[procrj]

Originally Posted by livyodream

Any idea towards where is this bridge heading

right into manyata is what i have heard.

[sumannandy]

Originally Posted by lambuhere1

Any update on White Topping Near Hennur - Hebbal Road ?

Hi Guys,

Need to pick up grandmom from relatives places beyond hebbal.

Will be driving from Silk Board to Hebbal via KRP and Hennur

Was wondering on the condition and status of White Topping on Hennur Road Side

Any guidance will be appreciated

White topping work from Hennur to Hebbal is completed (except Manyata Tech Park). There is currently no white topping work.

[SS80]

Looks like white topping woes are not going to end any soon. My cousin was stuck in a hour long jam near Hennur under pass today, post that my friend sent me this below pic from today's newspaper. The entire outer ring road was a big mess last year due to this reason, now its time for the underpasses.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

I think most people who have regular timings are already on public transport or using company transport.

Check out the parking lots of any of the IT parks on the ORR. And the morning traffic jams. There's no shortage of single-passenger private vehicles. My very own company transport runs at 60% capacity at best. People skip it in the morning and take a private cab, then take the company cab back in the afternoon. It's becoming a HR issue because people are not spending even 4 hours at work. And we moved to this accursed office space on the ORR (from the CBD near a metro station) 'to improve collaboration'. What a joke! BTW, company cabs and Uber/Ola are not public transport, they are part of the problem.

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

This public transport is just another money making machine for the government. BMTC has been making profits for several years now, Likewise metro. If it was really for the public, it would have been subsidized.

Why should public transport be cheap? If it makes profits great!

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

I know that it is the politically correct thing to say that public transport needs to be developed, but unfortunately it will not make life any easier for anyone.

Not about being politically correct, think about the pollution levels in cities, the very air you and your family breathe. The stress, the time spent just sitting in a car on the road. Yes, like the Delhi Metro has shown, a good public transport system may not de-congest the roads, BUT it will give (those who choose to use it) a saner alternative and a better quality of life.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

BMTC has been making profits for several years now, Likewise metro.

BTW, both seem to be factually inaccurate. BMRCL reported an 'operational profit', but overall they are about 600 crore in the red. Likewise, BMTC has seen it's revenues decline and they are not doing great these days either.

Irrespective, that's not the point, it would be great if both were run for profit and ultimately that must be the goal, if they are to survive and provide an alternative to the absolutely delightful experience of Bangalore road traffic.

Yes, the government, and us more fortunate users, need to think about the less fortunate residents of this city as well and perhaps some form of subsidized ticket rate/pass can be worked out for those users.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by wildsdi5530

I think most people who have regular timings are already on public transport or using company transport.

And those who have end-to-end connectivty via BMTC. It doesn't help if I have to travel 3Km and then wait to catch a bus.

This public transport is just another money making machine for the government. BMTC has been making profits for several years now, Likewise metro. If it was really for the public, it would have been subsidized.

Metro is a monoply but they run their service efficiently. BMTC is a monoply. It is run for driver-conductor and their management's employment rather than for public service. Whenever they run, public make use of it.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by msdivy

And those who have end-to-end connectivty via BMTC. It doesn't help if I have to travel 3Km and then wait to catch a bus.

Agreed, no bus/metro service can have end-to-end connectivity. If the autos ran as they are supposed to do in Bangalore, that would be the perfect solution. But they don't.

Guys, the point is not about debating the obviously imperfect public transport system we have today versus the obviously more convenient private transportation solution that we, all of us on this forum, are managing for ourselves. It's about the long-term viability of the one over the other, given that the city and it's population are going to keep growing exponentially.

So does it make sense to start shifting focus to a holistic public transport system that includes zoning, concentrating office space in a densely populated CBD serviced well by a metro system and with disincentives for private transport, last mile solutions, and everything like that. None of it is rocket science, several world cities have good working models.

