Commute

April 2nd was a big day for Mumbai. After 8 long years, the blue line of Mumbai's metro was getting 2 new additions: the yellow Line 2A and red Line 7. On the shared Dahisar metro station, Line 2A left to Dahanukarwadi, Kandivali. Parallely, the metro on Line 7 left for Aarey in Goregaon, covering the extent of Phase 1. With the upcoming Phase 2, the 18.5 km and 16.5 km long lines will travel 30 stations bewteen them, connecting DN Nagar, Andheri West and Andheri East on the older Line 1. The lines are a clear rival for the…

This January, as part of a larger programme to make all bus travel free, Boston city set aside eight million dollars to introduce free bus travel on certain routes. Making bus travel free was first tried out in US in the 1970s. The idea caught on and by 2017, 96 such programmes have been recorded globally. In India, Delhi has presently made free bus travel free for women. Can Bengaluru think along similar lines? The city's bus network BMTC (Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation) currently has among the highest fares in the country, making it unaffordable to many. Besides, the city…

Access to public transport for people with disabilities has been a long standing issue often swept under the rug by the state government and the transport corporations. While the term 'disabled-friendly' has become a popular buzzword in various schemes, campaigns and budgetary promises, activists and citizens have pointed out how there is very little effort to really make public infrastructure accessible, safe and considerate for disabled individuals. The Disability Rights Alliance (DRA) is a coalition of independent, community-based organisations that advocate with and for people with any disability. One of their members filed a PIL highlighting the inaccessibility of the…

While COVID-19 virtually shut down bus systems around the world, Chennai started losing its appetite for bus travel even earlier. The share of bus trips in total travel had started dropping before the pandemic, with a marked shift to two-wheelers. The pandemic made things worse. Bus services were off for 8 days in 2019-2020, 141 days in 2020-2021 and 42 – 56 days in 2021-2022. Now, shooting fuel prices and a waning fear of the virus present an opportunity to win back passengers to MTC buses, which can save them petrol money and fund purchase of other goods and services.…

I don’t drive a four wheeler. I don’t ride a two wheeler. I don’t even cycle. I WALK everywhere in my neighbourhood, Sanjaynagar, for all my daily needs. Hence I understand the need for good, walkable footpaths. Which are essential to motivate citizens to get off their vehicles and choose to walk, at least short distances. When I heard about BBMP allocating Rs 20 lakhs to each ward for footpath improvement, where the footpath was to be identified by the ward residents, I was thrilled and looking forward to being a part of this initiative. But nothing really happened till…

With the inexorable progress of the urbanization process, we have seen a steady growth in the number of personal vehicles resulting in congestion, pollution and less walk-friendly city streets. The design of the road infrastructure, in attempting to accommodate the increase in vehicles, makes it less convenient and safe for walking, and hence makes it a non-preferred mode for non-captive users. Which is to say, that those who have no option but to walk, do so with great difficulty and at great risk to themselves, while others simply avoid walking and take to motorised transport. As a result, not only…

This is the second in our series of Cycle2Work interviews from men and women employed in diverse sectors. The series will bring to you stories of these green commuters who cycle to work. We hope that these stories will inspire and encourage more Bengalureans to cycle, and not drive, to work’ Karthik Ranganathan is an engineer with Texas Instruments in Bengaluru and has been cycling to work for over 10 years. “I started cycling in 2011 and found no reason why I should not cycle to work”. Karthik finds cycling saved lot of commute time and events like annual cycle…

Mumbai is the most stressful city to drive in globally, according to a study by Hiyacar, a UK based car sharing company. It is also ranked 5th in global vehicular congestion by the TomTom traffic index of 2021, a global traffic index. Not surprisingly, traffic congestion, road rage incidents and the stress of commuting long distances to work is adversely affecting the physical and mental health of drivers. Additionally, the state of the city’s roads, poorly built, burdened by pothole and unsafe dividers has led to a 15% increase in road accidents in the first six months of 2021. Deaths…

The history of water transport in Mumbai dates back to the Seven Islands of Bombay, which were under Portuguese possession. In 1661, they were handed over to the British, and between 1820 and 1857, the islands slowly became what was then known as Bombay. It was with the opening of the 'Overland Route', a transportation route that made it possible to travel to Europe, that Mumbai built its first steamer in about 1830. The route cut travel time down from five months to one and a half. By 1850, Bombay came into being. Trade between Europe and India was expanding, with the…

This is the third of the three-part analysis of various mobility policies/plans for Bengaluru that aim to regulate the use of private vehicles to reduce road traffic congestion, improve public transport, and create the right infrastructure for non-motorised transport, particularly cycling and walking through the mobility intervention. Given the problems and delays plaguing the expansion of the metro lines and suburban rail system, for Bengalureans, the city bus remains the only alternative to using personal vehicles. The financially troubled transport corporations are trying to augment their fleets and increase and improve services. One aspect of these efforts has been the…