[ninjatalli]

I go with a very pragmatic approach - do not expect the best case scenario and the on-ground situation is a lot more acceptable. Frankly, I haven't seen the best case scenario in any city I have lived in.

1. Bombay: 2 - 3 hour by road (back & forth) irrespective if I took my own car or a cab. Cab was more convenient but getting an options wasn't always the case. Also used to mix it up with a train but auto/cab (for last mile connectivity at both ends) when I could.

2. New York: Had to take a train followed by a long bus trip. 2 hours round trip; not accounting for any traffic jams. Many times I would walk the ~3 kms instead of the train.

3. Bangalore: A healthy mix of rotating between my bike, walk (~1km) + metro + office cab, autos and the occasional BMTC bus. Car is used very sporadically; maybe max once every 2 weeks. 2 hours round trip; not accounting for any traffic jams. My wife takes the metro and walks the last ~2 kms to her office.

Basically we have stopped expecting the transport to become good out of the blue. Neither here nor in the cities we both have lived in (in the past).

Originally Posted by G13BB

The cost of parking my car in the Metro parking and then taking the Green line costs me close to 250rs per day (Fuel + Parking + Metro)

I've given up on BMTC and I prefer to go by car!

Why not take a 2 wheeler to metro parking? Should be significantly cheaper.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

New York...Many times I would walk the ~3 kms instead of the train.

3 km on a regular basis is pretty good. What was the walk like? Good footpaths all the way? And what was the weather like?

Bangalore for most of the year has weather conducive to walking and cycling. I used to cycle to school, in the center of the city once in a way without any issues. But I don't think any sane parent will allow their kids to do that today!

These days, I find I can manage a walk of 2km quite well in Bangalore. Physically and weather-wise I can certainly do a lot more, but the broken footpaths, vendors on the footpath, vehicles on the footpath, bikes going the wrong way each time I need to step off the footpath and on the road...

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by am1m

3 km on a regular basis is pretty good. What was the walk like? Good footpaths all the way? And what was the weather like?

This was midtown New York; footpaths are pretty much there on every street. Of course there were the usual problems - vendors selling wares, breaks in the footpath due to construction, heavy traffic, etc.

My walk used to be from Port Authority (main bus terminus) to East town where I lived; crossing Times Square and a lot of other key touristy areas (e.g. Grand Central station).

I used to do this across the year on a daily basis; so have walked on warm sunny days to icy cold wintery days. It used to be a pleasurable walk when I had the time to spare. Loads of tourists pretty much every day but still enjoyed those walks.

These days, I find I can manage a walk of 2km quite well in Bangalore. Physically and weather-wise I can certainly do a lot more, but the broken footpaths, vendors on the footpath, vehicles on the footpath, bikes going the wrong way each time I need to step off the footpath and on the road...

I think that's a given in Indian cities. We can't compare ourselves to developed countries given the population density. But on the contrary, I find a lot of similarities between Bangalore/Mumbai (especially CBD areas) as compared to overseas dense metros like New York, Bangkok Central; with pretty similar problems.

Where they are significantly better is garbage management; but I think we are getting there; if we consider the CBD areas of Indian metros. Hopefully as 'garbage creators', we, the public, get better in the coming years in keeping our streets clean.

note: CBD - central business district

[nagr22]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

We can't compare ourselves to developed countries given the population density.

I used to think population density was the reason for the sad state of our city infra but after visiting China, I think we are using population as an excuse for our own and our administration's incapability/corruption. Even their tier 3 cities have better roads, better public transport, dedicated bicycle lanes, proper footpaths on almost every road than our so called silicon valley! Many I hate our politicians and government administrators so much for letting us down this miserably!

[Cayman360]

After wading through the mess at the Hebbal junction, and turning towards the airport road, after the first traffic light ahead, suddenly the roads below the airport flyover open up into the amazingly well-paved three lane wide section, and most drivers follow their lanes as speeds are now high, this is the dream. A few kms ahead, the proper airport roads start, right after the Yehlanka new town crossing, but I always enjoy the stretch till then, and dream of a day when the city roads will all be like this!

[itwasntme]

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/k...nthpur-3174616

Always hated that abrupt, wrongly cambered flyover with amateurish joints between the spans. Add minimal signage and a lack of a solid tall concrete median barrier plus no lighting and these are bound to happen.

