[Rocky_Balboa]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Seems like bus corridor work has started.

Got this image shared on another travel group. It's of ORR opposite to Innovative multiplex near Marathahalli it seems.

The bus lanes were planned for right most lane in ORR when they came up with flyovers. Now the left most lane is marked for it. Wonder what chaos it will be once they open it end of this month.

Attachment 1922161

And all the BMTC buses were skipping this lane and creating a bottleneck at that junction - this at 7:30 today morning!

[LonelyPlanet]

Originally Posted by Rocky_Balboa

And all the BMTC buses were skipping this lane and creating a bottleneck at that junction - this at 7:30 today morning!

at 9 am this jam extended close to ISRO Junction !!
Having lived in 2 cities where the BRTS has been a disaster, I am dreading another one.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by Rocky_Balboa

And all the BMTC buses were skipping this lane and creating a bottleneck at that junction - this at 7:30 today morning!

Only the work of demarcating lines has started. Actual pilot run is planned for 20th October with full operations planned for November 1st.

Although as others have mentioned, pretty skeptical about this working on the ground. Having said that, prioritised public transport is one of the best ways to reduce congestion on the roads. With metro a long way away and there are no signs of the suburban railway network being prioritised, the only thing left to work on in the near term is BMTC. For that reason i hope they can figure out a way to address the expected issues and make it atleast partially successful.

[srishiva]

The exit from Bannerghatta side towards silk board was blocked and had to use Dairy circle to travel to ORR.

Bannerghatta road, Hosur road near dairy and Sarjapur road after St Johns are so bad that driving makes you feel guilty for what the car has to go through. Metro has really screwed up the roads at other spots with no drain whatsoever for the rain water.

The worst suffering is for the pedestrians who have no piece of land that can be used to walk on. Crossing the roads for them is also horrible. Not sure anything will improve since nobody is bothered to even protest.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

Seems like bus corridor work has started.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Actual pilot run is planned for 20th October with full operations planned for November 1st.

Interesting, had no idea this was in the works. Googled and found some news articles. Looks like this has been planned for some time.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Having said that, prioritised public transport is one of the best ways to reduce congestion on the roads.

Completely agree, even though I use my car and bike to travel on some part of that stretch. The present situation with private vehicles and cabs is a nightmare.

BUT only if (and that's a big IF) they get it right.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Although as others have mentioned, pretty skeptical about this working on the ground.

Same here. They should ensure that the buses go into the lane properly and into the bus bays first. And am wondering how they will prevent other vehicles and 2-wheelers from entering the bus lane.

Am hopeful, but doubtful at the same time. Let's see how it goes.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

Only the work of demarcating lines has started. Actual pilot run is planned for 20th October with full operations planned for November 1st.

Although as others have mentioned, pretty skeptical about this working on the ground...

Will not work, and BMTC knows it too. It is being done for some other ulterior reasons, but I am past caring our government's antics.

[wildsdi5530]

Originally Posted by hemanth.anand

Buses should stay in Bus lanes only, but other vehicles can come in bus lane to cross over. so nothing much will change. Only change that is expected is that the buses will stay on the left

I admire your sense of humor. And your infinite optimism, I must say.
Buses will be allowed on all lanes and Bus lane will be exclusive with fines for people entering the dedicated bus lane.
The buses I've seen in Bangalore are unable to park at a bus stop and usually park about 10 feet away in the middle of the road, usually at an angle. How are they going to keep between 2 lines?
And foam pillars? Going to be damaged in 2 days.
Or perhaps Ola and Uber have lobbied the govt to create this separate parking stand for them? BMTC will try for a few days and then hand over to the taxi lobby.

[bejoy]

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...le29650235.ece

Trial starts from Oct 20 (Sunday), full fledged from Nov 1.
Bus lane is on the left. Potential chaos at Iblur, where the buses towards Sarjapur road crosses the lanes.

