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Old 22nd May 2012, 12:15   #61
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

[quote=raj_5004;2778686]Except me, every other car was standing way ahead of the line.

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Originally Posted by ghodlur View Post
1) Disappearance of the white line at signals over the period of time and no attempts by the traffic dept to reinstate the white lines. Whethere vehicles follow them is a altogether different matter.
Hello Raj,

Appreciate your patience & persistence to adhere to Traffic Rules, which it seems nobody even remembers now. Even I have tried to follow these things many times, but everytime I get a dirty look, get a bad word or my ears go numb because of constant honking by person behind me.

Hello Raj & Ghodlur,

When it comes to whites lines, I wonder why White Lines are missing in city like Mumbai? On highways the While lines are very well visible & maintained. When you travel to foreign country, you feel the white lines are just put-on couple of days back.

But in Mumbai the White Lines disappear in matter of weeks. Does that mean that we have very heavy traffic or corruption is at its peak here also?

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Old 22nd May 2012, 12:19   #62
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

Just saw the above posts on how Mumbai's traffic has gone from Bad to worse. Especially the road discipline.
I was a mumbaikar for 30 years of my life till I moved to Bangalore 4 years ago. It pains me to see Mumbai traffic this way. I used to pride myself on saying Mumbai's drivers are the most disciplined in the whole of India. I guess, not anymore..

In my recent visits to Mumbai, have observed the situation deteriorating. And the condition of the Western express highway from Dahisar to Bandra, the lesser said the better. It should be called five star for the 5 types of roads you will find on that highway:- Normal Tar, Plastic Tar (3 feet wide strips with stones), Concrete, Paver blocks with huuuuge depressions, no road surface.

The only saving grace is the flyovers on the W-exp highway which save time to an extent. And this for a city which accounts for the largest tax collections in India. When will Mumbaikars get their rightful due?
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Old 22nd May 2012, 12:56   #63
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

I know its a bad habit, but i find myself very helpless without a horn in Mumbai. Either someone or the other will try to carve their way onto yr lane even if it means squeezing you into the divider. Thats when i lose it and honk as much i can. Same goes when there are people who think they are walking in garden on the highway.
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Old 22nd May 2012, 13:01   #64
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

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4. Old Sion FLy-Over (Over Sion T-junction on Dr Ambedkar Road) - Two lanes are kept open for the north-bound traffic while only one lane can be used by motorists heading south. This causes regular bottlenecks and increases traffic snarls along the northern end of the flyover for motorists coming from the Eastern Express Highway (EEH). Experts say that the flyover can be widened as the road below, too, has been recently widened.
That flyover is seriously badly planned, especially the south bound side. Since there is a single lane open, there is a kilometer long line sometimes. And then, there are the smart people who want to jump the queue which makes people waiting for 20 minutes look like fools.

The police there do a good job though, fining many people who jump the queue.
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Old 22nd May 2012, 13:03   #65
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

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Originally Posted by Desmosedici View Post
I know its a bad habit, but i find myself very helpless without a horn in Mumbai. Same goes when there are people who think they are walking in garden on the highway.
What frustrates me the most that people cross the roads despite knowing that your Car is passing by. They just show their hand (palm) & cross merrily, probably thinking that the Car's brake is in their hands & by showing the palm the Car will stop automatically.

But thinking from the pedestrian's side, I accept they too are a frustrated lot. They literally do not have walking space. Almost all footpaths are occupied by vendors, food stall, shops, beggars, STD booths, Traffic Polices, Bus Stops, etc. Where will a humble pedestrain go? He has no choice but to walk on roads & make a way for himself. Afterall he too is fighting for his space in this city, just as we Car-Owners are doing.

At times, it seems that there is a limit to the extent to which Mumbai can intake new Citizens. There has to be some way out, I feel govenrment should develop entire triangular area of Mumbai - Pune - Nashik.

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Old 22nd May 2012, 13:15   #66
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

Firstly, Mumbai is not a round city like maybe bangalore and chennai. Plus you have the concentration of workplace in the south and majority of the people reside in the suburbs hence travel is more. Secondly the entire city is divided into Western and Central which again is further divided in east and west .

Fortunately in recent times, many offices etc have shifted to Mindspace, Saki Naka and Powai thereby reducing the size of people moving towards South Bombay. However the connectivity between 'east - west' or 'western - central' is still an issue. This leads to heavy traffic situations. In my opinion, instead of building flyovers on the highways, the 'western - central' connectivity should be improved.

