Bangalore was ranked the least among the 5 cities of india. Its rank is a low 146 out of 173 cities surveyed. One of the biggest problems that citizens face in the city is the problem of traffic. Bengaluru, world’s second-most congested city, now has the highest number of cars in India overtaking Delhi.
At 11 am we can see the city has atleast 128 traffic jams and on an average vehicles are moving at a pace of only 26 km/hr.
The issue of traffic is a result of poor planning of neighbourhoods, design of streets and lack of infrastructure. This is clearly seen from early well planned layouts like Jayanagar which has wide roads, adequate green cover and sewage system compared to newer neigbourhoods like Koramangala.
One way to look at improving this issue is through better governance. Delhi implemented a number of policies like banning vehicles older than 10 and 15 years for petrol and diesel vehicles respectively. They also deregistered and scrapped these condemned vehicles. In 2 years they were able to deregister 55 lakh cars and scrap 1.4 lakh vehicles.
This article aims to explore how communities can aim to reduce traffic in their respective streets through better governance.
Consider this stretch of road in from of R.V Road Metro station, every evening after 7 pm it takes me approximately ~ 15 minutes to cross this 200 metres stretch of road. The moment you cross this stretch the traffic immediately reduces.
This problem exists despite the road being a 3 lane road and having a service road on the side.
One challenge this road is facing is vehicles and cars parked on the side of the road which reduces the road width. The authorities have added a no parking sign board but it is clear that this is not working, Yes, having a parking space would be beneficial for auto drivers and vehicles / bikes but is coming at a cost of the larger good.
What if there is a mechanism for fining violators of rules put in place. A CCTV camera can be installed to ensure there violators are regularly fined and rules are enforced.
This will increase the space available for motorists but a good government will design for all citizens. Space can be allocated for auto drivers. Unfortunately, the streets leading to the metro station have also multiple no parking signs but citizens who do not have the last mile connectivity to metro station have no other choice but to park their vehicles illegally. While Bengaluru has plans to purchase land to increase road width there is a need to improve infrastructure for cars and bikes to be parked there.
Only 2 metro stations along the green line metro have car and bike park facilities which hinders citizens to use public transportation meant to reduce traffic.
If the VAC traffic signals work there can be a larger implementation of these signals which can implemented in a large scale even for arterial roads leading to these main roads.
As citizens, we do not need to have an expert knowledge of urban planning and street design to identify simple solutions that can benefit citizens. Having elected leaders and a space to discuss and implement solutions is a need of the hour. We also need citizens to move from a mindspace of apathy towards their city to being more understanding of the challenges of everyone.
Unfortunately, Bengaluru has not had an elected representative at a local level for the past 4 years, ward committee meetings are not happening in every ward. Good governance can be a way to better design our neighbourhoods.
