[suresh_gs]

I have a doubt regarding the dedicated bus lane. What if a bus breaks down in the bus lane. Obviously the remaining buses will have to wait till the broken down bus is taken off the lane.
Will this not create a major jam. Have the authorities considered this very much likely scenario considering the maintenance of BMTC buses ?

[m8002?]

The way other vehicles are currently using the bus lane, they will need to deploy cops every 10 ft to enforce it.

Breakdown disruptions are already happening in the small stretches where bus lanes are marked. Yesterday night there was a private bus broken down in middle lane opposite JP Morgan and there was only 1 lane for other vehicles.

[srishiva]

No rants today ? Driving was so good that I loved my car. Was able to coast smoothly most of times and mileage increased dramatically. Took 1 hour for what used to take minimum 2.5 hours lately.

I guess today we have the right amount of people and traffic in Bengaluru

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by srishiva

No rants today ? Driving was so good that I loved my car. Was able to coast smoothly most of times and mileage increased dramatically. Took 1 hour for what used to take minimum 2.5 hours lately.

I guess today we have the right amount of people and traffic in Bengaluru

Generally the populace and traffic on the road thins out during the Diwali festival because a huge number of people travel out of the city. That is why I eagerly look forward to driving around the entire city without stress during those 2-3 days. Sounds like a really sad thing to be so excited about, but thats what the incessant traffic situation does to you

Like every year, I am eagerly awaiting driving on the city streets during the next few days with some degree and peace and minimised stress levels. Happy Diwali indeed!

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by srishiva

No rants today ? Driving was so good that I loved my car.

I expect a mad rush in the evening hours today. But then whole of next week ideally should be peaceful. Many companies have at least 3 holidays, and people would take the entire week off.

[ambivalent_98]

Originally Posted by msdivy

BMTC is run with the focus on benefitting BMTC management and BMTC staff.

This is a very interesting angle. Never thought of it this way. But apathy of BMTC and management and lack of RTO monitoring has emboldened private players and made them get support of the commuter populace. ITs a sad state of affairs. Also the private players are totally unaware of rules and regulations and common sense and park where they like , when they like for business. One aspect could be that it is just for their business but then they are creating a nuisance for other road users.

[mvadg]

Watch out for the traffic jam at Madiwala this evening. In spite of the police station, there is complete chaos as every interstate bus will be stopping to pick up passengers at and around the junction all the way up to the silk board flyover and beyond.
I faced this yesterday (There were no policemen in sight) at around 10 PM, tonight I suspect will be much, much worse.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by mvadg

I faced this yesterday (There were no policemen in sight) at around 10 PM, tonight I suspect will be much, much worse.

This is always very bad and I echo your thoughts. Although I don't travel via this route back home, I remember way back in 2016 I and my colleague passed this around 1230am and the whole road from Police Station till checkpost had B2B traffic and absolute chaos.

This road, the (un)authorized bus stops for private buses here is classic example of the Private bus mafia! They continue to operate and totally bully the system.

[vharihar]

Why I oppose the dedicated bus lane in Blore:

The demand for good public transport is obviously well-founded, but not at the expense of penalizing pvt transport beyond a reasonable point. So let us pls *not* request an *ONLY public transport* solution. We need an AND solution. That is, good public transport AND good pvt transport.

*Reasons:*

- Any Indian metro city is populous so it’s only natural that public transport will be very crowded. So it's best if we sensitize ourselves and realise that not everyone can travel by public transport. There will be a significant number of people who need to reach some place in a presentable manner (eg. client meetings, going for a party/wedding, etc), and then maybe take team out to someplace else for lunch, etc. One can’t accomplish everything by public transport *today*. There are senior citizens who may not be able to travel comfortably in public transport, people wanting to go to hospitals, etc.

- *Entire ecosystem*: For public transport to be usable, its not just enough if you throw more BMTC buses. You need the entire ecosystem to be acceptably usable. Good wide obstruction-free footpaths, usable skywalks, etc. One shouldn’t have to walk thru sewage and slush and polevault up/down illogically high footpaths. Which means BBMP, BESCOM, BWSSB, etc all have to get their act ready.

- Citing some of your success stories of public transport in Blore is all fine and dandy if you’re lucky enough that your commute is along the ORR corridor or one of these well connected routes. But suppose I was living in Bellandur and I needed to commute to Manipal hospital everyday, the task of changing buses from 500 to 335 at Marathahalli bridge is daunting, especially so with the poor interchange-conveniences in heat and dust (this goes back to the *entire ecosystem* point)

- Let us stop citing Europe as an example. European cities don’t have such high population and the rest of their ecosystem is very well developed. Also, people obey laws a lot better there (eg. even without barricades, pvt vehicles will stay off dedicated bus lanes, the culture is such).

