[hrman]

I had a pathetic drive last evening in Bangalore due to the rains. Spent 1.5 hours in heavy traffic as against 30-40 minutes on a normal day. All the 1st gear, neutral, 2nd gear and a hard clutch did not make life any easier. I keep wondering, why does rain make traffic come to a standstill in Bangalore. Still not got an answer..:-(

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by hrman

I keep wondering, why does rain make traffic come to a standstill in Bangalore. Still not got an answer..:-(

What I have noticed is during rains, the traffic warden takes shelter and traffic at the junctions goes for toss. Its not until the police (with an umbrella or when the rain stop) or a volunteer tries to restore sanity for traffic flow. But by the damage is done - the bottleneck is created and the ripple effect takes few hours to return to normalcy.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by hrman

I had a pathetic drive last evening in Bangalore due to the rains. Spent 1.5 hours in heavy traffic as against 30-40 minutes on a normal day. All the 1st gear, neutral, 2nd gear and a hard clutch did not make life any easier. I keep wondering, why does rain make traffic come to a standstill in Bangalore. Still not got an answer..:-(

Traffic police and the lights are usually what is used to manage heavy traffic. When it's raining, its just the lights, because Traffic Police haven't any rain gear. To make things worse, people jump signals and dividers to escape the rain trying to reach home early.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by hrman

I had a pathetic drive last evening in Bangalore due to the rains. Spent 1.5 hours in heavy traffic as against 30-40 minutes on a normal day. All the 1st gear, neutral, 2nd gear and a hard clutch did not make life any easier. I keep wondering, why does rain make traffic come to a standstill in Bangalore. Still not got an answer..:-(

^^ Rain has certain chemical properties that are known to cause hypertension, anxiety, panic and impatience. When ideally people should be keeping their two eyes open, they close them while simultaneously opening their 'third-eye' which leads them to drive like zombies seemingly under the control of a spell previously unknown to human-kind.

Also, the fact that the roads look like they'd turned into war-zones doesn't help matters.

[Fillmore]

Morning rain - many people who otherwise come by 2 wheelers and public transport take out their car's.
So more vehicles on the road leads to jams.

[sandsun7]

One more reason for some roads being clogged during rain- Yesterday while going back home, there was a huge jam near Mekhri circle - reason being hundreds of two wheelers taking shelter from rain underneath the underpass, occupying more than half of the road. Same could be seen on Hebbal flyover too, two wheelers riding towards airport side, taking shelter under the ramp which goes towards KR puram, blocking half of the already narrow flyover!

[root]

I recently moved from Jayanagar to Kalena Agrahara on Bannerghatta Road in Bangalore. Apart from (1) The slow moving route towards Jayadeva Flyover and the crawl towards Silk Board via BTM layout or including deviations through Madivala Lake, (2) The exorbitantly expensive and long route using NICE corridor and BETL road combinations and (3) the impossible to traverse narrow roads via Devarachikkanahalli, is there any sane and motorable alternative from Bannerghatta Road near Meenakshi Temple to Hosur Road and onwards to Silk Board.

A 8 Km difference in my commute to office (at Domlur) has increased my commuting time each way by 45 minutes. It is an unimaginable feat in civic planning that such a huge parcel of land between these two main roads do not have a decent road in between, or am I missing some road which any experienced BHPian can guide me on.

[joslicx]

Came across this news

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...diot-sign.html

I wish something like this could be done here in Bangalore. So many bikers here take the pavement option all the time. This can be a very solid deterrent. Innovative punishments like these are really needed here.

Request to mods: Please move this to appropriate thread (if such a thread exists). This post is about wrong driving and the punishment for that awarded by a court in US.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Came across this news

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...diot-sign.html

I wish something like this could be done here in Bangalore. So many bikers here take the pavement option all the time. This can be a very solid deterrent. Innovative punishments like these are really needed here.

The only way to curb this is to install a strong fence that divides the pavement and the road, and also install bollards / poles at the ends of the pavement.

If the prices of fines remain Rs. 100, it's not going to be a deterrent in any way.