If you know that you will reach your destination on time comfortably, then you wont rush, thereby breaking rules, driving fast / rash etc. This in itself will help ease out traffic woes and improve discipline on the road. (and i assume that the tarmac conditions will also be improved, am i asking for a lot )
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Old 22nd May 2012, 14:33   #67
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

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Originally Posted by prateekm View Post
That flyover is seriously badly planned, especially the south bound side. Since there is a single lane open, there is a kilometer long line sometimes.
Hello Prateek,

One of the foremost problem in Mumbai (& India) is bad planning. Somehow the Project planners fail to gauge the market situation after 10 - 15 years. All the Roads Projects seem to be planned only for next couple of years.

An exception would be Railway Station Planning in Navi Mumbai. Almost 15 years back when (& still today) there were just two railway tracks in Harbour Line, but they have planned the Stations of Navi Mumbai to occupy 6 tracks sometime in future. Also the Platforms are very wide & people can enter & exit from both side.

We need planning like Navi Mumbai Railways for Mumbai Roads, only then we will see some improvement in traffic conditions.

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Old 22nd May 2012, 14:50   #68
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

The main issue for the lack of proper planning is the lack of space. Either they are already encroached upon or they are with pvt hands. Encroachment removal is subject to political approval and buying land from pvt people is costly.

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Hello Prateek,
All the Roads Projects seem to be planned only for next couple of years.
The classic case is the Ghodbunder Road in Thane. I am sure the authorities never must have never imagined that importance the road was going to acquire in the future when they planned to built it but now it is the critical link to the western & Southern parts. Sadly nobody gave a thought to the service road at that time. Now after it became a political issue, finally the service road is being built but to the heartburn of so many people who had made the space their place for business. But again they messed up with the service road width and is sufficient enough for two vehicles to pass through. Add to that parked vehicles in the service lane its hell revisited.
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Old 22nd May 2012, 15:14   #69
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

I left India in 2009 and the driving sense was still better than what it is today. Maniacs were born but in small numbers.

Cut to 2012, everyone is maniac. Attitude sucks. May be I got used to extreme organized driving in US that I was finding my very own Bombay's traffic a hell to drive.

I drive daily to work and luckily I stay within city limits that means no rickshaws. But they are replaced by even worst drivers from other parts of Mumbai. It takes me 45 mins to reach my office in Fort but I encounter three fold fools on the way.

From what I have noticed recently, MH04/MH43 drivers are the worst and explorers every possible opportunity to break the law.

No disrespect to anyone who owns any of the above mentioned region. You guys are probably the last surviving lot of well behaved and law abiding people from these areas.

But others absolutely breaks the organized traffic flow in South of Mumbai. Plus their attitudes are worse. You can't tell them anything because they either belong to some political party or part of some bhai gang.

Others are biker and biker turned motorist. When they are driving they think they are still riding and dive to the leftmost lane at all the traffic lights.

Its better to keep quiet and move on.

And roads? Don't even talk about it. I drive to work everyday but I cycle to different parts of city. The bad roads are worse on a cycle. Nothing short of nut-cracking.

For me the worst traffic hit areas:
1) Kalanagar stretch on W.Expressway - Absolute mess in the eves.

2) Parel/Bharatmata/Hindmata/Byculla - Pure bottle necks which makes the flyovers on each end, useless.

3) Tilak Bridge, Dadar - this is a sole major east-west flyover. Elphistone Bridge is useless. There is only one lane which leaves it jammed at any given time.

And other countless places.

Traffic will never improve in Mumbai. With each person's income going up and vehicles becoming affordable, the number of vehicles will keep on increasing. With bad roads increasing every minute and sane driving going down the drain, I do not expect anything from Mumbai.

Last edited by F50 : 22nd May 2012 at 15:16.
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Old 22nd May 2012, 15:45   #70
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

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Originally Posted by Jignesh View Post
5 Fly-Overs have became useless within 15 years of Construction:

Full Article here: 5 bridges already useless in less than 15 years - The Times of India

4. Old Sion FLy-Over (Over Sion T-junction on Dr Ambedkar Road) - Thanks,
Quote:
Originally Posted by prateekm View Post
That flyover is seriously badly planned, especially the south bound side. Since there is a single lane open, there is a kilometer long line sometimes. And then, there are the smart people who want to jump the queue which makes people waiting for 20 minutes look like fools.

The police there do a good job though, fining many people who jump the queue.

Prateek,
Actually the Sion flyover was planned for only north bound traffic. Our great town planners felt that as the Sion Circle junction is a T junction, a one way flyover would be good enough, hence built only a north bound flyover. When they noticed that the south bound lanes were still clogged, they carved one lane on the flyover for south bound vehicles, hence now clogging both sides of the flyover .
They should have built atleast a 6 lane ( 3+3 lanes each side) flyover in the first place. Now that the Priyadarshini bottleneck would be much better in a few weeks, the free flow of traffic there ( at Priyadarshini) would lead to further traffic jams on the south bound side of Sion Flyover.

