[Vysakh]

Originally Posted by strawhat

Now coming back to the pedestrians, what percentage of them actually use these FOB's?

At Manyata (and maybe at ecospace too), they've put barricades on the median and also the divider between the main road and the service road. The only way to cross the road is to use the FOB. This should probably be enforced at all places where the FOBs are built.
There are other places on the ORR where FOBs are present, like Kasturinagar, RamamurthyNagar, Kalyan Nagar etc and despite the FOBs, hardly anyone uses them.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by Vysakh

There are other places on the ORR where FOBs are present, like Kasturinagar, RamamurthyNagar, Kalyan Nagar etc and despite the FOBs, hardly anyone uses them.

Yes, same story on Inner Ring Road, very few people use the foot over bridge, they prefer to dart across the road or assertively stop the traffic and move at their own pace

Also, has anyone noticed the new bus stand that was built next to the foot over bridge on Inner Ring Road ? There was a high tension tower that was shifted to make the space accessible and usable to build this bus stand. It has pay and use rest rooms too. The idea was to have BMTC buses drive in and out of this bus stand so that it does not affect traffic movement on the Inner ring road.

However, the situation is that now this is not used by any of the buses and has become an unofficial taxi stand with lot of cabbies happily parking their vehicles through the day. They get free parking and also rest room facilities in the same campus and carts selling coffee/chai are also there around the place, they couldn't ask for anything more

[Chetan_Rao]

The option to dart across traffic has to be completely removed for FOBs to be utilized. There's unfortunately no other way we can make our 'educated' people care for their own or other road users' safety.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

The option to dart across traffic has to be completely removed for FOBs to be utilized.

Let's also ensure that there are enough FOBs first. And decent enough footpaths leading to them. As someone who works in the area in question and someone who drives, rides and sometimes walks in that area as well when I get lift from my wife, I can feel the frustration of both sides. It's maddening to watch out for pedestrians darting across when in my car or bike. But it's also not easy to walk on that road and reach the single FOB.

Actually, I ride/drive more than I walk in this city. I still think we should maintain a 'pedestrian-first' approach. Let's slow down for people crossing. It's really not that hard. Not like we're going to get to work/home any faster with the crawl traffic on ORR anyway!

As a matter of fact, it's dream and it'll never happen, but the only way to resolve the Bangalore mess is to put a 'pedestrian-first' policy in place overall. Encourage a mix of public transport and walking/cycling. No matter how wide we make our roads (and how many trees we cut doing that), the only thing that will happen is more vehicles will join the flow. As Delhi has shown, wide-roads and a decent metro network will not really do much to reduce car traffic. What we can do is give those who opt for it, a saner means to get to work.

Something of the sort is already in place in the CBD with the TenderSure roads. Sure (haha) there are shortcomings, but widening the footpaths and reducing the space available for private transport has been a good thing. While I used to work there, I happily ditched my car/bike in favor of the Metro plus a 1.5km safe walk on decent footpaths everyday. Time-wise I didn't save much, but the peace of mind was awesome. And it was one vehicle off the road everyday.

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by am1m

Let's also ensure that there are enough FOBs first. And decent enough footpaths leading to them.

I guess I should've added 'where available' to my comment, instead of leaving it implied . Adding an FOB without blocking off road-crossing is an exercise in futility. People value 10 seconds more than safety.

We need a LOT of pedestrian crossings across the city, no argument there. The ORR IT corridor would probably need one every km or so to be safe for pedestrians, given the sheer volume and frequency of crossings.

I happily ditched my car/bike in favor of the Metro plus a 1.5km safe walk on decent footpaths everyday. Time-wise I didn't save much, but the peace of mind was awesome. And it was one vehicle off the road everyday.

Likewise. I live 10 minutes from my closest Metro station, and all my sojourns to city locations with a Metro stop within a 5 km radius are Metro ride + walk (hire a cab for last mile in adverse weather). Saves me time too, I can reach CBD within 30-40 mins of leaving home, which is impossible by any other mode of transport available to me.

Haven't owned a car for 3+ years now, and my scooter is used only for local errands.

[Acharya]

On the topic of FOB - given the number of cash rich companies that Bangalore has, its should be possible to provide escalators in all such FoBs, where escalators are funded by pvt organizations. Think about pedestrians who have to cross these FoBs everyday, especially when one is not in his/her prime health.
Government should try to collaborate with companies and take their help in building better Bangalore.
Unfortunately, we continue to think about mega projects with 'elevated' everything (including egos), whereas little collaboration among concerned parties will go a long way in making things better.

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by Acharya

On the topic of FOB - given the number of cash rich companies that Bangalore has, its should be possible to provide escalators in all such FoBs, where escalators are funded by pvt organizations. .

FOB near Ecospace was funded by Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), I guess TBHPian Fauji was closely involved in this.

There is another FOB coming up near Shell bunk / Citrus hotel further down ORR from Ecospace to Sarjapur road junction. This is a BBMP funded one, residents there had created huge noise by taking out protest march and online petitions demanding the flyover after one person was killed while crossing the road sometime last year.

