[ajmat]

Originally Posted by vharihar

(well, *indirect* in the sense that they're likely given a flat amount from which they purchase their own diesel; I may be wrong about KSRTC in this regard, but for TN, I did see a SETC bus I once traveled in, stop in a public diesel pump and fill diesel)

This is because the cost of diesel in a private fleet costs more than buying from a normal bunk if i am correct

[am1m]

Annnnd it was smooth sailing (relatively) from Old Airport Road-Bellandur-Eco World/Space yesterday evening at 6:30pm and this morning at 9:30am. While it was horrible the day before at 11am and post-8pm. Has 'rush hour' shifted?

[strawhat]

Yesterday after visiting my friend, I returned by NICE Road using PES College ORR intersection entry. It was great to drive with sparse traffic until we joined Tumkur Road-Hosur Road. Pleasure quickly turned to frustration after facing heavy truck traffic and mindless overtaking by flash happy bully's. It was so annoying to encounter slow moving trucks sticking to the right most line. As if that was not enough, at several places there were trucks running in parallel forcing us to use the two wheeler line to overtake.

After paying more than the regular NH toll fee, we get substandard roads that are not conducive to high speed drives. On top of it the traffic is ill-disciplined to use such "expressways". What was on display there is no different from what we have come to expect and see on ordinary roads except the speeds are higher making the commute even more erratic and dangerous. The same "rules be damned" mentality of the motorists coupled with their supercars trying to revive scenes from Fast and Furious.

The management can learn a lot from Hyderabad's ORR. It may not be feasible now to upgrade it to an 8-liner but it is possible to implement watertight rules effective throughout ORR. For instance, I received challans for breaking the speed limit there by just 5kmph. This is being followed without exceptions. Such strict enforcement is necessary.

[binand]

Originally Posted by strawhat

at several places... forcing us to use the two wheeler line to overtake[...] On top of it the traffic is ill-disciplined to use such "expressways"

Isn't this rather hypocritical?

[KiloAlpha]

Originally Posted by strawhat

... forcing us to use the two wheeler line to overtake.

Originally Posted by binand

Isn't this rather hypocritical?

That isn't a "two wheeler line", it is the shoulder. And no, nobody forced you to use it. You chose to drive on it. You must never drive on the shoulder - it is dangerous. Just because you see everyone doing it, no excuse for you to do it as well (haven't we heard this a zillion times from our parents while growing up??).

Yes, I agree, NICE road traffic is maddening. Please be patient. By using that road, you still shave off a substantial amount of journey time.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by strawhat

Yesterday after visiting my friend, I returned by NICE Road using PES College ORR intersection entry. It was great to drive with sparse traffic until we joined Tumkur Road-Hosur Road. Pleasure quickly turned to frustration after facing heavy truck traffic and mindless overtaking by flash happy bully's. It was so annoying to encounter slow moving trucks sticking to the right most line. As if that was not enough, at several places there were trucks running in parallel forcing us to use the two wheeler line to overtake.

After paying more than the regular NH toll fee, we get substandard roads that are not conducive to high speed drives. On top of it the traffic is ill-disciplined to use such "expressways". What was on display there is no different from what we have come to expect and see on ordinary roads except the speeds are higher making the commute even more erratic and dangerous. The same "rules be damned" mentality of the motorists coupled with their supercars trying to revive scenes from Fast and Furious.

The management can learn a lot from Hyderabad's ORR. It may not be feasible now to upgrade it to an 8-liner but it is possible to implement watertight rules effective throughout ORR. For instance, I received challans for breaking the speed limit there by just 5kmph. This is being followed without exceptions. Such strict enforcement is necessary.

What you drove on isn't a 2-wheeler lane. It's the shoulder. You're *not* supposed to drive on it. You can stay parked on it in an emergency only (breakdown, etc). Pls don't drive on it, even if both lanes are blocked ahead of you and you see others driving on the shoulder.

But I see your point and fully agree. Traffic on NICE Rd is totally indisciplined and no cops are there to catch people. HYD ORR is a zillion times better.

Well, what can I say, Karnataka is a failed state and Bangalore is an overgrown village in my opinion, which is an opinion formed after living 25 years in Pune/Mumbai, and 7 years in Bangalore.

[wildsdi5530]

Originally Posted by aspire

Yes, BMTC has an incentive program for higher ridership, this is what causes the unruly behaviour of these bus drivers.

