Commute

With Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS), Metrorail, Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses and suburban rail network, Chennai is one of the metros in the country that have a more efficient local public transport system. However, rapid growth of commuters has led to the emergence of an illegal, parallel system in the form of share autos. The fact that 15,500 share autos ply on the city roads each day indicates how this form of private transportation is plugging the gaps in the public transport space. This Citizen Matters series on share autos provides details on the emergence of share autos, problems…

This article is part of a special series: Air Quality in our Cities The sputtering sound of many of our auto-rickshaws and the chimney-like smoke emitted by them (as well as by buses and some cars) have one thing in common: Diesel. At the policy level, the government of Tamil Nadu has taken various steps to phase out diesel vehicles from the roads, as a measure against vehicular pollution, but the implementation has been far from satisfactory. In 2009, the State Transport Authority had directed the petrol and diesel driven auto rickshaws in Chennai to switch to Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG). According…

The Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd ( KRDCL), which is implementing authority for the controversial elevated corridor project in Bengaluru, has recently submitted its application to the State level Environment Impact Assessment Authority (Karnataka) for Environment Impact Assessment Study. Since its inception, the project has met with opposition from several civil society organisations and activists. It has been opposed on several grounds, some of them being – the process being a top down approach with no public consultations, the environmental impact including felling of several thousands of trees, the argument that flyovers and corridors rarely solve congestion in the city,…

Karnataka first state to pass Good Samaritan Bill The Karnataka Good Samaritan and Medical Professional (Protection and Regulation during Emergency Situations) Bill 2016 has finally got President Ram Nath Kovind’s assent for implementation in the state. Home ministry officials confirmed the news to the media on Sunday. The act relieves citizens who act as ‘Good Samaritans’ during road-accidents, providing timely help to victims, from all legal obligations including appearances at police stations or courts. Bystanders to accidents don’t need to produce identity proof at the hospital and can withhold consent to act as witnesses, thus preventing harassment for the good deed…

In March 2009, the Rajasthan government approached the erstwhile union government, seeking central assistance for setting up the Jaipur Metro Project. Nine years later, a performance audit of the first phase of Jaipur Metro by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) reveals how this urban mobility project was pushed through with undue haste. This has raised questions over why certain due diligence protocols in the planning phase were undermined. The CAG performance audit tells us that in April 2009, the Union Government advised the Rajasthan government to prepare a Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) in order to conduct a…

Despite a government order directing State Road Transport Offices (RTO) across India to issue Driving Licences to the hearing-impaired, and court orders to the effect, the ground reality seems to be the exact opposite. RTOs still follow age-old rules to grant (or not grant, in this case) an opportunity to obtain the learners' Licence (LLR) and eventually, a driver's licence to people with hearing challenges. At least that's what my recent experience has shown. RTO apathy I recently accompanied a hearing-impaired person to an RTO in Chennai, hoping for him to obtain a Learner's License (LLR). Here is a brief overview…

A delegation from Bangalore Bus Prayanikara Vedike (BBPV) met Karnataka's Transport Minister D C Thamanna and submitted a memorandum, asking for bus fares to be reduced. A press note from Vinay Sreenivasa of BBPV says that the BBPV communicated to the minister that proposal to hike bus fares will harm BMTC, bus commuters and entire Bengaluru. The Minister did not provide any assurance on not hiking fares. The Transport Minister had been hinting at hiking fares of BMTC by about 14% - 18%. Bangalore Bus Prayanikara Vedike has been urging both the current government and past governments to reduce fares…

During my college days in the pre-Metro rail era, travelling in the DTC buses in Delhi was a common choice. Rather, it was the only choice available for youngsters. Then came the automobile explosion in our cities, and the four-wheeler entered our lives too. We moved to Gurgaon eight years back and with almost non-existent public transport, we had to have two cars for just two of us in the family. It was only recently with the rapid metro reaching the city, about a ten-minute walk from our doorstep, that we started using it, especially on my trips to Delhi.…

A press note from Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) states that as many as 1200 buses will be exclusively operated from Bengaluru Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shivamogga, Hassan, Mangaluru, Kundapura, Sringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubballi, Dharwad, Belagavi, Vijayapura, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur, Kalaburagi, Ballari, Koppala, Yadgir, Bidar, Tirupathi and other places, as it is the Gowri-Ganesha festival season. The details: Special buses from Mysuru Road Bus Station will be exclusively operated towards Mysuru, Hunsur, Piriyapatna, Virajpet, Kushalanagar, Madikeri. All premier special buses will be operated from Shanthinagar(In front of KSRTC, Bengaluru Central Depot-4 & Depot-2) to Madurai, Kumbakonam,…

It was a day filled with obvious contrasts  - the kind that would ideally help make right decisions about the nightmare that we know as urban transport in Bangalore. The question of mass transit versus private vehicles was never answered more effectively for me. On Friday, the last day of August, I was slated to cover the Rail Yatra that was being organised by Citizens For Bengaluru, to reiterate their demand for a suburban rail service for the city. The 3 pm train was to start from Yeshvanthpur and reach Heelalige, a picturesque little station (reminiscent of R K Narayan’s Malgudi…