[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by raghu.t.k

Also not sure why would someone would design the OMR to be a toll road and not design the intersections in a better manner. The 35 paid for it is a sheer waste. If we take the chennai Bypass, the road surface in many places have lumps/patterns created from molten tar. This makes driving at higher speeds really scary.

Very true about both. Why should there be a toll for this terribly maintained road (bye pass) ? Also there is no point in paying a toll for the OMR, it is such a busy road and all it does is create a traffic jam there.

[binand]

Originally Posted by raghu.t.k

Most of the arterial roads have the same size as that of the 80s while the number of vehicles have exponentially grown.

In general, one cannot widen the arterial roads due to non-availability of land on either sides. The workarounds usually tried by civic authorities are (a) provide alternate roads to locations connected by these arterial roads, (b) improve public transport through these roads so as to reduce volume of private vehicles, and (c) ban (subset of) traffic, or generally make it terribly expensive to drive on these roads.

Examples for each of the options above are (a) Linking Road/Link Road running parallel to SV Road in Mumbai, (b) metro, BRTS etc. as planned by various cities, and (c) congestion charge in London.

[raghu.t.k]

Originally Posted by binand

In general, one cannot widen the arterial roads due to non-availability of land on either sides. The workarounds usually tried by civic authorities are (a) provide alternate roads to locations connected by these arterial roads, (b) improve public transport through these roads so as to reduce volume of private vehicles, and (c) ban (subset of) traffic, or generally make it terribly expensive to drive on these roads.

Examples for each of the options above are (a) Linking Road/Link Road running parallel to SV Road in Mumbai, (b) metro, BRTS etc. as planned by various cities, and (c) congestion charge in London.

I agree on this, but if there is a political will, the roads can be widened. During my school days, the poonamalle high road from Tollgate (just after Pachaiyappas college) was a narrow stretch. During MGR's regime it was decided to widen it, and it saw the light after a decade or two. The same needs to be done on important roads. Also a lot of these roads funnel into a narrow road causing enough of road rage around. A typical example is the Kodambakkam over head bridge and the Chetpet overhead bridge.

Also lets not compare our public transport to TFL in London. For most of the day, the Tube, National rail and the bus are well connected, and at any point you do have buses which can take you to walking distance within zone 1, 2 and 3. In such cases I see a reason for Congestion charges, else its another way to fill the coffers of the government and get nothing in return.

[headers]

Originally Posted by raghu.t.k

Also lets not compare our public transport to TFL in London. For most of the day, the Tube, National rail and the bus are well connected, and at any point you do have buses which can take you to walking distance within zone 1, 2 and 3. In such cases I see a reason for Congestion charges, else its another way to fill the coffers of the government and get nothing in return.

Sir, let's not humor the forum by comparing London and Chennai or any other Indian city..

The way one could purchase a single ticket to travel in either mode of transport (train or bus) to any zone, based on zones, having a multiple window, single line to disperse large queuing etc are difficult to implement in our country which has no respect for the law sadly.

Having said that, the freedom one gets in this country is really awesome starting from how one could put sun film on the car and enjoy his privacy..

[binand]

Originally Posted by raghu.t.k

I agree on this, but if there is a political will, the roads can be widened.

A good example of this is in Hyderabad - when I was living there, the drive from Kothaguda to St. John's Church - about 20 km) via KBR Park/Old Airport was fairly painless (except for a small mess at Jubilee Hills Checkpost junction), due to the diligence with which the roads were developed and widened. In general, planning of arterial roads are far better in Hyderabad than in any of the other metros I have seen.

Originally Posted by headers

Sir, let's not humor the forum by comparing London and Chennai or any other Indian city..

I don't see why not. If the system works in London (though Londoners gripe about the tube a lot more than others) why shouldn't other world cities look up to it as the pinnacle of achievement?

Originally Posted by headers

The way one could purchase a single ticket to travel in either mode of transport (train or bus) to any zone, based on zones, having a multiple window, single line to disperse large queuing etc are difficult to implement in our country which has no respect for the law sadly.

The problem is not lack of respect for the law. The problem lies in our incapability to scale supply and/or logistics to cater to rising demand. Holistic planning is what is lacking in India. I have heard of unified WR/CR/BEST and now Metro/Monorail combined ticketing in Mumbai for quite a while now - but nothing, absolutely nothing has happened so far.

[headers]

Boss, I give up..let's not make this forum a place where we ridicule the system. I'm in no mood for politics

[neoranjit]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Even I thought that comparison was needless, at least it could have been said with a positive note on NCR instead of rubbishing the other city..

I know truth is bitter, but when compared to NCR, the road manners that some people in Chennai have is something that needs to be experienced first hand. Its not everyday that you have someone taking out a gun at toll booths, so that will not be a point to compare at all

However, buses that stop in the middle of the roads, the bikers who think they can squeeze even where a needle cant go, the share auto drivers who stop at the sight of any potential customer, the auto drivers who can turn you deaf in 30 secs with their 'tuned' autos, are all trademarks of Chennai and not sure if you would find them in any other metro.

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by neoranjit

However, buses that stop in the middle of the roads, the bikers who think they can squeeze even where a needle cant go, the share auto drivers who stop at the sight of any potential customer, the auto drivers who can turn you deaf in 30 secs with their 'tuned' autos, are all trademarks of Chennai and not sure if you would find them in any other metro.

