane parking free. How do you think you can convince shop owners that they cannot have load/unload vehicles arrive in front of their shops? Or two wheelers arrive and park in front and pick their stuff and hop off?
And what to you do to the autos. Where do they pick passengers if they are not allowed on the left lane?