Full-fledged operations from November 1 with introduction of 45 more buses

Bus passengers using Outer Ring Road (ORR) — from Silk Board to S.V. Road — will soon be able to see if the perennial congestion that plagues this stretch has eased.

The trial run of the priority bus lane project for Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) fleet will be launched on October 20 on this stretch.

At the first ever public consultation on the project, BMTC Managing Director C. Shikha said that the trial will help them asses the problems on ground.

Full-fledged operations will start from November 1 with the introduction of 45 more buses on the road.

The consultation, held on Wednesday evening, was attended by members of citizens’ groups, and the public.

Currently, the BMTC operates 768 buses on ORR with 6,596 trips daily.

Every day, nearly 3.5 lakh commuters rely on the buses.

BMTC officials said once the 20-km priority line becomes operational, its daily ridership will increase by nearly 1.5 lakh.

If the project is successful, the average speed of a bus may increase from 7-10 kmph during peak hours to nearly 25 kmph.
Mammoth task ahead

The ORR is notorious for its congested traffic junctions, such as Central Silk Board, Mahadevpura, K.R. Puram railway station and Tin Factory, to name a few.

Providing a priority lane and manning traffic in this area is already a challenge.

At Tin Factory, as part of phase II, BMRCL is building two parallel metro lines — Baiyappanahalli to Whitefield and K.R. Puram to KIA.

Providing a priority lane for buses will be a challenge considering the traffic gridlock in the area.

Officials acknowledge the difficulty of the task but believe that it will be successful if all agencies coordinate with each other. Senior officials of the BMTC, the DULT, the BBMP, the city traffic police have already visited the area and deliberated on how to implement the project.

The BMTC plans to use the left lane of the road to run city buses. Earlier, it had considered operating the priority lane service between Silk Board and Tin Factory, but has now decided to to extend it till S.V. Road.

There are 22 bus stops on the stretch and the BMTC has to provide basic amenities, such as bus bays.

Plan project thoroughly’

Citizens groups, such as Bus Prayanikara Vedike, Samarpana, Whitefield Rising and Citizens for Bengaluru, voiced their concerns and suggestions on the project.

Regular commuters also took part in the meeting. They urged the BMTC to plan the project thoroughly before launching it, given that it’s been in the offing for 10 years.

“If the BMTC fails to implement the priority lane project this time, it is end of the project,” warned a participant.

[audioholic]

The authorities have lost their senses over this bus lane and like many other initiatives, this will be another scam in the guise of making the traffic situation better. First of all, it would have been more sensible to clean up the service roads and ensure that the buses take the service road as much as possible. There is no sense in having bus stops on the main carriageway since that will hamper the flow of traffic and will cause issues when cars have to exit the carriageway. Moreover, hogging close to 1.5 lanes of the carriageway for this will be a disaster and cause gridlocks. Yesterday even in the night traffic flow was affected near Marathahalli.
Let’s consider that this programme wants to give supreme right of way to busses and hence ignore the above view. Even the implementation of the lane is dangerous. Like I mentioned, I got a first hand experience of the stupidity of the people behind this. They have used black boards which Are similar to those used in Tender Sure footpaths, which are completely miss able in the night since they have no reflector or anything in them. And these aren’t even collapsible. If a two wheeler crashes into this, it’s going to be quite bad for the rider. It’s really foolish of someone to use jet black bollards on an unlit road.

[AltoLXI]

BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) between Dharwad-Hubli is operational from the past few months. Whether it was required for the twin cities is a topic for another discussion. Saw the fully implemented operation last week.

1. The dedicated bus lane is right in the middle and allowing other vehicles to cross to the other side. The other vehicles can cross the bus path at these intersections - similar to railway level crossing but without signals.

2. No other vehicles can enter the bus lane. There are security staff at every intersection preventing other vehicles from entering.

3. The regular Bendre buses ply along with other vehicles on the left / right lanes but only the Chigari bus is allowed on BRTS routes.

