Politician Promise

Your average commuting time spent on Bangalore roads has risen - hold your breath - by a shocking 400% in 25 years. For instance, the average 15-minute breezy ride from Jayanagar to MG Road in 1984 now takes nearly 1 hour during peak hours, and we’re not factoring in the incalculable twin harms of pollution hazard and possible road rage born out of time squeeze.

Welcome to Bangalore, whose quiet, tree-lined roads have given way to chaotic traffic, and there are bottlenecks at every intersection. A city where mileage doesn’t matter, but peak-hour traffic speed does. For all this, blame the exponential increase in the number of vehicles in Bangalore. In 1984-85, there were only 2.77 lakh vehicles. Today, there are 34.77 lakh vehicles. Of these, 71% are two-wheelers, 16% cars, 3% autos and the rest other vehicles. In contrast, Mysore has 4.85 lakh vehicles and Mangalore 2.71 lakh. The sudden increase in two-wheelers testifies to the fact that Bangalore has emerged as the best address for job-seekers, and also a telling indictment on the quality of public transport where it mattered most.

In 1983, there was only one RTO in Indiranagar, now there are 10. Bicycles, TVSes, Lunas, Dolphins, Fiats and Ambassadors, which once dominated the city roads, are pushed to the margins of traffic history.

If vehicles saw a jaw-dropping 12-fold increase in 25 years, the traffic personnel strength crawled by an appalling four-fold, and the results are evident on the road - lack of traffic policemen and chaos ruling the roads. Their number has inched from 753 in 1981 to just about 3,000 now. This is one of the reasons that best explains why we’re light years away from developed nations on traffic management.

“In another five years, the vehicular population will touch the 50-60 lakh mark. Widening of roads and flyovers will not help in easing traffic congestion; instead, public transport has to be strengthened. The Metro Rail is the new hope; it promises to carry 10 lakh commuters every day,” says Addl Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Praveen Sood.

The BMTC, the commuting lifeline of Bangaloreans, has been serving the city since 1940. Today, more than 38 lakh people use this service every day - or you can see some 43 people hopping in and out of BMTC bus every minute. In 1984, there were 1,000 buses; now there are more than 5,600 buses. There were only 402 routes in and around Bangalore then; there are 1,700 routes now. The BMTC makes 76,000 trips every day, up from 20,456 in 1984. Who can forget our red-coloured double-decker smoke engines? There were 80 such buses in 1984. These buses were phased out due to high maintenance cost. But, there’s a proposal to bring them back after some bureaucrats went to Europe on a study tour, and presumably travelled by them.

The BMTC has introduced a variety of bus services including Mall special, Hospital special, Ladies special, Big 10, Airport special, Vajra services, Parisaravahini buses and pass-holder special buses. More than 30,000 BMTC personnel serve Bangaloreans today.

“Both the quality and quantity has increased. Manual steering has made way to power steering, new advanced and superior quality engines cause less pollution today. Automatic doors for safety, luxury seating arrangements and more space for the commuters to stand, patrolling vehicles, website, call centre and concessional bus passes for all are some of the revolutionary changes that have swept through BMTC,” says BMTC HRD manager K N Ingalagi.

The badly maintained, poorly lit roads with bone-breaking potholes and open drains are sources of constant trouble. The builders of Bangalore believed in rotary-type circles, which were traffic-friendly. Today, these circles have disappeared. Big roads once called ‘Rajabidis’ like J C Road, Nrupatunga Road and Jayanagar Road have been crunched.

“Bangalore roads were never meant for heavy vehicles. There is an error in urban planning. Multiplicity of vehicles has caused a headache for both transport department and the traffic police. Existing roads cannot accommodate so many vehicles,” says transport commissioner Bhaskar Rao.

The city has over 1,500 km of roads today. The increase in the city’s road length has not kept pace with the increase in population. Chaos, congestion, inadequacy of transport system and road rages are the fallout of this imbalance.

Though the present looks bleak, there is hope for the future. The transport department, the BBMP and the BMTC have many plans on the anvil. Time has come to trust automated traffic management. Metro Rail seems to be the silver lining.

No Responses to “Promises dot the road ahead”

No comments yet

Leave a Reply