[nikhilarni]

Not Surprising at All. Imagine the colossal waste of time and resources by being stuck in that traffic.

This thing happened to me. I was visiting my parents in Bangalore last year, ( they live near Columbia Asia Hospital , Whitefield ) and went to see my sister near IIM ( Banergatta Road ).

I remember leaving from my sister's house at 6 am to beat the traffic while going back to my parents house. I got boxed in at the Marathahalli flyover and ended up in the wrong lane and basically had to go back all the way till Sarjapur Flyover and turn back.
That cost me over 3 hours and it was frustrating.

I actually moved out of Bombay to Pune in 2013 primarily because of the traffic. I used to drive from Malad ( w) to Seepz, which would take me about an hour and half in the morning and over 2 hours to return, all for a distance of 13 odd Kms.

In that comparison ( back in 2013), Pune felt like a breeze while driving from Balewadi to Hinjewadi Phase 3 for the same 13 Kms. It would take me about 30 odd mins in the morning and about 40 odd mins to return. Then things got progressively worse :(

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

In your post, you seem to defend the actions of two wheel riders and that's sad. Do you realise that haphazard driving and riding is what leads to the congestion. If everyone just sticks to their lanes and respects other fellow road users, we wouldn't have the sort of congestion we face at the moment.

Nowhere have i defended actions of 2 wheelers. Am sorry if you felt that was the objective of my post.
My intention was not to defend the bikers but show how meaningless the quoted post was where everyone on 2-3 wheels were generalized and blamed while conveniently ignoring the ill effects the single occupancy cars seem to have on traffic.

Two wheelers cannot balance and ride in a steady way as expected from the cars. Especially in bumper to bumper traffic it could be challenging for a few. That said, I would never speak for people who ride on footpaths, jump signals or swing in front of cars without any indication. I myself have confronted such people but they never learn.

The main intention of my earlier post was to highlight the baselessness in generalizing entire 2-3 wheelers and wanting to ban them. Just imagine the extent of traffic that would be resulted in if each of the riders brought out their cars alone just like you! (again you means not you exactly, just clarifying).
Hence, i feel the whole concept as to why there's so much traffic is somehow flawed as per a few members' assumptions.

Ps: i know the arguments are hypothetical and so are my responses in such cases.

[gururajrv]

No, don’t worry everyone, Government, metro have planned a wonderful future for our kids who will have expressways and wider roads minus all the big green trees that’s surrounding us for now

PS:
Damn man, Thanos was always right! Humans are eating up the planet and the pics shown here on this thread is a testimony to it!

[McLaren Rulez]

And the Pope is Catholic!

We all knew Bangalore was going to win this by a mile (that would be covered in a leisurely three to four hours), didn't we?

[AppyS]

I'm so proud of my city, traffic jams in Ecospace have taught me how to practice "The Subtle Art of Not giving a F*", more than Mark Manson's book itself. In 2015 i burnt my clutch on the ramp inside ecospace, stuck for 2.5 hrs to get to the main gate. Now I own an automatic, know how to take power naps in jams, meditate and appreciate all the 4kmph runs in the city on workdays.

[vibbs]

Sorry for adding into the 4 wheeler vs 2 wheeler debate. But honestly, in India I feel the only reason we dont see too many 4 wheelers cut in and out of the traffic as compared to 2 wheelers is because they cant.

The basic mentality of majority drivers/riders is the same. Save time and make your way by hook or crook. 2 Wheelers are able to squeeze in more due to their sizes but Cars are unable to do. All equally to blame for the mess we are in!

[locusjag]

I wonder how many Bangaloreans have taken to bicycling. Your weather is largely conducive to exertion. In Chennai's sunny days, just being outdoors is exertion enough - leave alone bicycling to office.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by locusjag

I wonder how many Bangaloreans have taken to bicycling.

I used to cycle to my in-law's quite often. Was just 7 km and I used to get there much faster than even using the motorbike, forget driving. But had a few close calls with buses and bad roads.

I see quite a few people cycling to work, hats off to them! No one driving/riding in this city treats cyclists (or pedestrians) well unfortunately, it's really quite risky to cycle everyday here.

[megazoid]

Took out my twenty year old fiero and rode around with all the right gear ofcourse on ORR and stuck to lanes and occupied one car space behind the front car and crawled ahead in a straight line in peak traffic. Many people were ok with it. The cars behind me were kind of surprised but they didnt bother and stuck behind me. A few folks laughed at my plight and lack of skill. Most bikers used my car space for a temporary hiatus before launching themsleves ahead. This exercise was to see if I could ride in a lane without daredevilry. Seems possible. Lots of things to fix really and it needs to start with some town planning first and road design later.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by abhi7013

Nowhere have i defended actions of 2 wheelers. Am sorry if you felt that was the objective of my post.
My intention was not to defend the bikers but show how meaningless the quoted post was where everyone on 2-3 wheels were generalized and blamed while conveniently ignoring the ill effects the single occupancy cars seem to have on traffic.

Two wheelers cannot balance and ride in a steady way as expected from the cars. Especially in bumper to bumper traffic it could be challenging for a few.

I understand the point you are trying to make, and it's certainly a valid one.

However, you must consider that the statement made by our friend on banning was merely a knee-jerk reaction to the torture we are forced to endure. I have nothing personal against three-wheeler and two-wheelers! It's only the way they conduct themselves on the road.

If you see the tenor and tone of the post you'd replied to, it's a statement that was made obviously out of sheer frustration. Weaving through traffic dangerously is one thing, but violating the law with impunity is another thing altogether. And forgive me for generalizing, but MAJORITY of the two wheelers and three wheelers behave like the road / gap / footpath / space between cars is theirs. And ferrying the entire family on two wheels is just downright irresponsible! Use the public transport facilities available to you!