Such totally voidable catastrophes are like Groundhog Day now.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by nagr22

I think we are using population as an excuse for our own and our administration's incapability/corruption.

Exactly. And this is true for any of the city in India compared to similar sized city elsewhere, even in supposedly less developed country than ours.

[bobbyblr]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/k...nthpur-3174616

Always hated that abrupt, wrongly cambered flyover with amateurish joints between the spans. Add minimal signage and a lack of a solid tall concrete median barrier plus no lighting and these are bound to happen.

Video about this accident from TV9 Kannada:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nr4JTqw0xw

[Jazzybala]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/k...nthpur-3174616

Always hated that abrupt, wrongly cambered flyover with amateurish joints between the spans. Add minimal signage and a lack of a solid tall concrete median barrier plus no lighting and these are bound to happen.

Such totally voidable catastrophes are like Groundhog Day now.

Is this the one in front of the TTMC?

[.sourov]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Always hated that abrupt, wrongly cambered flyover with amateurish joints between the spans.

I take this flyover once a month to reach the meeting point at Parle Toll for our breakfast rides. I still vividly remember the first time I took that road - it caught me off guard with such a sharp turn as the flyover ascended. Fortunately, I was driving slowly, so it wasn’t a problem.

Even with allowed speed people who are taking the road for the first time will find it challenging to turn. Since the car was from TN the driver might not have expected this which led to the accident.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Jazzybala

Is this the one in front of the TTMC?

The highlighted spot in the maps screen grab seems to be it.



The sweeping-right descent further ahead is no less dangerous.

I shudder to imagine what would happen if these imbeciles, who can't even get a basic flyover right, are put in charge of mega infra projects we keep being promised as a solution to all of Bangalore's traffic woes.

[AdityaRai]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

The highlighted spot in the maps screen grab seems to be it.

Why "Shudder to Imagine"? These jokers already want to narrow down the PRR and give away commercial land next to the road so that more congestion can be created

News article: https://www.constructionworld.in/tra...cial-use/58773

Ultimately, when all our politician's descendants are well-settled in Western countries, why bother about Indians? Just make money and take off!

[Jazzybala]

Originally Posted by AdityaRai

Why "Shudder to Imagine"? These jokers already want to narrow down the PRR and give away commercial land next to the road so that more congestion can be created

Ultimately, when all our politician's descendants are well-settled in Western countries, why bother about Indians? Just make money and take off!

Wow!! I had pretty low expectation from the current dispensation but this has managed to crack even that septic tank floor.

God save Bangalore!

[Burgman_tales]

I went out on Sunday do the useless PUC certificate done. I didn't know that they had closed the kadubeesanahalli underpass for some metro construction. It took me 2 hours to travel between Marathahalli and Kadubeesanahalli which is like 2km. This must be some kind of a record for Bangalore traffic.

PS - I reset the trip meter halfway into the "trip"

[dust-n-bones]

Originally Posted by nagr22

I used to think population density was the reason for the sad state of our city infra but after visiting China, I think we are using population as an excuse for our own and our administration's incapability/corruption. Even their tier 3 cities have better roads, better public transport, dedicated bicycle lanes, proper footpaths on almost every road than our so called silicon valley! Many I hate our politicians and government administrators so much for letting us down this miserably!

Thanks, and may your tribe increase. We as a country are traditionally an inward looking people, and our discussions degenerate into demonizing the other (especially China), oversimplifying a conversation (we'll not buy Chinese) or falling for the frogs of a well syndrome - how can Delhi take our infra pie, or my favorite - we still are better than Pakistan .

Your views are a refreshing change. Thanks to the ease of outbound travel for many, and availability of road and walk vlogs from all sorts of countries for the rest of us, we will hopefully realize how far behind we have fallen.

You mentioned China. Its infra is better than first world standards now, so lets not get too far ahead of ourselves. There was a Maharashtra CM who talked 15 years ago about modeling Mumbai after Shanghai. Now even that aspiration is unthinkable.

You look instead at cities like Bogota, Mexico City or Manila, and we realize - as you rightly suggested - that there are no more excuses left.

I think the only saviour for our sorry cities and politics is when our citizens will stop getting fooled by simple trickery. This is a slow cultural churn, and there are no quick answers unfortunately.