Thankfully for the residents, it was election season and local corporator & MLA was forced to listen to the demands. There was some blame-game in between, however residents was able to collectively push for the same.

Around two months back they had started work on this FOB, however there is no much progress now.

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

however there is no much progress now.

After a long period of inactivity, just today evening I saw metal pillars being erected on the foundation. This was on the east side.

[ankan.m.blr]

Originally Posted by mpksuhas

FOB near Ecospace was funded by Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), I guess TBHPian Fauji was closely involved in this.

There is another FOB coming up near Shell bunk / Citrus hotel further down ORR from Ecospace to Sarjapur road junction. This is a BBMP funded one, residents there had created huge noise by taking out protest march and online petitions demanding the flyover after one person was killed while crossing the road sometime last year.

Thankfully for the residents, it was election season and local corporator & MLA was forced to listen to the demands. There was some blame-game in between, however residents was able to collectively push for the same.

Around two months back they had started work on this FOB, however there is no much progress now.

Originally Posted by bejoy

After a long period of inactivity, just today evening I saw metal pillars being erected on the foundation. This was on the east side.

You are referring to 'Sanjay Giri Skywalk' , right (named after the deceased person) ? I am following this project from the start as I am part of the FB group 'Bellandur Forum' that is involved in the online campaign for this FoB. There were a lot of red tapes that the movement tore through and there are still more to go, but I feel really upbeat to see the determination and dedication of the people to bring this FoB into reality.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by Acharya

On the topic of FOB - given the number of cash rich companies that Bangalore has, its should be possible to provide escalators in all such FoBs, where escalators are funded by pvt organizations. Think about pedestrians who have to cross these FoBs everyday, especially when one is not in his/her prime health.
Government should try to collaborate with companies and take their help in building better Bangalore.
Unfortunately, we continue to think about mega projects with 'elevated' everything (including egos), whereas little collaboration among concerned parties will go a long way in making things better.

Pedestrians should stay at ground level, vehicles can easily climb up a ramp. That would mean an underpass or flyover to let pedestrian cross at grade.


The other way out is to power the escalator using the energy of the vehicles using the road. We have to let some smart people create that, meanwhile we can just ignore the whole problem and let people die, because this seems to be the cheapest solution.

[am1m]

By now I thought everyone driving/riding in Bangalore would have realized that it's pointless to honk. Traffic crawls anyway and most people are deaf/immune to honking. Yet, we still honk. Almost always you'll find that the moron honking behind you to pass will be just ahead of you/alongside you at the next traffic light/jam. Wonder what he achieved.

I wonder if there is a way to provide a 'horn-cut-off' after say using the horn x times in y minutes. So if a driver exceeds that, the horn should not work for say 10 mins after that. Or better yet, let each honk consume x milliliters of fuel! That'll reduce honking for sure!

[AltoLXI]

Originally Posted by am1m

By now I thought everyone driving/riding in Bangalore would have realized that it's pointless to honk. Traffic crawls anyway and most people are deaf/immune to honking. Yet, we still honk. Almost always you'll find that the moron honking behind you to pass will be just ahead of you/alongside you at the next traffic light/jam. Wonder what he achieved.

There was an idiot in XUV honking behind me today morning on Swami Vivekananda road. I was waiting on my two wheeler behind the stop line for the signal to change for me to enter the Srinivasapura main road. While the rest of the vehicles had already crossed the stop line and creating a mess at the junction, this moron probably thought me stopping at the line is an unpardonable crime and that I should also join the others who were facing the oncoming traffic. So much for the patience of the road users.

[gtonsing]

Yesterday evening I was coming back from work, around 7-8pm on Whitefield main road and there was a major delay just before the signal under the flyover near KR Puram bridge. Everyone is at a standstill, not even the two wheelers were squeezing past anyone. There is this one idiot in an Indica behind me, honking away to glory. And kept doing it. We were stopped for more than 40 mins at that place and I kid you not, he must have honked for more than 20 mins of that time in intervals. And he was muttering something when the light turned green for left lane (where I was going) - assuming he would have thought his honking changed the lights! OMG!

[Rajeevraj]

Originally Posted by am1m

Or better yet, let each honk consume x milliliters of fuel! That'll reduce honking for sure!

That's easy. Create an authentic looking release from ARAI that states the 'new finding' that each honk consumes x milliliters of fuel. Circulate it in WhatsApp and you are set.

The other day I witnessed an interesting incident of an auto driver politely scolding a cab guy for honking. Spent 2-3 minutes explaining that honking will not move stand still traffic. Was an interesting conversation.

[ajmat]

Today ORR was hell. It took me 2 hours from Richmond Circle to Radisson Blu, Marathahalli. Deadlocks in Adugodi till Forum, then from Agara to Bellandur. I thought I was in a bad place at a bad time until I saw cars cramming and stuck on the service road on the opposite side trying to get into EcoWorld