[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by neeravnaik

Stopping the right turn at Madiwala is a problem for me as I use to take that road to avoid St. Johns and reach Sony signal directly from internal Koramangala roads.

Yes, I used to take the right at Total Mall too to save myself from the regular jam at St.Johns and the signal at Forum. Oh well.

And a regular problem I have noticed - the wider the roads, actually the more the problems. Cause all vehicles just cross from one end of the road to another since they assume there are no other vehicles coming behind.

[sbalagru6]

As per the information I got, all India transport strike planned for coming Thursday (April 30) by the All-India Road Transport Workers’ Federation (AITWF) .
All vehicles including buses (Govt buses too in some states)/Trucks/Autos/Etc.. are participating.

In Karnataka KSRTC and BMTC are also supporting this strike , as it is opposition controlled state. Guess this strike is against the proposed transport and road safety bill.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...ece?ref=tpnews

[Soumyajit9]

Traffic Alert:

The lane from the Tata Yard (the sweeping left turn near Airport Authority of India office) to Cosmos mall, is being repaired by dumping some mud and sand.
So all vehicles coming from Graphite India side have to hop on to the lane towards Graphite India. Its about 1 km of diversion and chaos was building up around 7:15 AM.





Google Maps showing that the lane is closed.

[rohanjf]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

The lane from the Tata Yard (the sweeping left turn near Airport Authority of India office) to Cosmos mall, is being repaired by dumping some mud and sand.

I laughed so much after reading this line that my colleagues are asking me if I am fine! Only in Bangalore do you find roads being "repaired" by dumping mud and sand. All over the world, they use gravel and asphalt/bitumen

By the way, what about tomorrow's strike? I guess all public transport users and company shuttle users will bring out their vehicles, causing massive jams everywhere.

[Soumyajit9]

Originally Posted by rohanjf

I laughed so much after reading this line that my colleagues are asking me if I am fine! Only in Bangalore do you find roads being "repaired" by dumping mud and sand. All over the world, they use gravel and asphalt/bitumen

By the way, what about tomorrow's strike? I guess all public transport users and company shuttle users will bring out their vehicles, causing massive jams everywhere.

Seriously they were being repaired by dumping sand and mud !! I recall that the lane was dug up for pipe laying work and was not repaired leading to massive water puddle and soft and slushy mud, causing grave danger to 2 wheelers !

The contractor ate up all the money for asphalt, he is now left only with sand and mud

Apparently, tomorrow's strike is going to be a massive one. I am sure that many companies would call it a day off in lieu of a working saturday. Hope it is not this Saturday, as almost everyone has booked an outstation trip !

I expect jams, but not major, if companies actually give off. Else it can be chaos with lots of private vehicles !

[NPV]

Saw BWSSB teams again couple days ago on Hoodi Road (between the Hoodi signal and ATM junction), Graphite Road and there was some digging in front of Prestige Shantiniketan as well not sure if that was BWSSB too

As if we did not have enough reasons/contributors for traffic woes in Whitefield!

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Apparently, tomorrow's strike is going to be a massive one. I am sure that many companies would call it a day off in lieu of a working saturday.

Not even a word of it, at least in the IT campus where I work. All mode of public transport would be getting effected. But other organisations like banks etc. have also not instructed their staff to take a day off.

[binand]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Not even a word of it, at least in the IT campus where I work. All mode of public transport would be getting effected. But other organisations like banks etc. have also not instructed their staff to take a day off.

Ola is being non-committal so far, though. Many of my colleagues are depending on them, but I doubt they'll want to put out yellow-board cabs tomorrow.

Banks - this being the end of month followed by a bank holiday, if these folks take the day off salary processing for firms would get affected leading to all-round dissatisfaction. Hopefully sense prevails.

[aajohn]

Originally Posted by Soumyajit9

Apparently, tomorrow's strike is going to be a massive one. I am sure that many companies would call it a day off in lieu of a working saturday!

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Not even a word of it, at least in the IT campus where I work. All mode of public transport would be getting effected. But other organisations like banks etc. have also not instructed their staff to take a day off.

Dont know how effective it will be. There's no word about it at my office as well. The office facilities team has anway told us tha company transport will run as usual. Buses, auto etc are off the road. Guess its wait and watch.

