Commute

Once upon a time, buses were...boring. Not boring only because one had to wait endlessly for them, but also because the buses were uniformly coloured and so dull. All that has changed now, and I would like to share with you some of the rainbow bursts that ply through the city’s roads, some sporting pictures of nubile maidens and some messages laden with deep significance. I decided to take a ride on a couple of these buses just to talk to the conductors and the drivers. In some instances, the driver had been assigned recently to the bus, and was…

If you have driven at night in Bangalore, you know what a pain it is. Even if you don't drive in Bangalore, you will know how much night traffic hurts. Your eyes that is.In good old Bharat, we had half blackened headlights. Because a high-beam was painful and it was deemed best to cover the top half of the light in black paint so that everyone's eyes were spared.But for whatever reason (if any of you know, please write in!) the half covered lights have gone! And what we are left with is a city, full of people driving around…

There was a time, not so long ago, when I enjoyed driving in Bangalore (as it was then). The run from J.P. Nagar to Century Club in Cubbon Park was a breeze.No more. Things have changed – as they will. The human population has exploded; the vehicle population has increased even faster. Fuel prices have gone through the roof. Roads are proving inadequate and increasingly unusable. There is mounting recognition that the citizen should use public transport more and more. The Administration is undoubtedly doing its bit – except that it is falling woefully short of needs. The ancient ubiquitous…

The acronym RTO evokes a mixture of worry, apprehension and confusion in Bangalore city’s novice vehicle owners. Right from collecting of documents to taking time off other routines to clear tests for that coveted license- it is serious business. This article attempts to make the procedural route to obtaining licenses at any city RTO simple and lucid. All about Learner’s Driving License A valid Learner’s License (LL) is a pre-requisite to get a permanent Driving License (DL). The objective of a Learner’s Driving License is to officiate the process of learning. That is, if you are enrolled in a driving…

Forms carefully filled, procedures checked and driving skills sharpened, does one stand a good chance of getting a driving license? Considering the general experience at RTOs, there can never be an answer in the affirmative every time. That absolutely nobody believes that licenses can be procured without paying bribes is the least of the RTO’s troubles. The department is fogged by confusions regarding procedures and mired in beaurocracy. Touts and agents at every RTO offering free, quick license in exchange for a few hundred rupees are commonplace. When it is not allegations of corruption, it is the irregularities in rules…

From time to time newspapers report that an effort is to be made to improve footpaths (sidewalks, pavements) to benefit pedestrian movement. In 2005 and 2006 such statements came from the office of the Commissioner, BMP. In 2007 the Deccan Herald reported that the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic & Security) had announced work on, ‘a policy dedicated to construction and maintenance of footpaths’. There is hardly any evidence on the ground of results from either initiative.Footpath access blocked by Police (Pic: S.G.Narayanamurthy)16th Cross kerb 2007 (Pic: S.G.Narayanamurthy)Bank van customers block Footpath (Pic: S.G.Narayanamurthy)Car equipping work on Footpath (Pic: S.G.Narayanamurthy)Cars…

 For four days last week, Thursday to Sunday, BMTC dropped the bus fares for the city's Volvo buses to Rs.1. The Hindu reported on 16 September that several buses suffered damages to tyres, suspensions, blowers, window screens, seat fabrics, and more. ⊕

In a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) at the High Court of Karnataka, the CMH Road Shops and Traders’ Association has challenged the legality of the Metro Rail Project implemented by the BMRC (Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation). On 18th and 20th August, Justice Gopala Gowda and Chief Justice P D Dinakaran heard legal arguments. Citizen Matters has been following the proceedings.Is the Metro legal? Government: ‘yes’, Traders: ‘no’ Pramila Nesargi, legal counsel representing the CMH Road traders, argued that in both Kolkata and Delhi, the metro was constructed after the passage of the “Metro Railways Construction of Works Act”. This Act…

Believe it or not, Bangalore does have a traffic control room. It is called the Traffic Management Centre and is situated on the first floor of Ashok Nagar Police Station. As you enter the air-conditioned room, you will see five LCD screens mounted on the wall. All of them are connected to computers. The screens show a grid of nine small screens with traffic movements captured through cameras. Any one of the junctions from the screen can be enlarged and seen in particular. LCD screens with a grid of traffic various junctions (Pic: Supriya Khandekar)The system uses two types of…

The traffic situation at the KR Puram Flyover Bridge makes for a miserable and highly frustrating experience. Nowadays, most Bangaloreans have to travel miles to reach their office or work place. In the midst of the journey, ordinary traffic state or jams are bearable but the situation of waiting at the same point for close to an hour is frustrating. The different issues I have noticed and faced at this junction are: • Cross roads access to and from the junction.• Roads narrows down terribly at the Railway bridge junction ... leading to huge congestion. The roads' width is just…