[rohanjf]

Haha. I was stuck in the same jam today morning while going to drop my wife. I spent around 20 minutes in front of Decathlon, and finally went to the wrong side (because there were so many trucks on the left side which were not moving), and joined between two BMTC buses.

On the other side, there was a traffic police inspector and a constable. They had left traffic management to BMTC conductors, while arguing with a helmetless biker.

When I came back to that junction 15 minutes later, the road was as calm as ever!

I really hope the local corporator has an emergency one day and his ambulance gets stuck there.

[bharat4ever]

Ok, the scene is Karmelaram railway crossing. As many of you would know, while waiting to cross the tracks, there's the tar road and then there's the mud next to the road where bad drivers usually come driving through and then try to push back into the road when the crossing is near.

My problem is that they push you onto the middle of the road when they try to join back to the road, and finally you ends up looking like the bad driver. Like you overtook all the other vehicles and tried to get to the front of the line.

So I make it a point never to let anyone boss me into giving way so that they can join in from the left. As long as both the cars are safe, I stick to my line and don't move an inch to the right, and possibly move a, bit to the left.

So there's this Santro guy who does exactly this. I don't let him in, then the audacious guy tries a overtake move as we are crossing the railway tracks! And finally achieves it after the crossing. But it was a dangerous move and he could've damaged either of our cars.

Here's the car.

And the best part, as usual, no surprise, is the team-bhp sticker.

[hrman]

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

So there's this Santro guy who does exactly this. I don't let him in, then the audacious guy tries a overtake move as we are crossing the railway tracks! And finally achieves it after the crossing. But it was a dangerous move and he could've damaged either of our cars.
And the best part, as usual, no surprise, is the team-bhp sticker.

These stickers are available a dime a dozen. No guarantee that these jokers will drive safe or follow rules. Shame on him though.

On a jocular note, he did not have the "I drive Safe Sticker" he was just adhering to the "Got BHP" by demonstrating his Santro's capability. And he also cared for you by not scratching your car, thus living up to the "Caring for you always" sticker as well.

[vinu_h]

Traffic lights were set to off/standby at most that I went past today. Strangely, there were absolutely no traffic jams and was smoother than when they are set to on. Got from Jayanagar to Indian Exp in less than 15 mins.

Reminds me of the findings of the water supply POC project sanctioned by Mr. Shettar in my home town Hubli. They observed that water consumption is a lot less when supplied 24/7 and more when not.

Edit: Need advice. Any idea how long it takes to get from Jayanagar to ITPL during peak hours ? I will need to be there at 9 AM tomorrow and wanted to plan for it. Silk Board and St Johns are the only two routes that I can think of to get there.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

Traffic lights were set to off/standby at most that I went past today. Strangely, there were absolutely no traffic jams and was smoother than when they are set to on. Got from Jayanagar to Indian Exp in less than 15 mins.

Today is state govt holiday. Hence less traffic towards the centre

Edit: Need advice. Any idea how long it takes to get from Jayanagar to ITPL during peak hours ? I will need to be there at 9 AM tomorrow and wanted to plan for it. Silk Board and St Johns are the only two routes that I can think of to get there.

You can start between 7:30 & 7:45 AM. You can also take IRR, Old airport road.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Today is state govt holiday. Hence less traffic towards the centre

You can start between 7:30 & 7:45 AM. You can also take IRR, Old airport road.

Mahalaya Amavasya. Shows how self involved I've become. What a shame. Thank you.

Any idea as to how long it would take if I started back at say 6 PM ? I generally only use those roads during the weekends, hence the curiosity.

[bharat4ever]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

Edit: Need advice. Any idea how long it takes to get from Jayanagar to ITPL during peak hours ? I will need to be there at 9 AM tomorrow and wanted to plan for it. Silk Board and St Johns are the only two routes that I can think of to get there.

Silk board is the best option. Start from Jayanagar at 7 or 7 15 in the morning. You'll be able to cross silk board at 7 45 or so. After that it's a breeze until you reach kundhalahalli junction. 5-10 min there, and then it's good till ITPL. A bit of traffic at Graphite india junc.

I normally start from HSR layout at 7 45 and reach ITPL by 8 15 or 8 25. You can work back from that.

I wouldn't suggest IRR. It gets pretty crowded after 8. And do you know the shortcuts around Marathahalli ? If you know them, it'll be still faster.

Originally Posted by vinu_h

Any idea as to how long it would take if I started back at say 6 PM ? I generally only use those roads during the weekends, hence the curiosity.

If you start at 6, good luck reaching Jayanagar by 8 8 30. Major bottlenecks will be marathalli, the subway construction, intel flyover construction, silk board and most of BTM.

