Commute

If you are an average person travelling in Bangalore, whichever mode of transport you opt for, can be a daunting task. If you choose to travel by your own personal vehicle, haphazard traffic and the moon-craters called pot-holes only make sure your stress levels rise meteorically. Recently, the menace of auto-drivers over-charging, arguing and misbehaving with passengers has been highlighted by many leading papers, citizen forums and on social-media. This has led to various endeavours to curb the problem such as the setting up of help-lines to report auto-drivers, Bangalore Traffic Police conducting an auto-raid in July and the Peace…

Pic courtesy: BMRCL facebook page After repeated delays in meeting the original schedule, Bangalore Metro is set to extend its footprint in North Bengauru. However, the extension is a mere 2.5 kilometres on Reach 3 (B) - the Peenya Industry – Nagasandra stretch. The trial runs began on September 30, 2014, and the service is likely to be inaugurated in December 2014 or January 2015. The three new stations on this stretch are T Dasarahalli, Jalahalli and Nagasandra. The Nagasandra station is located at a distance of around 12.8 km from Mantri Square station. Will Reach 3B of Metro make…

Radha lives in R T Nagar. With her office located in Koramangala, she has to travel around 15 kilometres every day. Without convenient bus connectivity, she had had to resort to autos or cabs. When her neighbour who also commutes to Koramangala everyday, offered a shared ride, Radha was only too happy. Pic courtesy: paloaltobridge.com A small solution to the enormous traffic on road during peak hours, the concept of cab sharing has picked up in Bangalore. There are also many mobile apps and websites to help people find like-minded travellers on the same route. “I remember going to Goa…

Traffic that needs to take a right turn at Windsor Manors causes roadblocks for airport traffic. Pic: Google Earth. Namma Bengaluru used to be a very beautiful city. There were beautiful circles, tree-lined avenues and lots of greenery to complement the wonderful weather. However, in the last few years a lot of the beauty has been destroyed in the name of development. First the circles were removed - owing to the misplaced notion that its better for traffic to have a four or five way intersection. Then the trees were removed - owing to the misplaced notion that widening roads…

Four road safety entrepreneurs have been selected as winners in the innovation challenge “Safer Roads, Safer India: Game Changing Innovations that Save Lives.” Their projects were evaluated by an expert panel of judges and chosen as the top solutions from a pool of more than 80 entries that activate citizenship, improve governance to be more responsive, update infrastructure, and use technology to protect drivers, passengers, and bystanders. The four winning entrepreneurs, who were selected for meeting criteria for innovation, social impact, and sustainability, will each receive INR 300,000 as prize money funding to support their road safety innovations. They are…

It is an important day in Kiran's life - he has an interview scheduled in Delhi. He has booked the 7 am flight from Bengaluru, and a cab to the airport at 5 am. He gets ready by 4.30 am and calls the assigned cab driver's number. There's no answer. He calls twice, thrice, four times - still no answer. It is 4.45 am when he calls the cab helpline. The sleepy voice that picks the call, after listening to him, gives him the number of another driver. This driver refuses to serve Kiran’s request claiming that he is far…

Non-Karnataka vehicles are a common sight on Bangalore's roads. Pic: Nikita Malusare You move in to Bengaluru from another part of India. You plan to move out after a few years. Along with everything else that you have to do to stay in the city, there’s something important you need to do: Re-register your vehicle and change the vehicle number. But is this a fair demand always? Karnataka government laws mandate vehicles staying in Karnataka for more than 30 days to pay lifetime tax in lump sum, and then withdraw the balance amount from the government of the city where…

Worshipful Mayor Smt Shantakumari, Kindly accept my heartfelt congrats as well as the ‘Best Wishes’ on entering your new office as the Mayor of Bangalore, from this hearing-challenged senior citizen (75+), a consumer/social activist !! I learnt from a website that dedicates itself for the welfare of the citizens of our city, that you're presently on a mission, visiting nook and corner, to study the civic problems and to improve the state of affairs, amenities, etc, so that we could lead a peaceful life, during your regime. Kindly excuse my liberties to come out with the following suggestions: After worshipping…

A press note from Karnataka State Road Transport Company (KSRTC) details the special transport arrangements during Gowri-Ganesh Festival, for August 27 and 28. Below is the press note text: In view of Gowri-Ganesh festival, KSRTC has made elaborate arrangements for operating more than 1,000 extra buses as mentioned below in addition to the existing schedules to provide transport facility to the traveling public from August 27, 2014 to August 28, 2014. Special buses will be exclusively operated from Bangalore Kempegowda Bus Station to Dharmastala, Kukkesubramanya, Shimoga, Hassan, Mangalore, Coondapura, Shringeri, Horanadu, Davangere, Hubli, Dharwar, Belgaum, Bijapur, Gokarna, Sirsi, Karwar, Raichur,…

Some autos charge extra for each ride, while there are a few of them who go by the meter. Pic: Christopher Martin Lopaze Their rounded, carapace-like forms, yellow hoods, and green or black bodies are familiar to anyone living in Bengaluru, as the road is usually congested with them. Yes, we are talking about autos in Bengaluru. Would it surprise you to learn there are more than 1,30,000 legally registered autorickshaws in Bangalore? Those figures, of course, do not account for the autorickshaws that operate illegally without a license. Most put the “rick” into “rickety.” They also happen to be…