I remember a time when 20 minutes was all it took to get from Malleswaram to MG Road, a time when inner ring road was the only ring road and when 2 hour travel times were a nightmare & not the norm. Today, however, this is all the stuff of fairy tales. The sleepy little city I grew up in is now a roaring metropolis and I think what I wouldn't give to go back to a time when Auto wallas would laugh in your face when asked "JP Nagar hogtira?"

Being confined to mostly Malleswaram and its surroundings until I was 18, I never realized how the traffic problem had grown in Bangalore. Until 18, school & college were just a walk away. Weekend trips were to MG Road or Commercial Street. The farthest we ever ventured was to Yelahanka to visit my cousin & it always felt like going to a completely different city. Then Engineering happened and I had to go to Banashankari 3rd stage from Malleswaram every! Single! Day! Suddenly I had to account for travel time and 2.5 hours a day just to get from home to college & back really took a toll on me I took the college bus the first year, BMTC the second, a combination of BMTC & lifts from friends my third year & car the final year but I never got under the 2 hour mark. This despite having to reach college by 8 with relatively free roads.

The mistake most people make when talking about the traffic in Bangalore is chalking everything up to the number of vehicles. This simplistic view has led to a gross mishandling of the situation through a series of short-sighted knee-jerks reactions in the form of random one-ways and even more random and detrimental flyovers and magic boxes. Instead of tackling the root cause, the focus so far has been on curative and hence, the problem continues to recur. Until and unless we identify all the root causes, the problem will persist. Having spent a significant portion of my life in Bangalore's legendary traffic as pedestrian, passenger & driver I've taken it upon myself to lay out an 8 step plan to improve the traffic situation in good old Bengaluru.

1. Passenger rail

Back in 2005 my mum, sister and I were supposed to attend a Grihapravesh in JP Nagar. When we tried to hail an auto to go, every single auto driver laughed at us until finally one agreed. All the way laughing about what idiot would build their house outside the city. But in 2019, JP Nagar is very much a part of the city, much as I like to deny it. A city the size of Bangalore needs a passenger rail to connect the opposite ends of the city with easy. Bangalore is already blessed with multiple city railways stations, the government needs to take advantage of these and come up with a good plan to connect them to the outskirts. Not only will it cut commute time, it will reduce a lot of cross- city traffic and cut down on pollution.

2. Improve connectivity of public transport

When I used to take BMTC to college, I had to change buses twice. First from Malleswaram to West of Chord Road, Chord road to Vijaynagar & Vijayanagar to college. This was on a good day. The bus from Vijaynagar to Banashankari was always very full because it was very infrequent and if the bus to Vijaynagar was late, I would miss it. Which happened more often than not, that meant another change from Vijayanagar to Deepanjalinagar / Mysore road and finally from there to college. The metro today reduces travel time drastically. However, the metro isn’t omnipresent and there is still the problem of waiting time during changes. Putting bus stops in the proximity ofs and timing both bus and metro arrival and departure times will reduce wait times for passengers and encourage the use of public transport. Increasing the frequency and capacity on congested routes must also be looked into.

3. Adopt IT

I recently read about a college student who had made an app with the timing and connections of BMTC buses. Instead of applauding & working with him the BMTC chose to distance themselves. It amazes me that as India's Silicon Valley, we aren't paving the way to employ IT solutions to solve our problems. Especially considering our IT provides solutions to almost the entire world. An app that tells me what connections I can take is invaluable in a city like ours. Add the feature of being able to purchase ticket on it and gone is the problem of change for the conductor. Which, if you've ever travelled by BMTC, is a nightmare in itself.

4. Enforce rules effectively

One of the major causes of traffic disruption in Bangalore is a disregard for rules and bad enforcement of the same. Instead of ensuring smooth flow of traffic, the traffic police are forced to repair roads while the bad ones are invested in earning a quick buck. Driving in the wrong lane & on the footpath is commonplace in the city. At many signals people block the opposite lane in a hurry to get ahead. When the signal finally turns green, there is no place for the vehicles from the opposite direction resulting in a huge block, which takes longer to clear and creates a bottleneck. Not to forget the number of people who jump a red light. Not only do such acts cause traffic blocks but they are also dangerous. This is a common occurrence at the 15th cross Margosa road signal, the Sivananda signal, just to name a few. Another problem, especially visible on the drive to the airport, is the absolute disastrous use, or lack of, of lanes. Trucks and buses lumbering along at a leisurely pace on the right most lanes while taxis weave through the vehicles at reckless speeds is a common sight. Restricting slower moving vehicles to the left lane must be prioritized. Sensitising the public and enforcing rules will ensure smoother flow of traffic and fewer accidents.