And I don't know about other cities, but I can tell you for a fact that Bangalore has pretty decent public transport facilities. Although we have two cars in our garage and two more at my parents' place, I use public transport everyday. And when I say public transport I mean regular BMTC buses. I also use Metros and I do hail the occasional autorickshaw.

BMTC is considering retiring certain buses from their fleet because they are not used enough! Why do people use two wheels to ferry their parents, children and their dog, even though public transport is available? There's one answer - convenience.

And when I say convenience, I don't mean that the public transport facilities are not convenient! It's that these people want to use their two wheels, fill 3 litres of fuel for the day, drop and pick up members of their family, and park their wheels where ever they'd like. They plan their lives in such ways that they ought not be inconvenienced even the slightest.

Again, I am not condemning ownership of two wheels or even four. Even I have a car at home for the sake of convenience and for the occasional long drive out of the city, but these chaps should try and do something to reduce the congestion and one way to do that is to use the public transport facilities available to the public!

This reminds me of a popular saying: The mark of a developed country is not when the poor can buy cars or bikes, it's when the rich and privileged use public transport.

Food for thought.

[abhi7013]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

I understand the point you are trying to make, and it's certainly a valid one.

However, you must consider that the statement made by our friend on banning was merely a knee-jerk reaction to the torture we are forced to endure. I have nothing personal against three-wheeler and two-wheelers! It's only the way they conduct themselves on the road.

This reminds me of a popular saying: The mark of a developed country is not when the poor can buy cars or bikes, it's when the rich and privileged use public transport.

Food for thought.

I understand, that is why i mentioned it to be hypothetical.
Anyways speaking of your quote in italics, i wholeheartedly agree and even use them frequently (right from my college days to commuting to office on certain days when i am up and ready a bit early!).

People could either look the other way and say that public transport is not upto the mark without even trying properly to use them. I find metro and BMTC to be very convenient but the only thing you need to do is manage your time accordingly.

I always find BMTC to be full in peak hours and its a good feeling to see the sheer number of people using them. But I didn't know that the government wanted to do away with some buses. Maybe its because they are pretty old and not because of lack of demand?

[am1m]

Depending on the traffic, I sometimes ride to work and sometimes take the car.

When I'm riding, I curse the cars and to me it seems like they're all elderly, slow-moving road-hogs.

When I'm driving, I curse the bikes and to me they seem like rash, suicidal teenagers.

But of course, I'm neither of those!

Whoever came up with this got it bang on - "you're not stuck in traffic mate, you ARE the traffic!"

(actually had posted this a long time ago on the rants thread, couldn't resist posting again!)

[PrideRed]

Ok I am repeating this, the major reason for traffic chaos in Bangalore is bad planning, which to me can be corrected to good extent even now. Traffic violators are there everywhere in all forms.

Remove those illogical U turns. Travelling 5KM extra is fine, if will reduces traffic.

Those Bus stops are bang on the road. Every Bus stop is a problem creator.

The buses/trucks should not be allowed in narrow 2 lane roads. There is simply not enough space for these mammoths.

New techpark construction on already busy areas should be stopped.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

I have nothing personal against three-wheeler and two-wheelers! It's only the way they conduct themselves on the road.

And I'm sure I can quote on behalf of @abhi7013 that he's got nothing personal against 4 wheelers; but that isn't the point.

Point is we need to understand from a statistical standpoint (when we say majority/minority/most/etc), 2/3/4 all wheelers flout the rules in abundance. Reasons are many! Because we don't have governance. We lack patience. Unfortunately this habitual aspect, it's now ingrained in us; irrespective of whichever bucket we fall in (2/3/4 wheeler).

Get a bunch of 2 wheelers (as a daily transport vehicle) on this thread and they'll give a list of misgivings against car owners and the rules they break. For e.g. I see so many cars going from left lane to right most turn at every signal and breaking rules in abundance! Yes - the % is lesser because it's more "risky" and prone to get caught as a 4 wheeler than a 2 wheeler. Also the # of 2 wheelers are much much more than 4 wheelers.

If we get truck drivers on to this thread, man - will they be able to paint a sorry picture of 4 and 2 wheelers or what!

Till we have governance, and have patience on an individual level to follow the rules, we will continue to see the mess on the roads. Threads like these are a re-confirmation of the short stick of our patience! And while we need to understand that we can not change the actions of the average rider on the road, we can surely amend our patience and expectation levels till hopefully things improve for the better (NammaMetro@2024 zindabad)

Originally Posted by suhaas307

This reminds me of a popular saying: The mark of a developed country is not when the poor can buy cars or bikes, it's when the rich and privileged use public transport.

Food for thought.

Food for thought indeed! Here's some - while we always refer to EU countries for the way to emulate, here's a point to drive the above point - can we aim to be one like them - dispose of your 4 / 2 wheelers and use public transport. Maybe start gradually - depend on 2 wheelers (including cycles) and public transport for a start. Whatever family/work/etc related reasons we can state for the need of the car (or multiple cars if I go by the average bphian), I'm sure there are workarounds available in a city like Bangalore.

Disclaimer - I have!

(although it's a different point how long I can sustain; 7 months and still counting so far!)

[AMG Power]

Bikers are an absolute menace even to those who don't use the road (everyone knows how bad these are on the road)

Here's how pedestrians suffer equally by these unruly ruffians:

Video 1 - City Biker Shaming by school girl teaching them road manners

City biker shaming: video of a school girl teaching city bikers not to use the footpath

Video 2 - Bikers being pulled up by Bangalore residents for being footpath parasites

Bangalore residents move against bikers riding on footpath

Hospital patients also not spared by these inconsiderates!:

Hospital staff stop bikers as they refuse to get off footpath