[Shiv_1984]

I had a new experience while travelling in one of the BMTC Volvos from Bellandur to Hebbal last week and too on a weekday.

I took 500D which was crowded to the core and somehow squeeze in and get some place to stand. The bus moves and reaches ecospace. Now, before people board the bus, the conductor asks if they have a pass. Strangely, if they have, they are not allowed to board.

What was it? A new money making strategy by BMTC to first give commuters a pass and then forbid them from using the same mode on transport? Not sure if it was an isolated incident but surely needs to be complained if it's a practise anyone else too have experienced.

[Divya Sharan]

Originally Posted by Shiv_1984

I had a new experience while travelling in one of the BMTC Volvos from Bellandur to Hebbal last week and too on a weekday.

I took 500D which was crowded to the core and somehow squeeze in and get some place to stand. The bus moves and reaches ecospace. Now, before people board the bus, the conductor asks if they have a pass. Strangely, if they have, they are not allowed to board.

What was it? A new money making strategy by BMTC to first give commuters a pass and then forbid them from using the same mode on transport? Not sure if it was an isolated incident but surely needs to be complained if it's a practise anyone else too have experienced.

I guess the conductor was asking them if they have the regular non AC pass. In that case, either they pay or they don't get to get on the bus.
But, if it was otherwise, then we must complain regarding this.

[InControl]

Originally Posted by Divya Sharan

That's nice but its not feasible for all, thought nothing could be better than living at walking distance from office. Means, more time spent at home.

BTW, do you by any chance work at SLK Software?

Yes, I understand.teeny weeny benefits of not having your own house.Shift whenever,wherever

Yes Sir, I do

[kiranknair]

As far as I am concerned I would like to take public transport, but I cannot do it now. The reason being the nearest bus stop is at least 3 km away as my home is in the interior. Eventually for last mile connectivity i need to depend on the infamous auto drivers who would charge me a bomb for this. Also, being in IT industry sometimes I would need to go late at nights and we do not have public transportation at that time near E-city Phase 2 in Bangalore. But as a practice I do take Volvo BMTC Bus from the airport if i am alone instead of hiring a taxi.

[coolmel]

Is this some research based thread particularly for Bengaluru public? Looks like from the kind of posts its received.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by noopster

On the other hand, on the same day it took me 15 minutes to reach Dadar from Andheri, a distance of some 15 km, which it has taken me over two hours to cover using my car. It wasn't the most comfortable but it was cheap and reliable.

I too have had a similar experience as in the past 2 weeks i have travelled by train on 3 occasions. Churchgate to Malad took me 42mins in a fast train, by car it would have taken me 2hrs 30mins thanks to the rains & potholes!

After i got down at Malad station, i waited for 20mins for a bus to arrive & thereafter it took me 40mins to reach home.

Once couldn't manage to get a seat at Churchgate so it was a not so comfortable journey as i was petrified of my wallet & phone being stolen.
By the time i reached home i was dead tired as i'm not used to travelling my train/bus. The constant noise, humidity & heat gets to you when travelling by public transport.
In car sure it takes me a long while to reach home but i don't need to worry as my driver drives the car & there is minimal intrusion of outside noise.

Bottomline: The people who have their homes close to their workplace are the most blessed souls !

[odyssey045]

Originally Posted by coolmel

Is this some research based thread particularly for Bengaluru public? Looks like from the kind of posts its received.

Not really.. just curious! On one hand while the importance of public transport is emphasized to reduce traffic and the bangalore bus transport corporation coming up with innovations like "bus day", the traffic only seems to increase on the roads..

We grumble, mumble and get angry regarding traffic on the roads but we still flaunt our cars contributing to the whole mess.. Indian roads are inherently not equipped to handle very large volumes of traffic.. Hence we end up building fly overs and widen roads to accomodate more cars, but at some point of time all this is not going to have any effect.. Mega cities like mumbai and new york have already reached saturation point and people have started to abandon their cars and take the public transport (MRTS) .

[pratyush6]

Originally Posted by odyssey045;3211364

Mega cities like mumbai and new york have already reached saturation point and people have started to abandon their cars and take the public transport (MRTS) .

Well in terms of saturation, Indian Metros did reach the saturation point quite some time back. We need to change things now. Plan for the next 50 years rather than the 2 years we plan currently.

Why I don't use Public Transport: I did use Public Transport for a whole year when I was commuting from Baswanagudi to EGL (Domlur). It involved taking an auto to a place where I could catch a bus and then the apporox 90 minute journey to EGL and finally a 700m walk to the office. It made sense as my office cabs dropped me on my way back.

Later my office shifted to ITPL Road and then I tried to come by bus for a week or so. I use to start around 8:15 and never ever reached before 10:30. I started using my own transport and the journey time dropped to 45 min to 1 hour. After that I have never used Buses. Now I commute mostly at odd hours (start at 7am and leave around 4:30, if I am late I leave after 8:30pm) to beat traffic and my commute time is mostly around 45 mins to 1 hour.

