In one
of my earlier posts I had brought out some of the transport problems that the
ordinary citizens of Bangalore face daily while commuting.
In this
post I will list down a few practical steps that can be taken in our city to
mitigate to a certain extent the transport problems that we face today in our
day to day life.
From meter to App – Bangalore Autos:
In Bangalore, at
least on paper, the autos run on the concept of metered fare. The reality
unfortunately as we all know is totally different. Apart from haggling for
higher
Fares
than those stipulated by the transport department, most auto drivers in the
city refuse even to switch on their meters. Some even go to the extreme of
hurling expletives and
threatening hapless travellers if they ask the reason from the auto drivers for
demanding extra or refusing to ply to their destination. The traffic police
usually will refuse to act against these errant drivers.
One of
the innovation that the RTO and the transport department can implement is to
have a similar software application or app that is used by cab aggregators –
Uber and Ola.
All
autos in Bangalore must install the RTO approved software application. Booking
for autos is to be done only via the App which would be owned by a centralised
agency under the purview of the government, however, to ensure efficiency and
effectiveness the management would be run by professionals only.
One
suggestion would be to outsource the maintenance to an outsourced agency
similar to what has been done in respect of some of the passport services which
has been outsourced by the Ministry of External Affairs.
To avoid
moon lighting, all autos must ensure that the software application is running
for at least 8 hours in a day for either 5 or 6 days in a week. Any deviation
has to be explained with proof.
While
this concept is targeted for the general public at large, I am sure that like
uber and Ola, once this app is developed and installed in all the autos plying
in Bangalore, auto rickshaw drivers would also benefit in the long run through
higher customer acceptance.
In
addition the app would also help to track the movement of auto and provide
customer feedback.
Errant
auto drivers can be identified and post investigation of any complaint their
licence cancelled.
BMTC bus timings:
With
Bangalore being a 24X7 city, it is imperative that we have a public transport
system in tune to meet the requirements of a modern ,cosmopolitan city .While
24X7 bus facility may not be feasible yet due to safety issues , it would be
worthwhile to implement normal bus services at least till 12 AM midnight.
The
skeleton bus service that we see plying from 11PM till early morning is not
adequate to meet the transport needs of a modern workforce working different
shift timings, supporting different geographies of the world or in many cases
stretching to meet deadlines over and beyond their normal work timings.
From
personal experience of traveling daily from Brookfield to Electronic City. I am
amazed by the fact that while private taxi and bus operators provide services
till around 1 AM in the morning, the BMTC buses except for a few routes are
almost non-existent.
I am not
expecting the transport department of running normal bus services till 1 AM but
what I want them to do is at least run the services till 12 o’clock midnight.
For example the rush that I see amongst ordinary city folks to catch a private
bus say from Cosmos Mall or Kundanhalli gate or Marthalli Bridge to go to Silk
Board at around 11PM at night clearly proves that BMTC has missed a few tricks
to plug the ballooning revenue deficit that it cries about daily.
In
contrast when I wait for a bus at around 2.30 PM in the afternoon till 3PM at
silk board to show up to take me to
Brookfield , I can count at least 20 to 30
Volvo busses of route 500CA going almost empty.
It is bemusing
and saddening to view the national wastage in terms of diesel and depreciating
vehicles that ply nearly empty at that time on the silk board to ITPL route.
Just
like many modern private sector organisations have multiple shifts to cater to
their business requirements, BMTC should also do a time study of the demand and
then modify the bus routes and timing accordingly.
It is no
point in providing 20 Volvo AC busses on a route at a particular time period
when there is no demand for the same. Instead allocate more busses on a route
and time when there is an existing demand to be tapped.
In this
way not only will it be able to reduce expenditure but also increase their
revenue, which can be invested in upgrading their infrastructure.
Skywalks
Bangalore
needs more skywalks .One of the major reasons for slowing traffic that I have
noted at major choke points in the city is the absence of skywalks. While the
city authorities have slowly woken up to the problems by constructing a few
skywalks in Koramangala/Adugodi on the Hosur Road, as always a lot more needs
be done.
My
personal experience of watching people crossing the busy and congested roads,
the Marthalli Bridge and at numerous points on the outer ring road being an
example is that the absence of sky walks not only are a cause for growing
accidents but also is factor for slowing down the traffic in our already
congested roads.
The
crossing from Marthalli to Kalamandir bus stop across the outer ring road has been
crying out for a skywalk since decades but it seems that simple solutions to
problems escape those in whose hands we have entrusted our governance.
Another
sky walk should be constructed at the busy silk board junction which connects
the southern part of the city to Bangalore. The daily foot count at silk board
would easily run into tens of thousands and a sky walk would be greatly beneficial
to the daily commuters who use silk board as the central point to reach their
destination to a different part of the city.