Again, do you know the Varthur road alternative route? If you do, it'll be faster until you reach silk board.

After 6, i don't recommend. traffic is always at a snail's pace, and gets pretty jammed near EGL.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

Silk board is the best option. Start from Jayanagar at 7 or 7 15 in the morning. You'll be able to cross silk board at 7 45 or so. After that it's a breeze until you reach kundhalahalli junction. 5-10 min there, and then it's good till ITPL. A bit of traffic at Graphite india junc.

I normally start from HSR layout at 7 45 and reach ITPL by 8 15 or 8 25. You can work back from that.

I wouldn't suggest IRR. It gets pretty crowded after 8. And do you know the shortcuts around Marathahalli ? If you know them, it'll be still faster.



If you start at 6, good luck reaching Jayanagar by 8 8 30. Major bottlenecks will be marathalli, the subway construction, intel flyover construction, silk board and most of BTM.

Again, do you know the Varthur road alternative route? If you do, it'll be faster until you reach silk board.

After 6, i don't recommend. traffic is always at a snail's pace, and gets pretty jammed near EGL.

I don't use those roads much. I will need your help with the Marathalli and Varthur Hobli shortcuts.

I'm considering an offer from a company that's in ITPL. It'll mean that I'll need to be spending 5x the time I'm now spending on the road/in a car.

[bharat4ever]

Road time is bad, but with the flyovers constructed ORR shouldn't be a problem. You'll only have to worry about Silk board. No problem with the short cuts. I'll help you out.

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

I don't use those roads much. I will need your help with the Marathalli and Varthur Hobli shortcuts.

I'm considering an offer from a company that's in ITPL. It'll mean that I'll need to be spending 5x the time I'm now spending on the road/in a car.

I recently changed to a company in ITPL too (around 7 months back to be precise), and I stay at Jayanagar 9th block. Get ready for the increased commute times.

I leave home by 8-8.15am everyday. By bike I spend ~1 - 1.5 hours on the road. Evening return time is ~1.5- 2 hours. If commute is going to be by car, forget all shortcuts if you are possessive about your car and its exterior conditions. That means the morning commute by a car takes ~2 hours in the morning and ~2.5 hours in the evening with sane and defensive driving on ORR.

7 months after doing this 55km daily round trip, I sometimes wonder if the hike the new company offered me was worth all this trouble of spending 4+ hours in maddening traffic and worsening gridlocks. Give it a second thought if you're considering the offer here at ITPL. If you want to take mass transport here, the buses they have here are the brown color Pushpak buses that they have rented from BMTC. Buses being bigger take longer time to reach home, are not comfortable for tall people (no legspace). Also, they have fixed timings of pickup / departure from office in the mornings and evenings. If you're in the IT biz, you may not be able to leave at the same time everyday. which means you will be left struggling for seats in Volvo buses later anyway.

Also, a warning in advance : ITPL folks are pretty arrogant. They charge you 1500 bucks a month for car parking, and 350 bucks for 2 wheeler parking. Yes, that's for employees, not visitors. Factor in this cost also with your monthly expenses, apart from fuel.

Originally Posted by bharat4ever

Road time is bad, but with the flyovers constructed ORR shouldn't be a problem. You'll only have to worry about Silk board. No problem with the short cuts. I'll help you out.

I have a slightly different opinion on the condition post-flyover construction. In the evenings, all the traffic will blast past ORR and start cramming for space near Agara where the roads become narrow (below Agara flyover and Iblur flyover). The second bottleneck (deadlier one) will be at Silk board. The traffic as it is, stretches from Silk board to HSR Layout flyover. On bad days, I take 1+ hour from HSR layout to Jayanagar, which by the way is just 4kms in reality. This is by bike, mind you. Cars can get worse.

P.S - the shortcut you showed me on the road behind Shoppers' stop helps a lot, thanks . I'm taking that everyday from Jayadeva to Bharti Axa signal.

[vinu_h]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I recently changed to a company in ITPL too (around 7 months back to be precise), and I stay at Jayanagar 9th block. Get ready for the increased commute times.

I leave home by 8-8.15am everyday. By bike I spend ~1 - 1.5 hours on the road. Evening return time is ~1.5- 2 hours. If commute is going to be by car, forget all shortcuts if you are possessive about your car and its exterior conditions. That means the morning commute by a car takes ~2 hours in the morning and ~2.5 hours in the evening with sane and defensive driving on ORR.

7 months after doing this 55km daily round trip, I sometimes wonder if the hike the new company offered me was worth all this trouble of spending 4+ hours in maddening traffic and worsening gridlocks.