Last edited by f1fan : 22nd May 2012 at 15:46.
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Old 26th May 2012, 12:35   #71
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

I agree there are lots of issues with traffic in Mumbai. The same holds true for most cities in India. In fact, why cities, even the highway. Anyway, I find that as long as I drive the way I want to, which is to say follow rules, I'm fine. The trick is really to ignore people who honk at me while I'm standing at a traffic light and most importantly staying in your own lane. Not that its not aggravating to see people whiz past on two-wheelers, but very often you find them at the next signal.
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Old 26th May 2012, 14:13   #72
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

This seems to be the only place where i can put my thoughts and be rest assured about them being noticed, as there is clearly no other place where you can complain or put down your thoughts to make a change. We are talking about the Financial capital of one of the fastest growing economies of the world.


I feel 'Mumbai' has been absolutely ignored when it comes to infrastructure. We call it the financial capital of the country, if its not more important than the Capital, it should be at least as important. But i was shocked when i visited Delhi (after the common wealth games) as roads there had a very different story to tell. Roads there certainly cannot be compared to Mumbai roads. The surface is much better and i only found tarmac everywhere, whereas Mumbai's most important roads get concrete. Needless to mention the concrete work or very badly surfaced tarmac with poor quality material used and there are undulations everywhere. So much more for a biker like myself, i mean at a young age of under 30 i am beginning to have back problems already, thanks to the motorbikes suspension working overtime at all times.

Some extremely bad but important patches that i feel need some serious work are mentioned below (If some one is listening to the voice of a salaried tax payer).

1. Marine Drive (Pathetic surface)
2. Mahim, from hinduja hospital to mahim church signal (Bottle neck)
3. Kalanagar singal on western expressway (Needs a flyover since i don't remember how long)
4. Andheri flyover on western expressway, over both sides (May be metro will ease this, unsure)
5. Goregaon Flyover bottle neck (This is a disgrace that hasn't been resolved since a decade now)
6. Malad Link road is making a hole in the ozone i am sure.


P.S.

1. Delhi guys please do not feel offended. We pay as much tax and deserve better living conditions as well, hence complaining so much. I have shed a lot of sweat in a Mumbai locals first class compartment and paid one tenth of it for a metro ride in Delhi where i was shivering with cold.

2. I have mentioned problems from the western Mumbai's point of view at absolute commuting hours, suburbs to town and back.
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Old 26th May 2012, 23:39   #73
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

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I feel 'Mumbai' has been absolutely ignored when it comes to infrastructure.
So much more for a biker like myself, i mean at a young age of under 30 i am beginning to have back problems already, thanks to the motorbikes suspension working overtime at all times.
5. Goregaon Flyover bottle neck (This is a disgrace that hasn't been resolved since a decade now)
6. Malad Link road is making a hole in the ozone i am sure.
Hello Doctorque,

Why go till Delhi... Just leave Mumbai & proceed on NH8 towards Ahmedabad, the moment you leave Virar, highway is super smooth & one cannot believe that Mumbai roads are also built with same tarmac... This clearly proves corruption at its best.

Regarding Back pain & Bikes, now with recent Fuel Prices, people will be more inclined to ride their bikes & break their already fragile back on great Mumbai Roads.

Regarding Goregoan (Aarey) Fly-Over, I travel from Malad West to SEEPZ & pass through this fly-over everyday. It is absolute nightmare, come rains & this fly-over will be full of pot holes. For me the distance of 12 kms takes more than one hour mainly because of bottleneck at this fly-over.

God save honest tax-paying Mumbaikar...

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Old 27th May 2012, 00:35   #74
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

Hi everybody
Bombay pays 40% of the total income tax and 10% of the total excise paid all over India.
Our municipal corporation budget is way above any other city in India.
In spite of all this our roads are pathetic.You have brand new flyovers developing cracks and potholes within a week of monsoon starting.
Regards
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Old 27th May 2012, 01:20   #75
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Re: Mumbai Traffic

The great Mumbai traffic signal Trick.
This has actually happened,In the city or maybe even other parts of India.
Showed an American Friend when he was down in Mumbai.
Stopped at the signal.(signals which show the seconds)
I was right up front with no vehicles ahead of me.
But There were vehicles in the same row.Taxi's,rickshaws,other private vehicles.
Time on indicator:75secs left.
I went slightly forward.All the other vehicles inched forward.Did it a couple of times just to show the Friend how everyone always wants to be in front of each other.And how even with alot of time left for the signal to turn green everyones almost half way across the road.Each time i inched forward it was as if i was playing the game.."Simon says",Move Forward!
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