‘Have dedicated parking space, buy a vehicle'

A Bangalore-based Global Initiative for Reconstructing Environment and Management (GIREM), an independent organisation, has recommended a freeze on the number of autorickshaws and a slower pace of registration of personal vehicles, with a view to reducing traffic congestion and environment pollution in the city.

A 27-page transport report submitted to the Transport Minister, Mr R Ashok, by the GIREM Executive Director, Mr Shyam Sundar, says that “buyers of vehicles should be asked to guarantee a dedicated parking space at their residential premises”.

GIREM, which held the Transport Summit 2010 in Bangalore and other cities, has suggested freezing on the number of autorickshaws, with a long-term plan of phasing it out and replacing them with eco-friendly vans of similar size.

Personal vehicles

To reduce the number of vehicles in the city, it suggested “restriction of velocity of registration of personal vehicles”.

Two-wheelers along with cars almost comprise 90 per cent of the total registered vehicular population of the city.

The total road length of the city is about 4,200 km out of which arterial roads account for 500 km.

Traffic in Bangalore is a daily nightmare for its 3.6 million commuters using the busy roads, it said.

Time zones

Stating that there was a need to bring back time zones in the city, the report recommended entry bans for goods vehicles not carrying humans between 8 am and 11 am and 4 pm and 8 pm.

The dedicated roads should be allowed for only trucks and heavy goods, it said.

Noting that the paramount role of the Bangalore Metro Transport Corporation (BMTC) should be to serve the public and not focus on profit making, GIREMsaid the BMTC should be more aggressive in publicising the timing of the buses.

Direction-based service

The report favoured direction-based bus service as opposed to the current destination-based one.

For example, there should be a bus going from J P Nagar to Yelahanka every five minutes, it said.

Currently, over 60,000 passengers travel in hi-tech Volvo buses of the BMTC.

User fee

The Corporation currently operates Volvo buses on 50 city routes.

The BMTC operates 435 Volvo and 98 Tata Marcopolo air-conditioned buses.

“A peak hour user fee on high-density roads should be considered to reduce pressure on arteries and crucial connectivity to business districts,” the report said.

Its other major recommendations included stringent implementation of the law on fitness of vehicles, developing a city mobility data for understanding where people go to work and come from work to better manage the resources, building user-friendly bus stations, converting all autos to CNG as implemented in Delhi, and demarcation of lanes for bicycles.

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