Or keep sinking money into never-ending road-related infra projects that cause worse road traffic conditions while they (take forever) to complete and are full as soon as they get completed.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Metro is a monopoly but they run their service efficiently. BMTC is a monopoly. It is run for driver-conductor and their management's employment rather than for public service. Whenever they run, public make use of it.

To have a profitable public utility transportation service is a good thing if you ask me. I acknowledge that the BMTC is only operationally profitable, but to achieve even that is a huge deal. It means that the BMTC is providing services to the public commensurate or higher than the existing demand, with men and machines in good working condition.

You should contrast this with Tamil Nadu's sick transport corporations. Most employees seek passive desk jobs from which they'd abscond or moonlight as real estate agents; a recent report says that the ruling party's affiliated Union will almost always assign all its members to these desk jobs. This means that in Tamil Nadu, there aren't enough drivers and conductors to meet the public's demand for transportation. There aren't enough mechanics to maintain the buses in working order. The rickety buses that do run are way below comfort levels for the paying public so they use their own vehicles, myself included. It is little wonder that Tamil Nadu's transport corporations ("kazhagams") are perpetually loss-making. So Chennai has a ticking time bomb in the form of the 3rd highest vehicle population behind NCR and Bangalore.

Here's the kicker: to back-fill the driving and conductor positions left unfulfilled by the Union members, drivers on medical leave with permanent disabilities (who can't be removed from the payrolls) are being made to drive MTC buses in Chennai. How's that for an eye for safety? There's a driver with paralysis in his left leg and arm who is being forced to drive an MTC bus as per a news report!

@ All

Did you notice the recent news about the Parking fees deducted from employees' salaries in Infosys' Hyderabad office? I wonder if this is a thing now and if companies in Bangalore are also latching on to it. It seems rather intuitive for companies in Bangalore to do it too, in fact.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by locusjag

Did you notice the recent news about the Parking fees deducted from employees' salaries in Infosys' Hyderabad office? I wonder if this is a thing now and if companies in Bangalore are also latching on to it. It seems rather intuitive for companies in Bangalore to do it too, in fact.

Infosys of all people shouldn't nickel and dime their employees like this. They locate their campuses miles outside city limits to save money, and then run a very inadequate bus service that's already priced quite high but doesn't cover nearly all the parts of the city so people need to head out at 5:30 to catch a 6 AM bus.

And then the locations they are based out of are very badly served by regular public transport so you might need to change buses or trains at least once.

If they add insult to injury by charging employees to park cars and two wheelers I am not sure that is going to add to the already rock bottom employee morale there given all the other stringent rules they have on dress code, work from home etc.

In fact they are almost in the position of a monopoly regarding the means to reach their offices, in many a case. So this charging for parking is not appropriate.

[Chetan_Rao]

Parking charges at office are going to become mainstream soon. There just aren't enough slots in basements in IT campuses, and nobody's going to waste expensive real estate building open parking lots.

A bunch of factors, ignored in isolation, are slowly coming together to cause an unavoidable transport situation along IT corridors. Inadequate public transport, means more private vehicles, means inadequate parking options, means the need for deterrents, means back to square one. Ad infinitum.

Cars will be added to roads faster than roads can be built, so it's a lost cause. Bangalore authorities are spending a ton of money on road widening and pointless white-topping when every penny and ounce of effort should be diverted to the Metro, but then I don't know where the money is, do I?

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by locusjag

To have a profitable public utility transportation service is a good thing if you ask me. I acknowledge that the BMTC is only operationally profitable, but to achieve even that is a huge deal. It means that the BMTC is providing services to the public commensurate or higher than the existing demand, with men and machines in good working condition.