[Swifdeep]

Originally Posted by hrman

I had a pathetic drive last evening in Bangalore due to the rains. Spent 1.5 hours in heavy traffic as against 30-40 minutes on a normal day. All the 1st gear, neutral, 2nd gear and a hard clutch did not make life any easier. I keep wondering, why does rain make traffic come to a standstill in Bangalore. Still not got an answer..:-(

I had this experience on the evening of 5th of Nov as well. With heavy downpour, and clogged roads, the 'driving lane' tends to reduce, commuters (autorickshaws, 4 wheelers etc ) are reluctant to drive through these puddles, wary of the depth, hence tend to move towards the centre of the road, thereby slowing up.
And one needs to be doubly careful when the rain stops after a sudden burst, as the shelter seeking 2 wheeler commuters will also join the road and will be in a real hurry to reach their destinations before the next downpour.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

The only way to curb this is to install a strong fence that divides the pavement and the road, and also install bollards / poles at the ends of the pavement.

Pavement riders are nothing but queue jumpers. Getting few meters ahead won't reduce their commute time.
Another way to curb this menace is to raise curb height to at least 6". If some reason it cannot be done, build 6" step on the foot-path, perpendicular to the road.

PS: This solution is not wheel chair users friendly. But in the current state, no pavement is wheel-chair friendly.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by Swifdeep

I had this experience on the evening of 5th of Nov as well. With heavy downpour, and clogged roads, the 'driving lane' tends to reduce, commuters (autorickshaws, 4 wheelers etc ) are reluctant to drive through these puddles, wary of the depth, hence tend to move towards the centre of the road, thereby slowing up.
And one needs to be doubly careful when the rain stops after a sudden burst, as the shelter seeking 2 wheeler commuters will also join the road and will be in a real hurry to reach their destinations before the next downpour.

Well, it isn't bikers alone. One night, returning back from office on the BETL, it was raining quite heavily and the water was at least higher than ankle deep on sections of the elevated road. Cars - even SUVs would not drive over this water and kept shoving bikers off the lane! It became so scary that I stopped at the by-lane and waited for the car guys to move on.

Rain surely does something weird to drivers senses. Maybe a feeling of claustrophobia?

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Pavement riders are nothing but queue jumpers. Getting few meters ahead won't reduce their commute time.

Absolutely.

Originally Posted by msdivy

PS: This solution is not wheel chair users friendly. But in the current state, no pavement is wheel-chair friendly.

Are you referring to the height of the pavement or the idea of bollards? Because one could acquire retractable bollards and install them at the ends of the pavement allowing for free entry / exit for those on wheel-chairs.

Originally Posted by naveenroy

Well, it isn't bikers alone. One night, returning back from office on the BETL, it was raining quite heavily and the water was at least higher than ankle deep on sections of the elevated road. Cars - even SUVs would not drive over this water and kept shoving bikers off the lane!

I wouldn't blame them for trying to avoid getting into ankle-deep water, give the state of the roads in Bangalore these days. But I certainly don't advocate the idea of bullying one's way through vehicles especially two-wheelers and even more so when it rains. That's just utter lack of compassion.

[rohittunga]

Is it just me or has anyone observed the massive increase in traffic on Bangalore roads ? I have noticed a consistent increase of 40 min of extra travel time since last week. If at 8.30 in the morning, the KR Puram flyover is clogged with traffic, then at what time will it actually be free ??

[Added_flavor]

Originally Posted by rohittunga

Is it just me or has anyone observed the massive increase in traffic on Bangalore roads ? I have noticed a consistent increase of 40 min of extra travel time since last week. If at 8.30 in the morning, the KR Puram flyover is clogged with traffic, then at what time will it actually be free ??

I have noticed this too and I don't understand why! Since the last week, it's been pathetic. We already know what rains do to Bangalore roads and traffic, but what's the reason when it doesn't rain?

My office cab starts from Bellandur by 5.35 PM and I generally reach home by 7. But since the last week I've been reaching home consistently at 8!

I was thinking traffic will be lesser this week as most North Indians prefer to go home for Diwali.