Commute

The very popular share autos, or 7-seater mini vans operating in the hundreds in Chennai and addressing an acutely-felt need for intermediate public transport in the city are in fact illegal, and cannot pick up and drop passengers at random. This was revealed by a response given by the Tamil Nadu Transport Department to an RTI query filed in March 2017 by a journalist from the city, who blogs at Straphangers United. The RTI application was filed to the Secretary, Transport, Tamil Nadu, who forwarded it to the Transport Commissioner, who in turn sent it to the RTOs. The response to…

Intrigued by the subject title? I am writing about the fact that the new plastic number plates on cars are, very frequently broken off during even small impacts with obstacles, leading to number plates that are incomplete and cannot be used for identification of the vehicle in case of an accident or any other situation.  What was wrong with the old metal number plates, and why did we have to introduce more plastic, which, in this case, is less sturdy and has far less of a lifespan? One cannot blame the owners of the cars, as the number plates are…

It's not an uncommon fact anymore that Bengaluru suffers from one of the worst traffic conditions in the whole country, where it can surprisingly take an hour to travel a distance as short as a few kilometres. While the daily victims of this grim state of affairs unsparingly blame the administration for the poor metro coverage, insufficient flyovers, dilapidated roads, and unprepared public transportation; here we propagate a specific issue which has seldom been discussed. Bengaluru's red lights at the traffic signals usually last for exorbitantly long durations that can be up to 5 minutes. Go to Koramangala sony signal…

On any normal weekday morning, if you take a peek into Google maps with Traffic on, and zoom into the East of Bengaluru, you can see some dark lines forming around Tin Factory. This gets input from two green lines – the Old Madras Road and the Outer Ring Road from Kalyan Nagar. The ORR from Kalyan Nagar used to be a mess, but these days things seem to be in some sort of control. This dark line extends all the way till the KR Puram Railway station, becoming green again as traffic rushes out from that point, like kids…

“He doesn’t want to leave yet! He hasn’t even had his breakfast, but in his enjoyment, he’s forgotten his hunger!” Mrs. Lalitha, a resident of T Nagar, thus ended up spending the entire morning at Pondy Bazaar with her seven-year-old son Pranav. Pranav, who has nobody at home to play with, found not just games, but also company and a lot of space in T Nagar to keep him entertained. His mother, who also participated in the games, reliving her childhood days, enjoyed a fun-filled, nostalgic shopping trip.   This alternate shopping experience was on the occasion of the second…

On the NICE Road, I have been recently noticing people (apparently employed by those who collect the tolls) who approach cars stuck in the queue, asking if they want to pay the toll to them and not have to stop at the toll gate. The hidden agenda? They charge higher amoounts than the official toll. Eg, the toll that we were supposed to pay was Rs.52, but these people asked us to pay Rs.60. If they charge so much extra per car at times of heavy congestion,not only are they fleecing motorists, but they are also contravening the law. here…

On February 23rd, Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB), an independent citizens group, posted on its Facebook page about the struggle of women garment workers to get access to public transportation. “A thousand women (may be a 100 men?) stream out of the factory. Not all at once. But in bunches. They are on a mission. To make that purchase. To get on that bus or tempo (which is 3 times cheaper than BMTC). To get home. To start working, again, at home. After 9 hours of work at the garment factory,” the FB post read. The CfB post explained how thousands…

A wrecked footpath with cables, garbage, posters. Pic: Nadia Asif If you are a pedestrian you would know that crossing Bengaluru’s busy, lawless roads is nothing less than a life-threatening ordeal. For motorists, pedestrians are obstacles and for the traffic police, pedestrians are insignificant road users who somehow find their way in the mayhem of vehicles coming in from all directions without any order. In a survey conducted by Walkability Asia in seven Indian cities, Bengaluru scored the lowest in walkability. It is common to see bikes using the pavements to ride past static traffic, or autos cutting corners inches…

We have a common psychology of living with the problem, not realising we are encountering one! So are the case of most pedestrians whose Right of Way has been infringed for various reasons. The first form of transportation was walking - from the time man was born, he has been walking. But with improvements in technology and innovations of automobiles, we do not give importance to walking any more. Now everyone has their personal vehicles. Number of these vehicles has been increasing every day! It has been reported that about 55.59 Lakh non-transport vehicles, that is cars and two-wheelers are…

Villagers of Gonipura, Thippur and Sigehalli near Bidadi are largely dependent on farming for their livelihood. Pic: Akshatha M Krishnappa, a small farmer in his late 60s, vividly remembers the day 18 years ago, when he first received a government notice which said his five-acre agricultural land was notified for a road and township project. The notice came as a shocker to him as well as his fellow-villagers in Thippur, a quiet rural suburb near Bidadi located in Bengaluru South taluk. Little did Krishnappa and the villagers know about this mega project that would one day put their lives in…