5. Improve road quality

Come monsoon and most roads turn into mini lakes or rivers. These lakes and rivers have been known to cause accidents, leaving motorists to carefully navigate the roads. As a result very little of the road can be used to drive. This creates an artificial bottleneck and again causes traffic to pile up. Improving road quality, so that the entire road can be used and indeed ensuring that driving isn't a more dangerous activity than it already is, must be undertaken immediately. This will also relieve our traffic police of their unofficial roles as road repairers and leave them free to do their actual job.

6. Increase foot traffic instead of vehicular traffic

Bangaloreans use their vehicles for everything. Even if it is just to go the local Kirana store 2 roads away. The major reason for this is lack of footpaths, their encroachment or their terrible state. Pedestrians are forced to risk their lives every time they step out. They either run the risk of falling into a drain if they use the footpath or under the wheels of a vehicle if they walk on the road. Pedestrians coming on to the road also creates bottlenecks and endangers not just their own lives but also of the motorists. By fixing the footpaths people can be encouraged to walk small distances instead of driving. Thus, reducing traffic and pollution. This can be taken a step further by having pedestrian only zones for example in Commercial Street, Church Street, 8th cross Market road etc. These initiatives will encourage people to leave behind their vehicles. Cycle lanes would be another idea but considering the width of our roads, cycle lanes are a distant dream at the moment.

7. Carpools at peak hours

I only drove to college in my final year and when I did I picked up my friends on the way. We were rarely fewer than four and I cannot remember having ever driven alone. But cars with just one person in them are commonplace during peak hours. These vehicles not only take up space but also add to the pollution in the city. A new rule promoting car pools-especially in highly congested areas-during peak hours must be brought in and enforced. As must share only Ola & Uber during these hours. They could play a key role in reducing traffic in the city.

8. Dedicated parking spaces.

Another source of traffic disruption are parked cars. Our roads are narrow to begin with, add to that parked cars on either side and you have a recipe for disaster. Commercial Street and Brigade Road are among the best examples for this. The bad eggs in the ve been known to profit off of the lack of parking spaces. Before you start penalizing & towing vehicles for "illegal" parking provide adequate parking. Bangalore is littered with old decaying buildings. These can be pulled down to make way for multi-level car parks. The space under the metro & flyovers which currently serve as dumps can also be used as park houses. A solution employed across the world.

Last but not least, what Bangalore desperately needs is a scientific study of traffic patterns in the city. Our city is a mess of one-ways, bought in at random to supposedly tackle the traffic. What we have instead is just a change in the location of bottlenecks. These one ways also make journeys longer and more circuitous, leaving more vehicles on the road for longer times than necessary and in turn increasing the pollution. Even if the above 8 step plan is introduced, we will only succeed in momentarily easing the traffic situation. A ground up overhaul with a detailed study of how traffic moves is the need of the hour. This data must then be used to review and revamp the existing road & traffic flow in the city with the help of experts. This includes the placement of signals and one ways they seem to love so much. This data will also be key in identifying routes that require more buses / metros and making new connections. A survey asking Bangaloreans what are the deterrents to using public transport must also be undertaken as a part of this study and the results must be used to derive more solutions to encourage the use of public transport.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. It is only to show that what Bangalore needs is a holistic approach to tackling traffic unlike the single point efforts so far which on the long run have been more worsened the situation than improved them *cough* magic box *cough*. Just as traffic is continuous, so must its monitoring be. Studies and analysis must be undertaken at regular intervals to stay a step ahead of the situation rather than letting things pile up and then piecing together a desperate solution. More importantly traffic flow needs to be considered when extending city limits and providing building permits.

Image Credits: https://twitter.com/anchittata/status/1165842565704216576?s=20 (No copyright infringement intended, image for representational purposes only)