Commute

The city's infrastructure needs are growing by the day. Development plans are created and implemented almost daily. Are a woman's needs addressed in these plans? Or do they have to make do with generic plans that help no one in particular? Like the city's subways?Recently, I was waiting at the Bommanahalli signal and saw a young college girl scurry across the road, risking vehicles whizzing past at full speed. She did not use the new subway that has been open for trials for the last few months. As I waited for the signal to turn green I watched more women,…

Have you ever wondered what to carry with you on a long ride? Have you been puzzled by how to administer first-aid to a fallen bicyclist? Have you seen bollywood movies where the hero beats on the chest of the his sweet-heart and brings her back to consciousness and wondered if that is really needed? Do you know why a male army doctor and an ardent bicyclist carried a sanitary napkin with him on our trip to Muthathi?Find answers to all your questions on Saturday, February 20th at 6PM in the evening at our BOTS. Click here (http://www.bumsonthesaddle.com/contact) for location.Dr.Major…

Come February 16th and it will be a crucial day for the first Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) proposal for Bangalore. Karnataka's Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) has called for a meeting of the BDA, BMTC, Rail India Technical and Economic Society (RITES) and Infrastructure Development Corporation ( Karnataka) Limited (iDECK) on that day to discuss the BRTS proposal. In BRTS, BMTC buses will run higher speeds than usual in part because of dedicates bus lanes, allowing commuters to reach destinations faster. If the BRTS gets the Cabinet nod, it will first be implemented along the Outer Ring Road,…

Well, 'Bus day' was a day full of excitement, anxiety and fun. Thanks to BMTC and all those folks involved in the brilliant initiative of ‘Bus Day' in Bengaluru. Ever since I took the bus to my office in the morning, I had rented out my ears, eyes and mind to the happenings around me.Most of the social networking sites: Facebook, Twitter, Orkut carried a lot of updates on ‘Bus Day'. I could see many of my fellow buddies tweeting about them. They would read as "BMTC here I come... #busday" or "Took the bus to work today on #busday…

My daily journey from my home at Kaggadasapura, C V Raman Nagar to my office at Seshadripuram starts at 8.30 AM in the morning. The distance is about 15 kilometres. I generally take 40 minutes on my two wheeler to reach office. Traffic condition deters me to take out my four wheeler and I find my motorbike more convenient.I had never considered public transport as an alternative. The 'Bus Day' initiative intrigued me and I wanted to give it a try.My travel to office can be summed up as follows: I started off at around 8.20 AM. Fifteen minutes of…

For someone who mooted the idea of Bus Day, 23-year-old Manjari Vishnoi could not venture out on February 4th 2009, thanks to a running temperature. Nevertheless, she's happy about the outcome of the initiative and says, "I think it went pretty well. I know a lot of people who took the bus." Manjari, a software engineer at Cisco Systems (the network equipment major with a large presence in Bengaluru), is also a member of the online citizen community Praja.in. Praja has been working closely with BMTC on Bus Day initiative. Bengaluru's Bus Day on February 4th was a modest success.…

It was around 2.10 AM, wee hours of February 4th. Bus Day. I had spoken to my friends over the weekend about this and totally forgot about it. Around the same time I SMSed (Short Messaging Service) as many people as I could reminding them of the day. I got two responses and also saw two Facebook (an online social networking site) status messages posted about the day.I woke up early thinking that I might take longer to reach work by bus. However, I eventually ended up setting out for work around the same time that I generally do every…

Bangalore Bus day! For all those who are crying hoarse about Bangalore's transport system this must come as a shock. What is there to celebrate you say? Let me take you on a trip down memory lane and you tell me.My schooling started with bus commutes, morning and evening. That means 16 years of friendship with the six wheeled wonder. Back in the '80s there weren't so many buses. I used to take the route number 137 from Yeshwanthpur to Ulsoor which would be available only once in two hours. Almost always, the buses were jam packed and foot board…

As most of you know, the Bangalore Elevated Tollway from Electronic City (E-City) upto Bommanahalli was inaugurated by the Union minister, Kamal Nath, last week. The government hailed it as a successful project completed in record time. I have been using it since last week, and this is what I observed. The elevated highway in use. Pic: Thejesh G N. Even though my travel time from E-City to Silk Board junction has reduced by 20 minutes, I clearly see the bottleneck shifting to St Johns, north of Silk Board and to E-City Phase I main entrance in the south. The…

Yet another road-widening project in Bengaluru has hit a roadblock as residents and shop owners raise the flag against BBMP’s Transfer of Development Rights (TDR) scheme. TDR scheme has come in for more fire. This time, shop owners, tenants, and residents of Tannery Road in East Bangalore are protesting against the road-widening work ordered by BBMP in their area. Tannery Road - Nagavara Owners/ Merchants Association office bearers and members, with Legislative Council Chairman Veeranna Mattikatti and guests at the Republic Day 2010 celebrations. Pic: Karunya Keshav. “We are not opposing road widening. We oppose TDR,” says Ahmed Baseer, property…