Unfortunately not. Public transport in Bangalore has never been providing services more than the demand. Neither are the men/women and machines in good condition. Perhaps, compared to some other cities it can be better, but it still is far from appreciation, especially in the last few years. Ten years back was the golden time for BMTC. We had brand new buses, brand new Volvos under JNNURM, old buses were scrapped and even ideas like an Air conditioned bus stop. But after that, things took a downward trend. The new buses were never maintained properly and struggled to live, Volvos which have lived so long in the hands of private operators broke down under the maintenance of the most incompetent maintenance efforts from the BMTC, buses which were written off were brought back to service to fill the absence of the newer buses which were not working. Procurement of Volvos reduced.


Irrational planning of routes, contracts and inefficient services have just added to the black sludge on the BMTC. All in all, if anyone recommends them over taking my car to work, I would do it only if that person has endured the same for more than a month. And if someone wants to charge me for parking my car in this scenario, I would prefer not to work for them. When such measures are taken by governments, people protest as if it is killing them. But when the same is done by a corporate, it is applauded.

[speedmiester]

There is a huge crane blocking the road just in front of Sony world junction Koramangala.
This is on the road leading to Wipro Park from National Games.


Expect major jams around the area.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by audioholic

And if someone wants to charge me for parking my car in this scenario, I would prefer not to work for them.

That, in fact, is actually one of the most effective measures that we can take. It's going to be very, very hard to do of course, but if a significant number of people do quit companies or just refuse job offers from companies that are located in hard to reach areas - this is already happening to some extent with companies in the ORR - they will certainly be under some pressure to do something about it.

Companies cannot wash their hands off the issue they have created and say it's up to the government to do something. For example, the government didn't say there has to be only one road going in and out of every massive tech park on the ORR. That was the greed of the developer who didn't want to allocate enough space for alternate roads. They are also very responsible for the mess that is ORR traffic in Bangalore.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Perhaps, compared to some other cities it can be better, but it still is far from appreciation, especially in the last few years.

I've been using the buses in Bangalore on and off from childhood. Used to go to school everyday and even these days I catch a bus at least once a week to get to certain areas. This is not to defend the BMTC, but trust me, it is still MILES better than what the BTS used to be. It certainly hasn't kept up with the growth of the city, true. It certainly isn't as convenient as a private vehicle, sure, but then no public transport option can do that.

[binand]

Originally Posted by audioholic

And if someone wants to charge me for parking my car in this scenario, I would prefer not to work for them.

Maybe this is the intention. At least a planned side effect. Cheaper and less of a PR problem than lay offs.

[hserus]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Parking charges at office are going to become mainstream soon. There just aren't enough slots in basements in IT campuses, and nobody's going to waste expensive real estate building open parking lots.

That is the headache of Infy / TCS / Cognizant etc. If they want to hire employees by paying peanuts and nickel and diming them, and then bill their foreign clients in dollars and pounds that is up to them. But if they squeeze their employees beyond a point they'll just risk driving out all the top talent. The mediocre ones that will find a problem getting hired elsewhere won't quit because of 500 a month to park their car. Top talent will get irritated and leave.

Note - Infosys for example has a campus in Manipal Centre and another in Madiwala, besides the cluster around E City. The top management, finance, sales type people do prefer to be closer to the city centre than worker bees doing coding or testing I guess.

Similarly - I used to work at IBM some years back when around 2011 or so they decided to remove their CCD coffee machines that would grind beans to serve coffee, replace them with horrible "premix" based machines where a mix of coffee, milk powder and sugar would be added into hot water to produce a disgusting tasting brown liquid .. and then they decided to make this nasty stuff paid, plus added a process where managers could expense coffee served at meetings or to clients. People just stopped staying late at the office as a result, and that + several other factors (travel restrictions to conferences etc) led to a mass exodus of top talent to other places like Google, Cisco etc. Penny wise pound foolish to put it mildly.

All this is an artefact of making ops and finance people the HR heads of such large IT companies. Once they start calling their employees "resources" there's less of a sense that they're dealing with human beings. I did my MBA in HR. And then came across typical large Indian IT company HR. The difference is quite stark even where the HR has passed out of a top HR institution, and even more so when a finance type gets slung into the HR head post.