[sachinpk]

I was just reading through the comments in some news papers about the strike. Surprisingly other than the striking parties, common people do seem to welcome the new bill. It is much more suited for the current India, and people are even okay with the heavy fines suggested. The new bill actually proposes very high level of automation, and even mandates states to transfer LTT etc using computerised means. There are lots of mandates on how licensing etc should be done, and my understanding is that in a few activities like licensing, road fitness checks etc private entities can also setup shop. They have to follow certain rules & regulations. The government staff are making a story that this would dilute the licensing (and the quality of drivers), as if the present way of issuing license ensures that only the skilled people drive on the roads. At least in Kerala the myth propogated by the government employees is that "Any thing done by a private party == bad, Any thing done by a government agency == good & the best".

Originally Posted by binand

Banks - this being the end of month followed by a bank holiday, if these folks take the day off salary processing for firms would get affected leading to all-round dissatisfaction.

True. But bank employees also can say that they have no ways and means to reach office and just stay put at home. With their kind of unions etc, they would not be troubled too much. And many of these employees do rely on public transportation. The next pay processing day would be 2nd of May, only.

Originally Posted by aajohn

Dont know how effective it will be. There's no word about it at my office as well. The office facilities team has anway told us tha company transport will run as usual. Buses, auto etc are off the road. Guess its wait and watch.

In my area a lot of junior techies rely on public transport for commute. Turns out to be cheaper for them. But there are also a sizeable amount of veterans out there, who may have a two wheeler or four wheeler to come to office. Major IT companies in my part of the woods have reduced their in-house bus fleet size knowing that BMTC is now more preferred.

[binand]

Originally Posted by sachinpk

Surprisingly other than the striking parties, common people do seem to welcome the new bill.

For those who haven't seen the draft bill, here it is:

http://www.arrivesafe.org/wp-content...-Bill-2014.pdf

I really like most of it (not all).

[ashwin.terminat]

I saw a special kind of stupid last night near Kundalahalli Gate(There was a broken down Volvo right in the middle of the road, nothing special there).

I saw a person on a two wheeler, not wearing a helmet. And to save himself from the dust, he was holding a kerchief to his mouth with his left hand and riding with only his right! Why not just wear a helmet?!

I am all for the new Transport Bill. I remember a taxi union chief complaining about the high fines. He was asking what will cab drivers do if they have to pay such a huge fine for each time they jump signal. I'm not sure he understands, but isn't that the point of the new bill? Road Safety?

Also, if they are considering transfer of LTT electronically, it will be a huge boon for the travelling folk. Paying the RTO for LTT is hard enough as it is, getting a refund from them? Forget it!

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by binand

For those who haven't seen the draft bill, here it is:

Perhaps once the time is ripe (i.e when the bill actually gets tabled), we can have a separate thread on this. A few points, which I had gleaned from else where.
1. The law does NOT explicitly say private parties needs to be included. All it says is that with guide lines and rules, even private parties can be involved. If things like pollution certificates can be issued by private parties, I don't know what stops some one from issuing licenses. This is after an approved road test. The government-wallahs complain that this would lead to bribery/corruption etc. These crooks will find it tough to prove that corruption is NOT present in existing system. To be honest, it is easy to shut down a private party indulging in corruption, rather than a whole government department.
2. The states can decide how each activity mentioned in the act gets carried out in their territory. So if KL wants to still say that only KL RTO can issue licenses, then so be it. But then KL RTO will have to use the same (centralised) system and laws when issuing licenses. If some other states, wants to out source it to private parties, then they can do that as well.
3. The new "proposed" law makes Highway policing etc. mandatory. But that does not mean a new force have to be raised. States which already have a Highway Police establishment (eg: KL, TN) can just define it to work under the new law.
4. The steep fines (which was proposed the first time), has been watered down based on public demand. From what I read, fines/penalties for first time offences have been reduced. But second (and subsequent) time punishments are higher. But unless the 1st time and 2nd time can be identified right at the time of charging the violator, I don't think this would really work out. And here there is a genuine concern that police may increase the bribe rates, for ignoring the violation.

[ashwin.terminat]

Tweets by Commissioner of Police,
Bengaluru City.
Sri. M N Reddi, IPS.
@CPBlr
We need to clear certain things about tomorrow's strike. There is no Bandh called. It is only a strike called by transport sector (1/n)
Transport strike: KSRTC/ BMTC will run. None can force the strike on unwilling people.Such people will be dealt with firmly as per law (2/n)
Transport strike: Essential transport services will run. You can use your own transport without any fear. (3/n)
Bengalureans are requested not to treat this as BANDH, and try go about their lives normally (n/n).

Looks like BMTC/KSRTC will be running as usual!

[suresh_gs]

Folks

As usual I came to office by the office cab. There were a number of cabs plying on the road. I saw about 2-3 BMTC buses running near Marathahalli.
Looks like there should be no cause for concern