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Bus! Stop and think now
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Sowmya Venkataramani feels that with a bit of efficiency, more people would be ready to commute by bus
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Yesterday I glimpsed a beauty of a bus on Richmond Road, one of those new buses inducted by BMTC — only it was stuck awkwardly in the underpass of the flyover. Which about sums up the state of public transport in Bangalore.
Recently, a piece in the Sound Off! by N.K. Raghavendran threw up some extremely valid points on public transport in Bangalore, and I couldn't agree more. He mentions emulating the U.K. for providing timetables and precision in timing, which of course is asking way too much. But how about looking towards bus systems in other parts of our own country for inspiration?
Moving here from Chennai, I could help noticing how slow buses are here. At first I made the mistake of trying to use them to commute to my office, which is 12 km from my home, only to keep landing at my destination after two hours. Jeez, isn't that inefficient!
I have since realised the buses here are clumsy beyond belief — especially going uphill. And have you ever seen one making a turn? The current fleet is simply unsuited to Bangalore terrain (somewhat uphill) and roads (many small and narrow).
In Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya, where the terrain is really hilly, the buses are small, nimble and real fast. Surely, something similar is needed here. Not just Volvos — they look good but the practicality of them is debatable.
Another reason for the real long commute for me is that there are really no direct buses for long distances. For example, not a single bus route from Banashankari to M.G. Road takes the shortest route (from what I have gathered — there are no useful timetables for me cross-check, as pointed out by Mr. Raghavendran also). They either wind their way through Wilson Garden et al or through BTM layout. Well, I really don't want a Bangalore darshan: all I need is to reach office in the shortest possible time.
All this has forced me to swear off buses as an alternative to reach work on time, which is sad. If the buses ran on schedule and with some sense of urgency, I'm sure that at least 25 to 30 per cent of present two-wheeler users would switch to buses, helping to reduce traffic. Could we then at least have chartered buses, with appropriate charges of course, originating and terminating at specific locations at specific times, say two buses in the morning leaving at 7 and 8 a.m. from Jayanagar 4th Block and heading non-stop to Residency Road/MG Road? I, for one, would welcome such a service.
Without such measures the traffic situation is only going to get worse. Consider:
The number of vehicles on Bangalore's roads is going up by 50 per cent per annum, compared with Delhi's 10 to 12 per cent since 2000.
Close to 900 vehicles are registered every day.
Isn't it time we all thought what we can do to ease the load on the roads, apart from just bemoaning the state of affairs?
BMTC could greatly help by improving its existing infrastructure and we could make efforts to car pool and/or use buses.
Think about it.
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