Commute

Traffic congestion in ORR is getting worse - the long term solution is moving more and more commuters to mass public transport like the Metro or  BRTS. While the jury is out on which is better and faster to implement, we are losing precious time everyday in our commute. With the intention to reduce the commute time and avoid stress in waiting at traffic signals,  Rao Ganesh Janardhan, HSR Traffic Police Inspector has put together a series of simple changes which can improve the traffic flow from Marathahalli till Central Silk Board. The first of such changes have been implemented around…

File pic: Mayur Channagere A press release issued by the Karnataka Department of Information and Public Relations on July 30th about Bengaluru Vision Group sub-committee’s traffic related decisions related to Bengaluru has ruffled feathers. A section of citizens have questioned the sub-committee for taking unilateral decisions for Bengaluru, instead of remaining just an advisory group, as noted by the government during the formation of the Vision Group (Bengaluru Blueprint Action Group or BBPAG). A lot of information has been floating around about the decisions taken by the sub-committee: starting with their declaration of 12 roads as high density roadsto their intent of…

When an overhead walkway built by Ecospace was recently opened to public, residents of Outer Ring Road greeted it with joy. It made crossing the ORR so much safer and seemed to reduce congestion caused by vehicles slowing to let jaywalkers cross. Though India had a strong tradition of pedestrian-centric cities, it is deplorable that post-1970, cities in India have rarely been designed for pedestrians. Reviewing the list of ten most accident-prone areas in Bangalore, Citizen Matters found that the predominant factor for accidents was pedestrians crossing the road in the midst of high speed traffic. With the absence of…

Perhaps the best idea to come out of the Government of India in recent times was to set aside 2% of the post-tax income of companies (beyond a certain size) towards investments of social value. Used properly, this can be a powerful fuel for localities and their corporate denizens to collaborate to solve local problems. Nooraine Fazal (left) of Inventure Academy, hands over the keys to a traffic signal to Police Inspector Narasimhamurthy. Pic: Anu Parekh We’re seeing some of that happening in Whitefield, home to a good many companies. Interestingly, CSR is now being used to directly address the…

Here's a quick anecdote about the puzzle that was the Uber business model in Bengaluru. I visited Bangalore — the city I am from — earlier this year. I’ve been used to driving my parents’ car around town while visiting; for the first time, though, the consensus opinion from friends and family was that I should Uber the entire time instead. I’m a fan of convenience, so I agreed. It was pleasant enough: the cars were new, clean and shiny; prices were cheap when paid in USD; cars were abundant. Practically all the drivers were local Kannadigas who had quit jobs in the service…

Does it not bother you that Chennai is the 'accident capital' of India? And according to some reports, we have the second highest number of road accidents in the WORLD, after the Brazilian city of Fortaleza! In the year 2015 alone, official records indicate that over 850 people died in traffic accidents. This is likely to be lower than the real figure, since several instances are not reported to the police, and also does not include instances where the person was injured and succumbed to it subsequently. The list of disturbing statistics is almost endless. Over 40% of the casualties are…

During the last few months, there have been several instances of the Karnataka Transport Department seizing cabs that operate under on-demand app-based aggregators. All hell broke loose for Ola and Uber cabs who were operating merrily in Bengaluru, when the State Transport Department introduced a formal set of rules governing taxi aggregators, on April 2nd, 2016.  In the previous two stories on taxi aggregators, you read about how Ola and Uber have changed the commuting pattern in Bengaluru, the commuters response to it, and how has it changed the lives of cab drivers in city. The policy called as the Karnataka On-demand…

Taxi aggregators have brought a change in the commuting pattern in the city. Recently, on a late evening, I waited for an auto/cab at HSR Layout that can take me to Gandhi Nagar. At the auto stand, the driver says: “No meter madam. Gandhi Nagar is far,” hence he demands 500 bucks. I let go of the option and stop another auto on the road. This driver tries to strike a deal for Rs 350. I let go of this too. Then I try to search for a cab/auto in Ola app. The auto driver takes me to Gandhi Nagar…

When Mexico City quadrupled in size from 1940 to 1970, the city experienced unending gridlock—something any Bengalurean can relate to. Today, Mexicans still battle long commute times, but the government has ameliorated its transit-induced headache after implementing large-scale changes to its public transit. Meanwhile, Bengaluru’s commuters continue to sit in hours of traffic amid a sea of angry honkers. Migrants continue to flow in, and the vehicle population continues to grow. Although Mexico City has more than 220 km of rail in place, dissimilar to Bengaluru’s still infantile Namma Metro’s 31 km, the key to Mexico City’s progress has been…

Ever since the app-based cab aggregators - Ola, Uber, TaxiForSure entered the Indian market, a lot of stories have been told over the lucrative offers they give to the cab drivers and how the lives of cab drivers have changed. We have even come across the cases of highly educated and handsomely paid executives quitting their jobs in Bengaluru, to take up driving as a profession. The profession of cab drivers affiliated to app-based aggregators has been seen as a road to prosperity. There have been accounts of drivers earning even upto Rs 80,000 a month, which is equal to…