Like you said, every city needs to have it's own trademark ranjit, see it is a TRADE MARK, so if you like the mark of that trade, you trade, else find a different trade and go after it's mark.

It is very difficult to control people like this because if there was some enforcing, immediately, educated people like us will offer a bribe and then call the police officer names. Aren't we also responsible for this mess ? Somebody here said that his new car was scratched and he gave that cycle guy an earful (of what ? Sweet words of advice ?), but he was the one complaining about profanities being thrown around at every signal.

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Like you said, every city needs to have it's own trademark ranjit, see it is a TRADE MARK, so if you like the mark of that trade, you trade, else find a different trade and go after it's mark.

It is very difficult to control people like this because if there was some enforcing, immediately, educated people like us will offer a bribe and then call the police officer names. Aren't we also responsible for this mess ? Somebody here said that his new car was scratched and he gave that cycle guy an earful (of what ? Sweet words of advice ?), but he was the one complaining about profanities being thrown around at every signal.

Thanks!. I'am the one you are mentioning. I think, Unless we know about a particular person we can't judge a person's 'use of words' in public. i swear i never used profanative words anytime anywhere. If we, then there is no difference between ourself and uneducated scums.

Why enforcing is not possible? Don't we follow traffic rules? Why we most BHP-ians removed the sun film even few of us were against it?
"People like us??" i don't think a person belonging to an Automotive forum like team-bhp will favour 'Bribe' against violating traffic rule.
If the so called educated person(s) is not following traffic rules then its a shame on them.

[Zed]

No offense to anyone but I see many posts referring to the 'educated crowd' and just wanted to add my two cents.

An individual who is generally rude and apathetic towards people outside his or her circle is more likely than not exhibit the same trait on the road - be it as a pedestrian, a bi-cyclist or behind the wheel of a exclusive car. The person in question could be an illiterate peasant or an educated business tycoon. Education - as in the school and university types - in itself is not a remedy for the shambolic situation we witness on Indian roads on a daily basis.

But what I fail to understand is how many of our docile, down-to-earth brethren - some educated and other not so much - turn to fire breathing tyrants with scant regard for the law and their own safety the moment they are on the road. These are the same people that will wait patiently at a supermarket check out line with a smile on their face or hold the door open for you and so on. Its as if there is a dormant virus that kicks into life the moment these gentlemen and women don the role of a road user.

[headers]

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

Atleast come and live this part of chennai (Arcot road-Vadapalani). Try Porur to Nungambakam in morning peak hour traffic you will understand the soft/polite nature of our people.

Dear D_A: Time you shifted to better parts of the city

People of Chennai love people of Chennai. PERIOD

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

You cant move fast in right lane either an Auto or a two wheeler will block you in front and moves leisurly at 20 km/h speed and it will be nightmare to move in left lane cos only god knows when the vehicle in front stops all of a sudden.

I have also always wondered how bikers (esp women on Scooties) have the courage to ride on the fast lane on the OMR (especially the stretch from Madhya Kailash) with fast cars zooming past them. When on a bike, I have always stuck to the left-most lane on this road - purely out of fear for my life. One reason I can think of is the lane-system followed on a stretch of Mount Road where bikes/autos are assigned the fast lane and so maybe people assume that is where bikes should be ridden on all roads.

BTW when the lane system was initially started on Mt Road, fast lane was for cars, middle lane for bikes/autos and last lane for buses/heavy vehicles. But since bikers were getting squeezed between cars and buses, they changed it sometime later.

Originally Posted by DRIVE_ADDICT

I do accepts NCR had its advantage of having planned architecture and Wider roads. but still here in the famous OMR i can see people jumping the divider while on crossing the road.

While the points you mentioned about Chennai are valid, a part of the answer as to why it is so, lies in your line quoted above and underlined. With the Chennai roads remaining as wide as they were 20 years ago, but traffic increasing many times since then, it is natural for people to get frustrated by the traffic, bad roads, other motorists etc. NCR motorists don't have these issues to deal with and hence maybe are calmer. And the OMR is not really complete - the service lane is not done, bus-stops are not done etc - so that cannot be a benchmark.

Also, having proper infrastructure in place helps remove ambiguities and avoids people following different rules. Eg. if there exist lanes marked properly and people dont follow it, then they are at wrong. But what to do when lanes are not marked at all ? Yes, we might be able to mentally mark lanes on the unmarked road and drive without inconveniencing others, but not everyone can/wants to do this. Then no point blaming folks.

[DRIVE_ADDICT]

Originally Posted by supremeBaleno

Also, having proper infrastructure in place helps remove ambiguities and avoids people following different rules. Eg. if there exist lanes marked properly and people dont follow it, then they are at wrong. But what to do when lanes are not marked at all ? Yes, we might be able to mentally mark lanes on the unmarked road and drive without inconveniencing others, but not everyone can/wants to do this. Then no point blaming folks.

EXACTLY!. Thats what i mentioned in one of my post. Lack of infrastructure makes people behaves bad at times.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Exactly not.

It certainly doesn't help, and we are all but human and get frustrated and angry, but lack of infrastructure does not make us bad: we make us bad.

[VW2010]

how can you be frustrated with traffic. Its fun when you know you cant do anything but talk to your family and yap about things you never do at home where there are too many distractions from tv to computer.

I say traffic are good place for conversation with family inside car.

i love chennai. Just another perspective.