Bangalore's traffic messThe solution

54365865449674% increase

201020072005200019951990198

51980Year

Road space needs to double every 5 years.Not logical.

Traffic population will rise 90 % between 2005 and 2010.

The current strategyWiden roads to keep pace with increasing traffic

The result

Garden city becoming desert city.Temperature rise of 3 degrees in past 40 years.Destruction of homes and businesses for road widening.

32 Lakh vehicles.1300 vehicles added daily.More money spent on roads than on water, power, education, medicare.

Highest road deaths in India : 3 per day

Pollution : 3-5 times safe levels.

Bangalore 2015 ?

Road widening to keep pace with vehicle population has never worked anywhere worldwide.

Traffic simply increases to occupy the increased road space. Congestion remains, commute time, pollution and accidents increase.

This is a picture of congestion in 20-lane road in Los Angeles, USA.LA smog in background.

Pic. courtesy Transfuture.net

Our present strategy - dog chasing its own tail

Road space will never catch up with vehicle population.

The solutions

Replace private transport with public transport.

This is the only solution that will work in the long term.

The Metro is not a solution

Only people living and working within 2 km. of the Metro (the blue band in the picture) will use it.

Only 5 % of Bangalore's population will be able to use the Metro.The rest will still have to depend on private transport.

By the time the Metro is ready, Bangalore's vehicle population will be 50 Lakh.

Average traffic speed will be 6 kmph. (12 kmph. now)Accidents, pollution, temperature will be much higher.

Bangalore

London

Paris

Metro densities

Bangalore's Metro must reach the density of metros in cities like London or Paris before the whole city can use it.

London, Paris, New York, Madrid all took more than 100 years to achieve this density.

Bangalore vs. London

The comparison

London's population is the same as Bangalore's.

London : 400 km. of track length, 270 stations.Bangalore : 33 km. of track length, 35 stations - 3 years (?) from now.

London : Carries 42 Lakh passengers a day.Bangalore : Will carry 5 Lakh passengers a day.

London : Has 11 linesBangalore : Will have 2 lines in 2011 (?)

London : Started in 1863, took 116 years (till 1979) to evolve to this stage.Bangalore : Starts in 2011 (?).

Passengers per day : Bangalore is estimated as 10 Lakh per day, but we can assume 5 Lakh going by Delhi, Kolkata metro's ratio of actual vs. planned traffic (50 %).

We think that the Metro is a solution for Bangalore because it works well in cities like London, Paris and New York.

The Metro is not a solution

The whole city can use the Metro only when there is a station within 1 km. of wherever you are in the city.

This will require a line length of 400 km.It will take 50 more years, at (an optimistic) 30 km. every 5 years.It will cost Rs. 100000 Cr. at Rs. 9000 Cr. for 35 km.

It will be 60 to 100 years before the Metro has city-wide coverage.

Most of us reading this will not be alive then,but will have to suffer the continuous construction activities.

There are 150 vehicles on this flyover.

Carrying 150 people.

During rush hour (people going to, from work) Each bike carries 1 person Each car carries 1 person Each bus carries 75 people

The bus is the solution

There are 75 vehicles between each pair of red lines, carrying 75 people (because there is only 1 person in each car or bike)

If we get each group of 75 people out of their private vehicles and into buses,

This is what happens.

Road space used by a person in a bus is: 3 % of that in a car

5 % of that on a 2-wheeler

Congestion Congestion ?

38 Lakh people in 5000 buses occupy this much road space (0.5 %)

The logic already works in BangaloreBeautifully

BMTC has 5000 buses, carries 38 Lakh people every day.0.2 % of vehicle population carries 50 % of the human population.

Proportionately

32 Lakh people in private vehicles occupy this much road space

Bus-based systems are used worldwide

Some cities with bus-based systems

India - Delhi, Ahmedabad, Indore, PunePeru - LimaUSA - Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Eugene, Hartford, Honolulu, San Juan, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Pablo, Louisville, Montgomery, PittsburghBrazil - Curitiba, Sao Paulo, Goiania, Proto AllegreEcuador - QuitoColombia - BogotaIndonesia – JakartaUK - Bradford, LeedsAustralia - Adelaide, BrisbaneCanada - Ottawa, VancouverChina - Kunming, Fuzhou, Huangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang, Chengdu

Bus-based mass transport systems have been in existence for the past 30 years.

They are preferred because of their low cost and low deployment time, in countries as economically diverse as Indonesia (comparable to India) and Canada (far wealthier than India).

Improved bus system : Rs. 3000 Cr. Expenditure on 10000 more buses of various classes + improved shelters, signage, etc. - Ordinary bus costs Rs. 12 Lakh, Suvarna (air suspension, no AC) : Rs. 16 Lakh - Marco Polo : Rs. 55 LakhTime required : 1 year.

Road widening for planned 400 km. : Rs. 4000 Cr.Usefulness : ZeroDestruction of city : TotalCost of destruction of homes, businesses, culture, heritage : ?

Metro 33 km. to carry 5 % of Bangalore's population : Rs. 9000 Cr.6936 Cr. estimate in April 2005. BMRC announced 2000 Cr. escalation in Nov. 2008.

Metro 350 km. for whole of Bangalore : Rs. 100,000 Cr.Assumes 20 % underground, same mix as now.Will take 50-60 years to build.London has 400 km. with 270 stations. Its size and population are same as Bangalore's.

The economicsCosts of various options before us

Road widening is definitely not the solutionIt will worsen all our problems : Vehicle population, pollution, temperature rise, accidents, destruction of homes and businesses, destruction of grenery.

The Metro is too long term, and too expensiveIt will take 60 to 100 years to cover the whole of BangaloreIt will cost Rs. 100000 Cr.

The best solutionThe bus for long commutes + Cycling and walking for short commutesCan be implemented in Rs. 3000 Cr.In 1-2 years.

In sum

Reduce No. of vehicles by 75 % Commute time by 30 % Pollution by 80 % Govt. expenditure on roads by 90 %

IncreaseSpending on Water supply, Medicare, Education, PowerSpending on rest of Karnataka

Without destroying BangaloreWith a bus system we can achieve this

Which lifestyle do we want?Private transport has given us this

1

Bus+ cycling+walkingcan give us this

2

If you want to work towards solving the problem,contact

Vinay Sreenivasavinay.sreenivasa@yahoo.com98805-95032

OR

Roshni Nuggehalliroshnugg@gmail.com