[PetroTurbo]

How come most of the Indian politicians are so knowledgeable and future thinking, am really surprised. All these guys shall be honored with Doctorates and recommended for some International Accolades.

Few thoughts from my side, to improve the current traffic situation even without better public transport;

1. Mandatory car pooling enforced by companies;
a. A project team must work in a particular timing, if not use office/public transport
b. Employees of the same company from a particular location also needs to do car pooling
c. Provide work from home options, so that post this strict working hours, they can work from home to cater to the extra effort needs
2. Companies shall start working in OFF hours compared to schools and colleges
a. Start as early as 6 AM, I work 7-4 here in Germany and is very comfortable for work life balance
b. Teams supporting US and EU and other major timezone clients, shall plan their timing with better overlapping with the timezones
3. STOP this elevated flyover projects to make money and start constructing flyovers at every junction, so that everyone can use it. Not only the end-end travelers
a. The best example is the traffic jam for people going straight in the junctions between Silk Board and electronic city. The elevated flyover is not catering to commoners, hence the commotion
b. If it had been multiple flyovers at each junction, the stopping would have been for only the travelers who are taking turns at these junctions and not for people going straight
4. Move the major development to cities with Domestic ariport, so that Bangalore is not concentrated for Headquarters. This will also help the other cities too

These are just my opinions, maybe am wrong at some views or maybe can be improved with other ideas

[Mad Max]

A little off-tangent here but please bear.

I think even with the bad road quality, a significant contributor to the traffic is how people drive here in Bangalore. Especially with the high volume of two-wheelers, it's absolute madness in stretches where there are IT Parks and high-rises. I understand that we can't ban people from buying vehicles and yes, better public transportation is THE solution, but there is absolutely no challenge to how badly we drive in Bangalore.

I know some people who willingly violate traffic rules with absolute freedom since they can afford this. A person driving a 20L vehicle gets fined 100 Rs as parking fine. Make it 2000Rs and s/he will park in a neighboring mall or parking lot and pay 20Rs / hour.


One other aspect contributing to the chaos in Bangalore (and maybe other metros) is the complete lack of parking facilities in every area. Every major or arterial road is choked with taxis and other vehicles parked haphazardly in front of multi-teneted structures. People brazenly park vehicles right under No Parking signs or leave their drivers in the cars while they go shopping. I drive around the Bellandur area almost every day and observe this as a key contributor to traffic around here.

While the government does (or doesn't) do it's bit, the lack of laws and fines that actually impact individuals on the road is setting a bad precedent for the city as a whole.

[tj123]

This statement is just a reaction, from a frustrated minister who does not have a clue on how to solve problem of a metro city.
In my opinion government can tackle the immediate problem with some short term measures and followed up with long term solutions like building more metro Metro/Bus , public transport etc. There are many others points but limiting it to the following
1.Government and its officials should have the will to work
2.Reduce the bus fare, Bangalore has the most expensive public transport system and of course most inefficient also. This is the leading cause of high 2 wheeler population.
3.Road infrastructure must be made pothole and speed breaker free
4.Junction improvements must happen as many of them are quite narrow coupled with poor design

[Kosfactor]

Town planning - failed.
Waste management - failed.

With the current scenario, a car is a mere necessity.

I travel between 50- 60 Kms a day to work, because I live in a residential area and my office is in a godforsaken , lets just say its a big IT park somewhere in north Bangalore.
I used a bus for the first 7 years - I change two buses and walk around 6 Kms to complete the trip every day. When I switched to a Nano finally after getting mugged on my way home, I realized I was not paying a lot more than my bus fare in terms of fuel cost!

This is a really complicated problem, so may co-creators of this problem.

Here is what I have observed over my past 10 years here.

The IT boom in the city brought in a lot of people and their families (me included), now living within the public transportation area is not only expensive but unavailable. Now you are forced to drive a car or bike to work everyday.

Real estate guys caught hold of whatever bit of land or water, near , far, lake , forest, cemetery etc and built IT parks with SEZ , STP etc bringing people to work in places that has no modern civic amenities , let alone housing. Now the SEZ , STP working employees need to live close to it, so the real estate guys build apartments close to them - Now here too there is no public transportation \ waste management and result is traffic & garbage.

Now that Bangalore figured out traffic by putting a stop to car purchase, I think the next logical step is stop people from creating waste(No vegetables, no packed goods etc), so there wont be any garbage. (sorry for going off topic)

[Miyata]

"Bangalore considering 2-year ban on new vehicle registrations" - Can't see that happening. Will remain a pipe dream!

Too much revenues at stake for them to even consider letting that go! How will they fund their lifestyles and election campaigns if they lose out on such cash cows?

Like others mentioned above, it's clearly a ploy [automobile association + politicians] to get more sale lines ringing! The common man always remains on the losing side.

[Turboaddict]

People in Bangalore park their vehicles everywhere on the roads and this is the only thing causing traffic jams and grid locks. Instead of govt banning stuff like new car registration, they need to ban parking on main roads and parking vehicles outside their houses.
Simple thing - if you cannot accommodate a car inside your house, don't buy it.
If you cannot park your car off the roads, don't use it.