I would 'love' to take Public Transport once its efficient and comfortable. If we had metros all over Bangalore, honestly most of the people here would happily leave our cars at home. But the sad reality is that BMTC in-spite of charging crazy bus fares is unreliable, late and crowded. Why would I 'pay' to use such a service?

[MRAMAB]

With the Traffic on the roads these days it is definitely important to give importance to Public transport, but... People will only use it if it provides a suitable alternative to taking their own car out. I saw a post on Facebook the other day about a system setup in Gujrat (Ahmedabad i believe) where there is a lane specially created in the Center of the road for Busses only and is blocked for other vehicles with barricades. Such a system could definately reduce the travel time, especially in Bangalore for routes like Hebbal to Whitefield or to Electronic City i feel would make a lot of difference.

Why i don't take Public transport: I work in White field and live in Vidyaranyapura, get company transportation (Not that i like it but i do not have any other alternative). If i have to go by bus to whitefield i would have to change 3 busses which would take a lot of time and they would probably take more travel time to reach whitefield than my company cab.
I am waiting for the day Metro is launched from Hebbal to whitefield, so can park my vehicle in the Multi Level Car Park and take the metro to office..

[RGK]

Originally Posted by MRAMAB

With the Traffic on the roads these days it is definitely important to give importance to Public transport, but... People will only use it if it provides a suitable alternative to taking their own car out. I saw a post on Facebook the other day about a system setup in Gujrat (Ahmedabad i believe) where there is a lane specially created in the Center of the road for Busses only and is blocked for other vehicles with barricades. Such a system could definately reduce the travel time, especially in Bangalore for routes like Hebbal to Whitefield or to Electronic City i feel would make a lot of difference.

That is called BRTS - Bus Rapid Transit System where the bus is given a central lane without any hindrance and the bus stop is common for the two directions. A wonderful and an easy implementation system. The basic requirement is the width of the road. I think it has to be minimum of 150 feet. Ahmedabad has done it successfully mainly because of the corruption free government.

I was a regular bus traveller in the AC bus to the OMR between 2009-2012. Infact I met top transport officials to introduce more AC services and they obliged and opened many services. Today 40 AC buses are dedicated to OMR.

Why I dont use now: My office got changed to Velachery and I prefer two wheeler as there is no direct bus and also no AC ones.

Dust, Poor accessibility (claiming 37 steps to get into EMU train is horrible), Shortage of pedestrian paths refrain people to use public transport eventhough many like to do it. Hope Chennai Metro takes care of this and they have to have good parking, entry/exit paths and interchange facilities.

[am1m]

In some time, perhaps not in 5, or maybe not even 10 years, but someday, we'll see a thread on 'why I have no choice but to use public transport', at least for Bangalore.

I'm lucky that my commute is relatively short (~12km). I'm also lucky that I have 3 different alternatives to commute (Bike/Car, Bus and Metro (not all the way, but partly)). I usually use the bike to commute. The bike takes me an average of 30 minutes one way, the bus takes an average of 80 minutes and the Metro commute (which includes a 4 km bike ride to the Byapanahalli Metro station and a 2.5 km walk of 30 minutes to office from the MG Road Metro station) takes an average of 65 minutes (yes, I've timed them whenever I get the chance, to get actual data ). On the rare occasions that I take the car, I don't bother to time it, because it's a real nightmare to drive in this city! (I haven't used an auto in years, because I'd don't have the patience to deal with those idiots!)

I'll be the first to agree that public transport is not a great option at least in Bangalore. The bus frequency is bad in the evenings, and the Metro involves additional travel to get to and from the stations, which can be a real pain.

But here's the thing: the public transport scene has and will get better, while the 'own-vehicle-commute' scene will only continue to get worse.

I still travel to office on almost the same route that I used to travel to school (I still live in the same area where I grew up and two of my companies of the past 9 years are located in the CBD, not even a kilometer away from where I went to school for 10 years). Having seen the bus service then and now, I can honestly say that BMTC has improved. Yes, it has not kept up with the growth of the City, but the bus service was not exactly great 20 years ago on that route either. Now there's the Metro which can certainly be a great commuting experience, once completed.

On the other hand, what has really gone to the dogs has been the driving/riding experience on that route. And from what I see everyday, no amount of education/awareness campaigns, etc. is going to make that improve ever. It's not that the well-dressed executive in the expensive car behind me doesn't realize the futility of honking every 2 seconds when he can clearly see that there's a long line of vehicles in front, he just doesn't care. It's not that the idiot riding his bike on the footpath, barely 100 meters away from a police station doesn't know it's wrong, he doesn't give a damn. It's not that there isn't money to repair even what is supposed to be Bangalore's showpiece MG Road, but there will still be craters in front of The Oberoi. Since the factors preventing an improvement in this situation are nothing but internal and cultural, I don't have a hope of them improving ever. (And I haven't even mentioned what happens when it rains, did anyone else have to wade through the mini-lake that formed on Old Airport Road during last night's rain?!)

