Commute

The month of April 2012 saw temperatures soaring to record levels in Bangalore. So it was a welcome holiday on 1st May which also saw a heavy pre-monsoon burst in the evening going on well into the night. It was the first shower of the year. Unlike most showers, however, the disruption was much less since it was a holiday. Commuters who use the Outer Ring Road (ORR) between Sarjapur road and Marathahalli saw traffic piling up till the Bellandur flyover in the morning of 2nd May. This flyover had been inaugurated in February 2012, after a delay of more…

The Karnataka High Court has upheld the new government's rule that bans the use of vehicles older than 15 years, for ferrying school children. Justice A N Venugopala Gowda passed this order rejecting a petition filed by T J Damodara, owner of a maxicab registered in 1992. According to the new rule, his 21-years-old vehicle cannot transport school children, which the petitioner said had affected his income. However the court said that the Rule 6(2) of the Karnataka Motor Vehicles (conditions for vehicles engaged in transport of schoolchildren) Act 2012, which bans the use of vehicles older than 15 years,…

The increase in fares 15 days back was as usual a hole burner in starting stages - fare of Rs.8 has become rs.9 and fare of Rs.9 is now Rs.12/- but does BMTC really think they make money this way? Consider my own example here. Travelling from Marathahalli to J P Nagar 6th phase, I get direct bus in mornings - but in return I need to change over at the Marenhalli signal for last 2 kms for which the fare works out to be Rs.9/-. On an average of 3 working days, I generally walk down home for the…

Regional Transport Offices List Bangalore by Citizen Matters

The campaign against the bus fare hike by the Bangalore Bus Prayaanikara Vedike has been going on for the past one week. On Friday June 28, the Vedike held a protest outside the BMTC office and submitted a memorandum (scanned copy and English version attached) to the GM, BMTC. The GM promised to review the fare-hike decision and also call for a meeting. However, the very same day, the BMTC MD once again issued a public statement declaring that the fare hike will not be taken back at any cost. We have also not heard from BMTC on whether they…

  The BMTC bus commuters finally have something to cheer about. They can now check the buses on the routes they want, and keep the exact amount of change ready, thanks to the BMTC website that provides every possible information that's helpful for a commuter. The website, mybmtc.com, launched early this May, is user-friendly with attractive features. The information process system is at par with the needs of the urban and sub-urban areas. The website has both English and Kannada languages. All the bus stations have been listed along with the contact numbers for major stations like Kempegowda (Majestic), Shivajinagar…

The proposal to widen six roads - actually, just small segments of these roads - lacks everything we would wish for in urban design. It's not part of an overall strategy of mobility in the city; it's not clear what goals are expected to be achieved; it's not being done as per the KTCP Act which requires these projects to be carried out through town planning schemes, and it doesn't even copy the best of such efforts from other parts of India. First, they are not proposing to actually widen roads, but only some stretches of the roads. Widening Bannerghatta…

There have been many instances in the past where commuters have been caught by the traffic police for faulty number plates, while government vehicles have been royally excused. But this discrimination might soon change, as the Transport Department is all geared up to implement the High Security Number Plates (HSNP) into action. What is a HSNP? As per Central Motor Vehicle Rules 50 and 51, it is a number plate which will have a hologram of the Ashoka Chakra (with the four lions), IND written in bold blue colour on the extreme left centre of the plate and the PCIN…

Getting out and around in Bangalore is no mean feat for anyone, nowadays. Every part of the city seems to be competing for the level of madness that is created on its roads, junctions and bus stops. And my beloved area Marathahalli (Brookefield) where I have lived for 8 years has a strong contender in the Marathahalli Outer Ring Road (ORR) intersection. The region has been plagued with traffic issues since the railway overbridge (ROB) construction started in June 2006 and ended in April 2008. If the traffic pile up then was traumatic, the traffic flow now is horrific. The…

Vinay Sreenivasa, one of the indefatigable volunteers of Hasiru Usiru, writes:   Dear All,   As you may all be aware, the BMTC has biked bus fares by 16%, with the minimum rate now Rs. 6BMTC has been increasing the fares steeply every few months and the rate has almost doubled in the last 3 years.As a result even bus-travel has become unaffordable for a large number of people and they are forced to either walk or cut down on other essential expenditure.   Bus users in the city are a huge block (more than 40 lakhs) but as of now there…