Are you sure about this incentive system? Few drivers and conductors I've spoken to have claimed that the reason they drive rashly is that they need to punch the clock. If they are late, their salaries are docked. It is very unfair to ask a government employee to work harder to earn incentive. The whole idea of a govt. job is to work without deadlines.
But In Bangalore, with IT culture anything is possible. Cops are paid an incentive depending on the fines collected, that's why they are more interested in catching offenders than regulating traffic. In fact a lot of traffic jams are due to their collection drives.

[aspire]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

Are you sure about this incentive system? Few drivers and conductors I've spoken to have claimed that the reason they drive rashly is that they need to punch the clock.

Please see at Silkboard during the daytime, huge line of 500 series buses will be there, there was an article in times of India about the incentive system, maybe it is for Volvo, don’t recall exactly.

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

Are you sure about this incentive system? Few drivers and conductors I've spoken to have claimed that the reason they drive rashly is that they need to punch the clock.

Originally Posted by aspire

Please see at Silkboard during the daytime, huge line of 500 series buses will be there, there was an article in times of India about the incentive system, maybe it is for Volvo, don’t recall exactly.

I may be wrong but AFAIK, it is to punch the clock as well as to get incentives. They are supposed to complete 'n' number of trips in the shift they are working and to achieve that target and make up for the time lost due to traffic, they drive rash and try to find each and every available gap on the road, sometimes causing choc-a-block traffic.

Also the conductors are given set of tickets before the shift starts and if they achieve a certain number in terms of amount, then they are rewarded with incentives.

[HalfOctave]

As posted earlier, here is a BMTC bus coming wrong way! As discussed earlier, I fail to understand the motivation of BMTC in taking the shortcut. What hurry are they in?

http://youtu.be/xZQQIlwVRxA

[jphukan]

Bharat Bandh related: Any thoughts on whether it would be safe to take our personal cars out or just do work from home if that option is available?

[dark.knight]

Originally Posted by jphukan

Bharat Bandh related: Any thoughts on whether it would be safe to take our personal cars out or just do work from home if that option is available?

Its a wait and watch situation.. this city might be more pro-bandh than the other cities for obvious reasons, so don't believe your sources if it comes from Mumbai or Delhi. Its sure going to be wait and watch.

I plan to leave early or on foot early (office is 2km away). Ubers might keep away after 7.30-8 AM, autos WILL keep away after 9 (critical vote-bank so they usually fully support and enforce whatever is being implemented).

For those that can avoid the usual office trip, please go ahead, you'd only be doing yourself and the roads a favor. The news is that disturbances, chants and semi-violent protests have already begun this evening in central areas. Schools are open few and far between (saw in news) so I really am confused. Ah heck, not worth an encounter with nefarious elements if we dare drive out in our own vehicles.

[drive2eternity]

Originally Posted by jphukan

Bharat Bandh related: Any thoughts on whether it would be safe to take our personal cars out or just do work from home if that option is available?

Originally Posted by dark.knight

Its a wait and watch situation...

I came to office on my usual time, in my car. The major difference today morning was that no BMTC buses are running. This gave ample opportunity to the private buses and Tempo travelers to ferry passengers. The benefit of it was - No crawls at any bus stops. Smooth flowing traffic, allowing me to be in office before the usual time. However, there did seem to be more cabs and personal cars on the road.
Additionally, I did not see any school buses on the roads, so probably, schools are off in unison.

[hemanth.anand]

There should be a bandh everyday
How calm were the roads and the drive today. Add to it the pleasant temperature of 21 degree centigrade. This was exactly the reason why the city attracted so many people from world over...and hence lost it too
The icing on the cake, ODO of my Polo GT TSI showed and Avg. FE of 17kmpl!

[aroonanand]

Originally Posted by drive2eternity

I came to office on my usual time, in my car. The major difference today morning was that no BMTC buses are running. This gave ample opportunity to the private buses and Tempo travelers to ferry passengers. The benefit of it was - No crawls at any bus stops. Smooth flowing traffic, allowing me to be in office before the usual time. However, there did seem to be more cabs and personal cars on the road.

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

There should be a bandh everyday
How calm were the roads and the drive today.

Exactly same experience as the 2 of you - left home at 830 and reached my office which is 15 kms away in 30 mins flat (this has been taking me anywhere between 70-90 mins in the last 2 months). ORR was such a breeze - no BMTC and hardly any Ola / Ubers - the 2 biggest reasons for jams on Bangalore roads were not there and traffic was free flowing. While these 2 modes are people movers, their contribution to jams is more than the % of people they carry. Saw lot of autos - probably making a killing as there were no other modes of commute.

Schools had declared holiday and hence no school buses on the roads