Bangalore's traffic mess The solution

% increase Year Road space needs to double every 5 years. Not logical. Traffic population will rise 90 % between 2005 and The current strategy Widen 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 lines Bangalore : 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 Cr. at Rs 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 Bangalore Beautifully 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, Pune Peru - Lima USA - Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Boston, Charlotte, Cleveland, Eugene, Hartford, Honolulu, San Juan, Santa Clara, Alameda, San Pablo, Louisville, Montgomery, Pittsburgh Brazil - Curitiba, Sao Paulo, Goiania, Proto Allegre Ecuador - Quito Colombia - Bogota Indonesia – Jakarta UK - Bradford, Leeds Australia - Adelaide, Brisbane Canada - Ottawa, Vancouver China - 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 Cr. Expenditure on 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 Lakh Time required : 1 year. Road widening for planned 400 km. : Rs Cr. Usefulness: Zero Destruction of city: Total Cost of destruction of homes, businesses, culture, heritage: ? Metro 33 km. to carry 5 % of Bangalore's population : Rs Cr Cr. estimate in April BMRC announced 2000 Cr. escalation in Nov Metro 350 km. for whole of Bangalore : Rs. 100,000 Cr. Assumes 20 % underground, same mix as now. Will take years to build. London has 400 km. with 270 stations. Its size and population are same as Bangalore's. The economics Costs of various options before us

Road widening is definitely not the solution It 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 expensive It will take 60 to 100 years to cover the whole of Bangalore It will cost Rs Cr. The best solution The bus for long commutes + Cycling and walking for short commutes Can be implemented in Rs Cr. In 1-2 years. In sum  

Reduce No. of vehicles by 75 % Commute timeby 30 % Pollutionby 80 % Govt. expenditure on roadsby 90 % Increase Spending on Water supply, Medicare, Education, Power Spending on rest of Karnataka Without destroying Bangalore With a bus system we can achieve this

Which lifestyle do we want? Private transport has given us this 1

Bus+ cycling+walking can give us this 2

If you want to work towards solving the problem, contact Vinay Sreenivasa OR Roshni Nuggehalli