- It is unreasonable to expect that: “Lets get people off pvt transport and into buses, and *then* the city will be able to work on improving public transport to make it the way its supposed to be”. No siree, that ain’t be the way it gonna work. You have to have the solution upto a reasonably acceptable point before you can ask people to convert. Else it’s like a Nazi regime and there'll be a revolt. If the city needs enmasse adoption of public transport, then it needs to pull up its socks and make the rest of the pieces fall in place first (entire ecosystem). Thus, in the absence of this *entire ecosystem* thing being in place, it seems improper to gloat to see a bus traveling obstruction-free in a dedicated bus lane when a zillion other pvt vehicles are stuck in a jam in a narrow 2-laned road. (the dedicated bus lane idea has its failure points in India; people not complying with no-entry rules, bus breakdowns, pileup of several buses back to back and inability to overtake, etc)

So I think we should keep this in mind that while we request good public transport; lets not be totally insensitive to private transport.

So whats the way forward? Aren’t we tying ourselves up in knots?

Well, to me the most sensible way forward that potentially *enables* an AND solution, is to spread out the city. Build a PRR with a 20 km radius and build a STRR with a 30 km radius. These works need to start on a war-footing *today*, so that people are willing to move out from the city core 3-4 years from now as the project nears completion, where a lot of open space can be harnessed and all the troubles that we’re presently crying about (narrow roads, lack of space, etc) can be made a moot point in those new far flung areas by planned development atleast in those far flung areas. Similar to CIDCO/Navi Mumbai.

In the meanwhile, metro and suburban rail seem the only feasible public transport solutions for the present areas (and metro for the future areas too).

[sbkumar]

Originally Posted by srishiva

No rants today ? Driving was so good that I loved my car. Was able to coast smoothly most of times and mileage increased dramatically. Took 1 hour for what used to take minimum 2.5 hours lately.

I guess today we have the right amount of people and traffic in Bengaluru

I spent a good 1.5 hrs from kadubeesanahalli to Jeevan Bhima Nagar at 6 in the evening yesterday. My colleague spent slightly more from there to Cosmopolis, whitefield around 5.30 PM.

[deehunk]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Well, to me the most sensible way forward that potentially *enables* an AND solution, is to spread out the city. Build a PRR with a 20 km radius and build a STRR with a 30 km radius. These works need to start on a war-footing *today*, so that people are willing to move out from the city core 3-4 years from now as the project nears completion, where a lot of open space can be harnessed and all the troubles that we’re presently crying about (narrow roads, lack of space, etc) can be made a moot point in those new far flung areas by planned development atleast in those far flung areas. Similar to CIDCO/Navi Mumbai.

This is how Bangalore expanded beyond Yeshwanthpur, Domlur, Sarakki and Wilson Garden. We have destroyed the livelihood of villages around Bangalore with this model. The city is heading towards self destruction, let it fall on its own.

[NPV]

Traffic was so light in Bangalore today compared to usual weekends, love these holidays when lot of people travel out of the city, this is usually when I love to go around the city

Had some work in the morning near the CBD areas, took the scooter and it was fun to actually go around the central areas of the city. This evening had an event to attend on old airport road and traffic was again very light and peaceful, nice short drive

[Chetan_Rao]

ORR between Nayandahalli and Tumkur Road is an absolute mess. The cordoned off stretch near Nagarbhavi isn't seeing any progress with white-topping, and road surface is a shambles after the rain. Absolute nightmare in the evening rain today.

[Safety is Param]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

ORR between Nayandahalli and Tumkur Road is an absolute mess. The cordoned off stretch near Nagarbhavi isn't seeing any progress with white-topping, and road surface is a shambles after the rain. Absolute nightmare in the evening rain today.

Just went that way, and onward.

There is a deadly crater just while descending the last flyover on this road (I believe Magadi Road passes below).

This crater is bang in the middle of the road, more in the fast lane.

It's a certainty that if a 2-wheeler gets into this crater, there's no way it's climbing back out on its own! And, may God help if a heavy vehicle is trailing you.

And if one is in a 4-wheeler with high speed, there is no way one can not damage the suspension and wheel/rim.

Pathetic, the way this city is being maintained.

[vharihar]

Originally Posted by vharihar

Why I oppose the dedicated bus lane in Blore:

The demand for good public transport is obviously well-founded, but not at the expense of penalizing pvt transport beyond a reasonable point ...

On further thought, not 1 but 2 dedicated bus lanes per direction is *practically* possible on ORR if and only if they merge the service road and main carriageway (by filling up the separator SWD and making it a large 5+5 lane carriageway *throughout Blore* ORR, and thereby also enabling a wider footpath at the extreme ends).

This would enable overtaking by BMTC buses, *temporary* parking of Ola/Uber for pickup/dropoff (only) on leftmost lane (which shouldn't be a problem since bus can still overtake it).

Would also enable entry of vehicles from side roads which would then be mandated to quickly merge into their rightmost 3 lanes (and for this, the 2+2 dedicated bus lanes should NOT have bollards separating them, so as to enable pvt vehicles entering from side roads to fairly quickly get off the bus lanes and merge with the rightmost 3 lanes; policing will be reqd for a while to prevent violations).

Some amount of compliance/policing would still be required so that people comply, but atleast this is practically realizable.

The BMTC buses can go atop flyovers or under, that can be decided as best fit.

Also solves the exit/merge problem.

Another side benefit: Wrong side driving on the *erstwhile* svc road will automatically reduce greatly.

This proposal will also be helpful once metro barricading starts, which'll eat away 1.5 lanes per direction near the median.