Commute

Kundalahalli gate, Hosur Road, Old Airport Road, CBD, Old Madras Road, Koramangala Sony junction, Banashankari bus stop, Nrupathunga Road, K G Road, Mysore Road, Tumkur road are a few areas that commuters would avoid if they could. These are wide roads but the sheer volume of traffic, stretches of roads that bottleneck and constant civil works like cables or drainage pipe laying or electrical transformer repairs make these roads perfect traffic gridlock examples. Roads under Tender SURE Phase 1 Vittal Mallya Road St. Marks Road Richmond Road Residency Road Museum Road Commissariat Road Cunningham Road Roads under Tender SURE Phase…

Way back in 2007, a Comprehensive Traffic and Transport Proposal was given by Government of India. As per that, we had the Phase 1 Metro in Bengaluru, which is now being constructed, feeder Monorail / Light Rail, Bus Rapid Transit and Suburban Rail. This can be found here: CTTP 2007 From 2007 till 2015, the population has grown tremendously. So many vehicles have added to Bangalore Roads. New comers to Bangalore, especially bachelors who come from other cities come with some clothes  and documents after they get their first job or in search of the job. Initially they manage with…

It started with a few shopkeepers giving customers change in the form of boiled sweets or toffees; but now it seems to have developed into a form of payment! At most toll roads. Toll collectors don't even bother to give change, but hand over the receipt for the toll, with some cellophane-wrapped candy. They actually act affronted when one tells them that one will not accept this as change, and grudgingly part with the change in coins, which,obviously, they had all along.  Every "toffee" or candy may represent one rupee, but the customer is being shortchanged, because these sweets have…

Another Railway Budget has come and gone from the “acche din” government. However, there has been no mention of Commuter Railway for Bengaluru. The biggest beneficiary of these services are people of the city. The blame for this, however,  is not with the center, but with the State government. there was much the State could have done to facilitate Commuter Railway, which was not done. Here is the list of such issues: Lack of political will: The government of the day has the wherewithal to announce multi-crore elevated highways and induce more motor vehicle demand in the name of congestion…

Ongoing construction of the Kittur Rani Chennamma flyover at what is popularly known as Devegowda Petrol Bunk junction in Bengaluru has turned the area into a war-zone. Many beautiful trees have been brought down, footpaths are broken, streetlights have been removed and the fence between the pavement and the massive Rajakaluve (now a drain really) has been opened up. Pedestrians have to endlessly battle bulldozers, open drains and ditches, cement blocks with metal rods jutting out, no street lights (thus absolute darkness in the night) and a never-ending stream of heavy vehicular traffic, day and night. Footpath has been dug…

In an early morning tragedy, Ernakulam-bound Bengaluru-Ernakulam Intercity Express (Train No. 12677) derailed in Belagondapalli near Anekal in city’s outskirts on Friday, leading to the death of 12 passengers. Two compartments of the train collided, causing the loss of lives. Over 100 passengers are said to have been injured in the accident of which many are in critical stage. However, according to official version, the number of deaths is 10 while 18 were injured. The dead include five male passengers, three female passengers and a 12-year-old boy. Injured passengers include two citizens of Poland. Five people among the injured are…

Koramangala residents were a relieved lot after the elevated road project from Ejipura to Kendriya Sadan got approval last year, under JNNURM scheme. The joy did not last long, as the project now has been taken off the JNNURM scheme, and will not get funds from the Centre. Basavaraj Kabade, the executive engineer of BBMP, confirmed to Citizen Matters that this project, expected to reduce traffic congestion in Sony world Junction in Koramangala and speed up the journey to Hosur road through inner ring road, has now been cancelled by the Central government. “About 15-20 days ago, in a letter…

It is the beginning of a long weekend. You leave your office at 7 pm in Electronics City with a bid to catch the 9 pm train at KR Puram railway station. The cab picks you up right on time and you zip on the elevated highway to reach silk board in 15 minutes. However, there is a huge pile up at Silk Board and you are forced to spend 20 minutes at this junction. It is 7.35 pm and you start getting worried as to whether you would be able to reach the station on time. Moreover, the train…

It's good to see the excellent road name signposts that have come up in J P Nagar 3rd Phase. Even more impressive to see the names of the Corporators and their contact numbers on the signs. This is a very welcome initiative!

Following the Delhi Uber cab rape incident, the Karnataka State Government went on to ban Uber from running operations in Bengaluru. In addition, three other organisations, namely Taxi For Sure (TFS), Carzonrent and Zoomcars, were also included in the list of banned agencies. Authorities said that they were banned since they had not registered with the Regional Transport Authority. Uber still accepting bookings On December 16th, Transport department officials raided the Uber office and confiscated mobile phones and computers. The company was reportedly asked to suspend all bookings through its app until they had sought the necessary license. However, despite…