Bengaluru: Last April, Swethadri, a senior citizen, fell off a broken pavement in Sheshadripuram , and landed on a two way traffic road, hurting his arms and legs.
Pedestrians are probably the last priority in Bengaluru. The city boasts of Metro, hi-tech BMTC buses and cab aggregators, but the pavements are either in bad shape or non existent. One has to often risk their lives by stepping on to the roads.
As part of the Station Accessibility Program (STAMP) by World Resources Institute, transport expert Sathya Sankaran is working to address the need for pedestrian friendly streets.
“Under STAMP we will pick one pilot metro station. Then we will fill in the mobility index that gives definite objective numbers on the station. Parameters of this index would be walk ability, cycle ability, IPT (Intermediate Private Transport), road safety and information dissemination for commuters."
Sankaran believes that we need to know an ideal distance a person can walk from and to the metro station, the ideal distance to the bus stand, the ideal footpath leading to surrounding areas and other factors.
“We will apply this model over the next one year, to all the 41 metro stations after the pilot phase. A catchment area of 500 metres around the station will be studied," Sankaran said.
A different programme, but one that eventually looks at the same cause of a 'Pedestrian friendly city' is by NGO Citizens for Bengaluru (CfB).
"We are selecting two metro stations in South Bengaluru, an area which has recently got metro connectivity. There are various spots where we see bus bays missing. Children or people with luggage are running across the road to get onto the feeder bus, which is parked on the opposite side," Tara Krishnaswamy, member of CfB, which will conduct the survey on August 10.
“Many roads near the station don't have zebra crossings or traffic signals, so we are looking at road usability as well. Vehicles won't wait so pedestrians risk their life to cross the road,” Tara said. CfB will focus South End circle and R.V. Road metro stations for the survey.