[gururajrv]

Well, I don’t think this will yield much results to the government. This will attract a lot of public hatred towards the decision. Besides, what’s the overall percentage are they looking at to curb the traffic?

To my knowledge, if they indeed bring this rule, following is what I feel are the repurcussions or alternates:

- Pre-Owned market will quote exorbitant prices for atleast those cars which are currently in production due to temp ban on new vehicles.
- Purchase & Registration will continue to happen from other cities. There’s always option B at anyone’s disposal. I believe purchase can still happen in Bangalore but registration will happen in the neighbouring cities.
- Public outrage on the decision is for sure.
- Political parties will lose out on votes

This is just on the layer of the matter. However, Bangalore’s traffic condition is something that requires a revamp from the ground layer itself just like how Modi is trying to revamp the foundation of our country. Banning the new vehicle registration will not hold back on the desire of any common man to buy a new car or bike. That’s a poor decision altogether is what I personally feel.

[ajmat]

Become strict on parking and emissions.

Implement a proper paid parking system with strict penalties
Reduce usage of polluting vehicles. - if commercial - ban, if a classic car or sentimental value - use only on a weekend or outside a city

[sairamboko]

Honestly I think, the result of traffic related issues in Bangalore is due to the high number of Uber/Ola cabs. Bangaloreans can remember the days when commute was a breeze, during the strike called by Ola/Uber drivers. That doesn't mean private car owners are not causing the jams. The current scenario is caused by a series of idiotic and unplanned measures by the government. This situation can be resolved only when they improve the infrastructure and public transport.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by PetroTurbo

These are just my opinions, maybe am wrong at some views or maybe can be improved with other ideas

Good thoughts but in reality companies are least bothered or probably they are not willing to go the extra mile to do their bit.
In my organisation, it is very common for a employee staying in south Bangalore to travel to north Bangalore office and vice versa. Work locations are based on the project and not their proximity to the office. Many large companies believe in having one large campus rather than having multiple satellite offices.
May be government should incentives/penalize companies based on these aspects.

[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by Mad Max

A little off-tangent here but please bear.

I think even with the bad road quality, a significant contributor to the traffic is how people drive here in Bangalore. Especially with the high volume of two-wheelers, it's absolute madness in stretches where there are IT s. People brazenly park vehicles right under No Parking signs or leave their drivers in the cars while they go shopping. I drive around the Bellandur area almost every day and observe this as a key contributor to traffic around here.

While the government does (or doesn't) do it's bit, the lack of laws and fines that actually impact individuals on the road is setting a bad precedent for the city as a whole.

1. Absolutely right when you say drivers have no common sense nor civic sense.
2. If the construction of a flyover or some pipeline is either on going or just completed, then why cant the road surfaces be filled in and made normal so as to have traffic moving at an uniform speed?
3. Brazen flouting of the law - Absolutely right. The problem is not the lack of a law, but the inability to enforce it.
4. Two wheelers, autos, small dump trucks and delivery vehicles as well as Lorries. These are an absolute problem with their proliferation as well as the lack of adherence to disciplined driving and lane discipline.
5. Lack of clean, well distributed public transport options - this is a serious issue and will engulf us all.

Bangalore has gone completely crazy in terms of traffic. It is unbearable.

[vivekrvcse]

I can't understand why people are not carpooling when they are so particular about fuel costs - with carpooling, the same car that used to give me 8kmpl now effectively gives me 16 or 24 kmpl depending on how many people share the ride!

[RSimonS]

There is another thread in forum about this festive season being the worst one for automobile dealers. This could be another ploy to force people to buy vehicles out of fear of an impending ban.


Most of issues Bangalore face is with Infrastructure or the lack of it and lack of discipline among road users. Unfortunately, government is not looking at fixing the basic problem.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Guna

Many large companies believe in having one large campus rather than having multiple satellite offices.
May be government should incentives/penalize companies based on these aspects.

Why would companies and state governments do that when they are the biggest beneficiaries of these large campuses or SEZs?!

Whose relatives quietly buy up village land acquired for mega projects much before the projects are officially announced? And then sell them to builders for massive profits? And then those builders lease out office space to American MNCs for even bigger profits. And then we work in those offices for our profits and pretend we're a part of an 'ethical' industry like IT!

On the contrary, the government incentivizes the move to such SEZs by announcing tax-breaks.

Add to that the massive money to be made running facilities, packaged drinking water, employee cabs, housing around each SEZ and you realize what a great business model it really is. In the face of all that, what do trivial things like a horrible commute and employee health matter?!

After all, none of the top decision makers, either the government officials who sanction such projects, the builders who make all the money nor the top executives of the IT companies who make the decisions to move here, actually have to drive themselves to work to these places everyday. They either work elsewhere or get driven to work.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by am1m

And then those builders lease out office space to American MNCs for even bigger profits. And then we work in those offices for our profits and pretend we're a part of an 'ethical' industry like IT!

This may be OT, I was reading that there are 3 builders among top 10 rich in India.
Bad planning results in multiple loopholes which creates avenues for new business models. Just like how pharma industry thrives if the overall health situation goes down.