The implementation between Dharwad / Hubli was made easier as land acquisition was not much of headache as the route passes through less populated areas. In a couple of places where acquisition ran into hindrances, flyovers are built.

Space crunch will render such implementation impossible in Bengaluru.

[500ContyCruiser]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) between Dharwad-Hubli is operational from the past few months. Whether it was required for the twin cities is a topic for another discussion.

I believe you intentionally mentioned in Rant thread. It is best not implemented in Bangalore or any other place!
Instead they could have got monorail or metro in Hubali-Dharwad.

BRTS has created more problems than solving any.

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser

I believe you intentionally mentioned in Rant thread. It is best not implemented in Bangalore or any other place!
Instead they could have got monorail or metro in Hubali-Dharwad.

True. For a population of a 10 lakh or so, dedicated bus lane is an overkill. Compared to Bengaluru, there is/was hardly any congestion between the twin cities. They could have just widened the road, but that too was not necessary, I feel.

Originally Posted by 500ContyCruiser

BRTS has created more problems than solving any.

Yes, many have lost lives trying to cross the intersections and coming in the way of the buses.

Off topic : I was happy to travel by bus within Dharwad last week. Half the seats were empty - no pushing / jostling whatsoever. Interestingly, people of twin cities want to emulate Bengaluru, want software companies to set shop there and want "development" of the twin cities. The grass is green / grey with smoke on the other side.

[500ContyCruiser]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

Yes, many have lost lives trying to cross the intersections and coming in the way of the buses.

If I start to rant on it, we will have to run a separate thread.

Off topic : I was happy to travel by bus within Dharwad last week. Half the seats were empty - no pushing / jostling whatsoever. Interestingly, people of twin cities want to emulate Bengaluru, want software companies to set shop there and want "development" of the twin cities. The grass is green / grey with smoke on the other side.

Well.. Even I would suggest IT companies move here. Now with better air connectivity, it would be easy for everyone. It would also help decongest metros.

[balenoed_]

Ah! Today I saw much more traffic on the ring road than usual when I got into the ring road at Kalamandir. I was assuming it could be the school re-openings after holidays or all those office goers are back in town etc.. But as I reached Innovative multiplex, I see this innovation.

Here comes the bus lane. They have put additional cops (from law order dept) to guide the buses into this lane and ensure others will not get into this. I am not sure where the people who have to board the buses will stand now. They may have to climb on those railings.



It was made only for a short stretch; I somehow feel sad for those buses who has to get into this lane. And it is ridiculous to see there are these “Rolls Royce – Lava Kusha” buses which did not get into the bus lane but just stopped on our lane and picking the passengers who have to now cross the bus lane to get into this bus.

I am worried this chaos is going to be there for the next few days until they realize this would work or vice versa.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by AltoLXI

True. For a population of a 10 lakh or so, dedicated bus lane is an overkill. Compared to Bengaluru, there is/was hardly any congestion between the twin cities. They could have just widened the road, but that too was not necessary, I feel.

It's good that they are planning ahead. Better than Bangalore where the infrastructure is perpetually playing 'catch-up' with the expanding population and failing. After nearly 4 decades living in Bangalore I can surely say that the public infrastructure has certainly expanded and improved vastly, it's just that it's never enough for the continuously expanding populace.

Originally Posted by audioholic

Moreover, hogging close to 1.5 lanes of the carriageway for this will be a disaster and cause gridlocks.

I'm skeptical about this bus-lane plan too. However improved public transport infra has to go hand-in-hand with discouraging people from taking their private vehicles. That's how it's supposed to work. Wider footpaths with narrower roads, congestion pricing, dedicated lanes for car-pool vehicles, buses at the cost of narrower lanes for private cars.

But of course the public transport plan has to work first.

Originally Posted by audioholic

It’s really foolish of someone to use jet black bollards on an unlit road.

They've been painted red now.