Commute

Co-authored by Dattatraya T Devare and Saurabh Ketkar Imagine two people on cycles alongside each other riding down a road. One has a state-of-the-art bicycle, made out of carbon fibre with the best disc brakes and a customised seat. The other has a generic cycle made without any gears or fancy materials. When they both come to a stop, one thing is fairly certain, both of them will be sweating and will even smile at each other. If they are friends, they will stop for a chat and catch up over this fortuitous rendezvous. This scenario would be hardly likely…

“In this humid weather, the ride is really comfortable,” said Harivardan Thakkar, a regular commuter on Ahmedabad’s new Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), about the new electric buses introduced into the system from August 29. “Let us see how many such buses and new routes get operational as promised.” Commuters like Thakkar are understandably cautious with their reactions as a number of promises given when the BRTS was launched in 2009 are yet to be fulfilled. BRTS was introduced with the promise of being a substitute for private vehicles and ensuring last mile connectivity for passengers. Last mile connectivity is…

The intentions were noble, but as usual got derailed by poor implementation. Bhopal’s smart bicycle service, first introduced two years back, is a typical example. The main reasons for the lukewarm public response to it were the initial high rental cost, inadequate number of cycles available and poor choice of location of the cycle rental stations. The government addressed the first issue recently by cutting the one-time registration fee for renting a bike. To encourage students, women and elderly people to rent a bicycle, the earlier one-size-fits-all fee of Rs 500 was cut to Rs 50 for college students and…

The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), in collaboration with the Hinduja Group’s automobile company Ashok Leyland, launched Tamil Nadu’s first electric bus in Chennai last month. The bus is operating on route A1, which runs from Thiruvanmiyur to Central Railway Station via Mylapore and back. It makes four trips each day, twice in the morning and twice in the evening, with initial fares set at Rs.15. The bus can seat 31 passengers and has standing room for 25 more. Chennai’s new electric bus runs on battery-swapping technology which allows the vehicle to simply replace its used battery with a fully charged…

In 2012, Bengaluru got its first skywalk with elevators on KG Road. Today, the city has 21 skywalks equipped with lifts on both sides, and CCTV cameras. Another 15 of these will be set up by the end of this year. This would take the total number of skywalks with lifts in Bengaluru to 36. The lifts are helpful especially for the elderly and others who have difficulty climbing stairs. Septuagenarian Madhukar Swamy, a retired government servant, says he uses lifts in the skywalk near BBMP head office almost every day. "Sometimes, if I feel well, I take the stairs…

My driving licence expires on 22 Oct '19 (My 65th birthday falls on 23 Oct '19). I found that I have to apply for a renewal within 30 days prior to its expiry, or do it later with a fine. Only part of the process can be done online, and I did it. I went to Parivahan Sewa at https://parivahan.gov.in/parivahan/ and under "Online Services", clicked on "Driving Licence Related Services". I got this page: https://sarathi.parivahan.gov.in/sarathiservice9/stateSelection.do I selected my state (Karnataka). Under "Driving Licence" on the left hand side, I clicked on "Services on Driving Licence (Renewal/Duplicate/Aedl/Others)" I found the following…

Translated by Sandhya Raju தமிழ்நாடு போக்குவரத்து கழகத்தின் தகவலின்படி சென்னையில் மட்டும் நாற்பது லட்சம் இரு சக்கர வாகனங்களும், எண்பத்தி எட்டு லட்ச கார்களும் உள்ளன. கடந்த பத்து ஆண்டுகளில் மட்டும் வாகனங்களின் எண்ணிக்கை பல மடங்கு உயர்ந்துள்ளது. இந்த எண்ணிக்கை உயர்வால் காற்று மாசு, நெருக்கடி மற்றும் சாலை விபத்துகள் அதிகரித்து உள்ளதை மறுக்க முடியாது. அதிகரித்து வரும் இந்த வாகன எண்ணிக்கை, தனியார் வாகன வசதியை உபயோகிக்கும் நிலையில் இல்லாதவர்கள் ஆகியவற்றை கருத்தில் கொண்டு  பொது போக்குவரத்து பயன்பாட்டை மேம்படுத்தவும், புது வகையான போக்குவரத்து முறைகளை அறிமுகப்படுத்தும் முயற்சிகளும் தொடர்ந்து நடைபெற்றே வருகின்றன. நடை பாதை பாதசாரிகள் மற்றும் மிதிவண்டி ஓட்டுபவர்களை கருத்தில் கொண்டு மோட்டரில்லா வாகனத்திற்கான போக்குவரத்து கொள்கையை சென்னை மாநகராட்சி தயாரித்துள்ளது. சென்னையில் பைக் பகிர்வு  கடந்த ஐந்து ஆண்டுகளில் நாட்டின் பல நகரங்களில் மிதிவண்டி பகிர்வு என்ற முயற்சி பரவலாகி வருகிறது. ஓலாவின்…

For about six years, Koramangala residents have been waiting for a new road - a shortcut - that connects Ejipura junction on the Intermediate Ring Road, with Agara on Outer Ring Road. Though there has been progress in the plan to connect the two arterial roads, residents will have to wait longer for the work to start. The project has been delayed since sections of the road are to pass through defence land. In August 2018, months before the Lok Sabha elections, former Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman agreed to part with 16.5 acres of defence land for 10 projects across…

As the revised fines for traffic offences has come into effect, the Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) has geared up for strict enforcement. If the BTP follows its current pattern of booking offences, what kind of offences would it fine the most, and how much would the department make? Previous years' data shows that the highest number of cases are booked for just two categories - 'rider without helmet' and 'pillion rider without helmet' - out of 39 categories of violations overall. This year, till August 31st, BTP booked over 14 lakh cases for driving without helmet, and another 10 lakh…

The last decade has seen an enormous growth in private vehicles in Chennai, with the city home to around 42 lakh two-wheelers and 88 lakh cars in the city according to data from the State Transport Department. The steady increase in number of vehicles has brought with it several problems such as congestion, air pollution and road accidents.  Waking up to the ballooning problems created by this explosion of vehicles as also the mobility needs of those who cannot afford private modes of transport, there have been efforts to improve public transport and add new modes for people to get…