Blue-print and Vision

NAGARIK’s blue-print for improving the Bangalore traffic scene (March ’96)

1) Introduce more buses (since BTS is near-bankrupt, bring-in the private sector to compete with the BTS)
2) Discourage use of private vehicles
to
-provide room for more (public transport) buses,
-reduce fuel consumption (saving foreign exchange), and consequently pollution,
-de-clutter the roads,
-make people walk atleast upto the bus-stands, thereby exercising their bodies that bit.
by
- increasing road tax
- introducing ‘pedestrians only’ zones in city centres, like has been done in Commercial Street (Contractors may be allowed to operate slow-moving, mini-buses for people to shuttle between the parking lot and the shopping areas)
- making it difficult to find parking spaces (particularly in city centres – the proposed multi-storied parking lots are totally ill-conceived)
- restricting plying of private vehicles on the main city arteries like the Residency Road, St Mark’s Road, Old Madras Road (between Trinity Jn and Adarsh Theatre), etc, between 9AM & 10.30AM, and 5PM & 7PM.

3) Licence more taxies (four wheeler) in place of auto-rickshaws. (Auto-rickshaws, because of their high maneuverability, are a major traffic hazard)
4) Complete the inner and outer ring roads.
5) Shift all major wholesale markets (steel, vegetable, timber, etc) to well-planned areas outside the outer ring road.
6) Have large well-planned truck terminals also outside the outer ring road adjoining each highway.
7) Encourage cycling

to
- nurture an eco-friendly and healthy population
- reduce consumption of (imported) fuel oils
by
- making certain roads with ‘right of way for cycles’ criss-crossing the entire city

8) Encourage use of contract vans for school children



NAGARIK’S vision for Bangalore traffic scenario for the year 2000 (March ’96)

1) There will be a 6-lane outer ring road and a 4-lane inner ring road, with service roads on either sides, going all around the city.
2) The main radial arteries (namely Tumkur Road, Bellary Road, Hennur Road, Old Madras Road, Varthur Road, Sarjapur Road, Hosur Road, Kanakapura Road, Mysore Road, and Magadi Road) will also be widened into 6-lane highways facilitating faster movements of vehicles into and out of the city centre. This will also result in lateral growth of the city, reducing the pressure on the overburdened roads and utility systems existing in the inner city. The BDA / BMRDA would facilitate the growth of fully self-contained satellite townships (with actual work being done by private agencies) outside a 10 km wide green belt (forest land) beyond the outer ring road.
3) At the point of intersection of the ring roads with the main radial arteries there will be fly-overs.
4) All major wholesale markets (steel, vegetable, timber, grain, etc) will have been shifted to well-planned, spacious locations outside the outer ring road.
5) Large truck terminals with all requisite amenities will be located outside the outer ring road along each highway.
6) Heavy duty trucks will not be allowed within the outer ring road limits, except with special permissions.
7) All movement of goods within the outer ring road will be by LCVs.
8) An efficient bus transport system (with public and private agencies/companies operating in open competition) will form the backbone of the public transport system.
9) Particularly within the inner ring road, plying of buses, vans, taxis (cars as against auto-rickshaws) will be encouraged and facilitated, while
10) Use of personalised means of transport, particularly cars, will be discouraged, by

- suitable road tax levies
- restricting entry of private cars on certain roads during peak hours
- making parking difficult and costly

11) The public transport system will be supplemented by the proposed RTPS / metro system.