What will prompt people to migrate to public transport will be when they reach their threshold with this mess. As an example, I've reached mine. I've started taking the Metro on Fridays. Once the next two stations open, the walk from the nearest station to work will be cut down from the present 2.5 km to a breezy 1 km, that too through Cubbon Park and I'll take the Metro everyday, can't wait! 5 years ago, I would have worked anywhere, the location of a company was not a factor. Now, the main thing that's keeping me with this firm is the knowledge that the Metro is a viable alternative for the commute.

I realize that people have different thresholds- as evinced by the fact that people still fight the insane traffic and wait in line for parking on Saturday nights at the Forum, simply to pay infladed ticket prices to watch something like Chennai Express! (SRK fans, please don't jump all over me, I'm not dissing your taste, just making a point here, please take the example in the context of the thread.) And not everyone will have the option of taking the Metro, even after it gets done. But I theorize that many, many more of us, will start looking for alternatives here and there. I'm sure it's already started for many of you. Making a choice to work here and not there because of the commute. Seriously trying out car-pooling. Adjusting work hours. Shifting to a company that allows work-from home. Slowly the number of people willing to do these will have to increase beacuse the alternative of riding/driving has become too much to take.

There's a long way to go before a 'mass-threshold-breach' though- labour is cheap, more people will hire drivers, people will buy bigger SUVs to insulate themselves further and increase the comfort of the commute (but the roads won't be getting wider anytime soon), companies will continue to support fleets of rowdies moonlighting as cabbies who break every road rule in sight, we the IT-middle-class will start accepting more and more strange scenes on the road as normal. Still a long way to go before the drama of the private-vehicle-commute plays out to it's inexorable end.

It would be great if the public transport scene also improved dramatically, instead of in small steps (the carrot of good public transport along with the stick of worsening private transport), but I don't have too much hope of that. What I'm saying is that even if that doesn't happen, the way the private ride scene is getting more toxic each day, a lot of us will, sooner or later, start finding it worth while to take public transport in some form or for some part of the distance.

[Imran Ahmad Ali]

Greetings

I live in chandigarh and well there simply isn't a need to use public transport because traffic is usually managed well and distances are short ! In chandigarh if you have a car/bike you don't need the public transport unless you don't have a vehicle at your disposal . The bus service is good ( of what I've heard ) there are Ac busses and non Ac busses you see on a minute to minute basis , every public place has an auto stand, rickshaw stand and taxi stands. You even have good and efficient dial a cabs and dial an auto service .
When we get visitors and they ask us how far is xyz place for us far is 20 minutes and when I am in delhi it's takes me a good half an hour just getting out of my locality . So when the need arises CHANDIGARH will be ready for it . Even started working on a metro or something I heard .
Best wishes
Imran

[ssmani]

My office is 8 KMs away from my home on GST Road(Grand south trunk road, fast track in Chennai). I had tried all types of public transport:

1. Train - Just two stops away, but need to catch company shuttle from Railway station to office complex (Mahindra world city, a big SEZ). Time taken: typically 40 minutes

2. Bus - Public bus crowded, again, company shuttle from main road. Time taken approximately 30 minutes.

3. Volvo Bus - volvo bus frequency not able to guess, only one bus between 8 and 9 AM. It takes 10 minutes since these buses drops at company gate, walking to bus stand 10 minutes.

4. Share auto - Many people use this facility, my worry is safety!!! still most convenient among public transport. Need to take company shuttle from main road (Share autos are not allowed by local autos at main gate, so that local autos will get business).

By car: Hardly 8 minutes to reach office, works out cheaper than Volvo or bus + local auto!!! I don't find any reason to take public transport unless I get volvo bus for daily commute.

[StrangeWizard]

My college is around 15 kms from home one way.
If I go by local train it is the 5th station from the one where I reside.
Everyone knows how is the rush on our famous trains in any hour plus added benefits like free body massage everyday, chances of injuries, cuts and bruises and ofcourse the occasional mobile/wallet theft.
I also have a patellar dislocation problem in my knee and until I get my MPFL reconstruction surgery done don't wanna take any chances.

Tried traveling by ac bus for some days but these are really irregular and anyways the route got changed recently.

End result - converted my car to cng!
While traveling by trains I used to spend 30+30 bucks for rickshaw to and fro station + train first class pass.
I spend 75-80 bucks on cng daily so the monthly costs turn out to be almost same.
Plus I travel at my own convenience with ac, more comfort and at my own time.

[appu.bhandari]

My store is in koramangala, the travel distance to and fro is just 13 km and I usually take a two wheeler or car depending on the time I leave and the day(weekend traffic situation is better).

Why I don't take the available public transport is because of
Irregular timings and virtually no service after 9 - 9:30 pm incase of bus.
Auto I always try to avoid, as a member mentioned in his post, I too don't have the patience to deal with them. I doubt I have met a well behaved auto drivers till now. It's always the same excuse, 1and half or 20 rs over the meter. The pre-paid auto stand also doesn't serve it's purpose. Many a times after taking auto from the stand, these drivers stop near the micro factory area and ask for extra. If refused they just ask us to get down.