Bengaluru traffic is a phenomenon in itself and the situation is only worsening. The problem lacks quick-fix solutions, so the government won’t bother with it more than necessary. Bengaluru is unscientifically planned, say experts, with bus stops placed randomly and buses swerving dangerously to get to them. The city’s 50,000 traffic junctions are also rarely manned. Progress is halting, for BBMP’s town planning department lacks officials trained in traffic engineering, report Aknisree Karthik and Mujahid Deputy.
If there is one word to describe the city’s traffic, it is “chaotic.” While the government may brush this aside as just another problem, it forgets that it is issues like these that hit the common man hard on an every day basis, which can make the difference on polling day.
With the assembly elections just a month away it cannot hope to do much to rectifiy things in time as the problem is too deeply entrenched, mainly as a result of poor planning. Besides the huge number of vehicles out on the roads every day, the traffic mess is created by unscientific U-turns, haphazard parking, and poor location of BMTC bus stops immediately after traffic signals or after junctions.
You only have to look at the Koramangala 80 feet road where the BMTC complex housing the Income Tax and Intelligence departments, besides several other Central government offices are located to see the chaos caused by poor planning. Those heading to the complex from the Sony Signal on 80 feet road need to make a right U-turn to get to it and in the process regularly hold up the traffic behind, causing frequent pile-ups .
Added to this are the unscientifically located bus stops in the area, which lead to more traffic jams every time passengers are dropped or picked up. Moving on to another congested area you find that vehicles heading from Seshadri Road to K R Circle are frequently held up as BMTC buses stop one behind the other and also side by side at the Sri Jayachamarajendra Polytechnic College bus stop.
When the signal at K R Circle goes green, the buses begin to manoeuvre from the extreme left to the right to head towards Nrupathunga Road, holding up vehicles taking the left to Vidhana Soudha or heading straight to Cubbon Road.
There are innumerable such examples in the city, indicating how bad planning is responsible for a lot of the traffic mess it is prone to.
Traffic expert , prof. M N Srihari believes both the BBMP’s town planning department and the traffic police have got their basics wrong. “The whole of Bengaluru city has over 50,000 junctions, both big and small. At almost every junction people are allowed to take a right turn, holding up the oncoming traffic. Instead,if they were told drive ahead and take a U -turn to get to their destination, it would save time,” he explains, also recommending against frequent openings in medians to allow vehicles to get through as this slows down the oncoming traffic. At times the average speed at the Central Silk Board Signal is only 4.45 kms per hour when a normal human walks at a speed of 8 kms per hour, he points out. But Prof. Srihari cautions against allowing U-turns without proper assessment of the traffic in an area. “They should not be allowed blindly and only permitted where the oncoming traffic is not very high or at junctions. Otherwise it would be better for vehicles to travel one kilometre or more and then take a U-turn to get to their destinations," he advises.
As for bus stops, he says although going by Indian Road Congress rules, they cannot be allowed within 75 meters of any junction or traffic signal, the majority violate this norm. "Planners should get their basics right and work for the people and not to please their political bosses. When a road is laid, they should think ahead and plan for the bus lane, bus bays, bus stops, petrol pumps taking the traffic and people's convenience into account,” he underlines.
I am not saying the violators should be spared. They need to be brought to book, but the prime focus of the police should be traffic management which is poor at the moment
— Senior police officer
‘Tech’ the leap: Smart, sensor-based signals the answer
Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic), R Hithendra believes introduction of more smart signals will be a big help in solving the city’s traffic troubles. He says the traffic police intends to install over 125 smart signals in phases and around 90 of them will be in the Central Business District , home to some of the busiest roads in the city.
The smart signals are sensor-based and can adjust the duration of red and green lights at junctions, depending on the density of the traffic, saving time for drivers, he explains. Major junctions in K R Puram, Rajajinagar and Yelahanka already have these signals and more will get them in future, he assures.
Currently, the prolonged wait at traffic signals even in the absence of traffic in a given direction is a big cause for hold-ups at major junctions. Also, these junctions, which see lakhs of vehicle plying every day, are rarely manned by the police, who are found close by but hardly ever at gridlocks themselves, helping to ease the congestion.
Admitting that the police are at times absent when they are most needed to man the traffic, a senior traffic police officer says they have been warned of action, but don’t seem to care.
Referring to the police pouncing on those taking an illegal U-turn, a mobility experts says, “I am not saying the violators should be spared. They need to be brought to book, but the prime focus of the police should be traffic management which is poor at the moment."
He suggests there needs to be greater focus on peak-hour traffic in the mornings and evenings as this is the time when most Bengalurean are stuck for hours on the roads due to poor traffic management. In his view introduction of more one-ways will not only help increase traffic speed, but also reduce burden on intersections and junctions.
Traffic expert, M.N. Sreehari, for his part, suggests that roadside parking should go to allow smoother flow of traffic on Bengaluru’s narrow roads. “The traffic police should not, under any circumstances, allow school vehicles to park outside schools, especially in the CBD,” he stresses.
Accommodate bus stops, traffic signals, u-turns to avoid hold-ups: Dr. Ashish Verma, Mobility Expert and Associate professor, Transportation Systems Engineering at IISc
The BBMP’s town planning department has got its basics wrong. When every road should be planned depending on its capacity using road geometric design, its civil engineers are not trained in traffic engineering.
In fact, traffic in the city could run smoothly by making very small changes. For example, while the CNR Rao Circle near the Indian Institute of Science was converted into an underpass, the road above it was neglected, affecting the free flow of traffic. If the road and underpass were designed geometrically, traffic would run smoother here.
In other areas a lot of the traffic congestion is caused by BTMC buses stopping right in the middle of the road and holding up all vehicles behind until their passengers alight. If the civil engineering department had planned the stops slightly ahead and provided bus bays, the vehicles behind would not need to wait when the buses came to a stop.
Also, when allowing U-turns, the BBMP should make sure that they do not affect the free movement of vehicles. On major arterials roads it is better not to provide too many U-turns as this could hamper speeding vehicles and lead to a traffic pile- up. If a U-turn is a must then it should be allowed with a ramp. On the not so busy roads, however, it is better to provide for U- turns wherever needed, as people will otherwise simply break the rules and start taking U- turns going over the medians. In a nutshell, when planning, civil engineers need to accommodate bus stops, traffic signals, U- turns and so on in the best possible way, without causing any inconvenience or traffic hold-ups.