I have a slightly different opinion on the condition post-flyover construction. In the evenings, all the traffic will blast past ORR and start cramming for space near Agara where the roads become narrow (below Agara flyover and Iblur flyover). The second bottleneck (deadlier one) will be at Silk board. The traffic as it is, stretches from Silk board to HSR Layout flyover. On bad days, I take 1+ hour from HSR layout to Jayanagar, which by the way is just 4kms in reality. This is by bike, mind you. Cars can get worse.

P.S - the shortcut you showed me on the road behind Shoppers' stop helps a lot, thanks . I'm taking that everyday from Jayadeva to Bharti Axa signal.

Amounts to almost a days' worth of road hours in a week. I can't believe that I will have to consider leaving my beloved Jayanagar and relocate to Whitefield.

[bharat4ever]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

P.S - the shortcut you showed me on the road behind Shoppers' stop helps a lot, thanks . I'm taking that everyday from Jayadeva to Bharti Axa signal.

Nice! Glad to be of help.

I'd like to tell you guys my opinion, and the things I have noticed travelling on that route for the past 5 years.

I used to stay at BTM. So will state all experiences from there only.
In today's scenario, with the flyovers built on one side, ORR is any day better than IRR. Irrespective of when you start, after you cross silk board, it's a maximum of half an hour to reach Kundhalahalli. That's pretty good imo.

1. Now if you manage to cross Marathalli by 8, then take Kundhalahalli junction and take Graphite India junction. Not much of traffic and it will be a breeze.

2. If you reach Marathalli by 8 30, then you my friend, will be in traffic soup. Proceed straight along ORR after Marathalli. Reach Doddanakundi, take the short cut there, reach Graphite India. Don't fear, the shortcut is tarred now, and is not a problem to drive.

3. If you are hell bent on taking the IRR, make sure you cross Koramangala by 7 50. Or else, HAL area can jam up even before you can say 'strawberry'.

4. Cross HAL and take the short cut just before you enter Marathalli. This short cut will lead you to near ISRO on the ORR. From there take the Doddanakundi shortcut.



Return Journey.

1. Start by 5.
2. Start by 5. (repeated to ensure importance.)

3. Forget ORR until the return journey flyovers and the subway are completed.
4. Choose Varthur Road. You will not regret it.

5. Breeze to drive in, and max jam of 5 min in Varhur.

6. Railway crossing at Karmeleram. (If you start at 5, you'll avoid the train, or else 5 min wait here).

7. Join Sarjapur road. No signals, no jam until you reach ORR.

8. If you have started at 5, no jam at Sarjapur - ORR intersection, minimal jam at Silk board. When i mean Minimal, about 10 rows of cars. The queue will hardly reach beyond that bus stand area.

9. If you start any later, avoid Silk board, take the road going to Koramangala from Agara, and go thro Maruti Nagar from Madivala subway.

10. Or an easier way to rejoin Silk board is come thro this road, and take the first left which goes to Madivala Total mall. Take a left there, which will join you back to Silk board, but from the side which goes to Hosur road. Lesser traffic on this side


I personally avoid Silkboard like the plague. I always prefer the Maruti Nagar alternative if I have to go to BTM / Jayanagar.

@Karhik, leaving at 8 - 8 15 from Jayanagar is a bit of a suicide mission. Try to leave earlier. By my crude calculation, every 5 min you delay your starting time you'll reach 15 min later at your dest. (start from 7 30). It works as far as I've seen

[vinu_h]

I'm considering alternatives to a 2/4 wheeler, especially since driving through traffic jam's is inevitable. Any idea if the Volvo service from Banashankari to ITPL is worth considering ? To be specific, I'm in 36th Cross, 7th Block and the BSK bus stand is just a 7-8 minute walk for me. There's always a good chance at finding a seat if I try at the starting point.

The way I look at it, it'll cost me the same(Rs. 90), I don't have to drive/ride, zero dust, I can put that travel time to other uses and I'm well rested both ways.

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

Any idea if the Volvo service from Banashankari to ITPL is worth considering ?

The way I look at it, it'll cost me the same(Rs. 90), I don't have to drive/ride, zero dust, I can put that travel time to other uses and I'm well rested both ways.

Volvo from Banashankari to ITPL is an excellent option. The only issue I had was overcrowding since I get in from Belandur. You will not have that issue.

You can also get the monthly pass which will probably work out even cheaper.

[bharat4ever]

It's a good option. Depot to Depot, you will have a luxury of choosing seats and will not need to stand ever. But also consider the travel time. Will easily take 2.5 hrs to reach i guess.