[audioholic]

There is a metro construction barricade fallen in front of Decathlon, Mahadevapura. This has blocked the road heading towards Hoodi and in turn a gridlock on the opposite side too since they want to take a U turn here. Avoid this area until they clear it. I passed by at 710 by when there was already a slight pile up of traffic. Could not pick it up since it had a load of mud on it which made the barricade heavy.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by achilles101

Bus lane on the left lane with bollards on the ORR: http://bengaluru.citizenmatters.in/a...road-orr-38198

Couple of information from the link:
* The bus priority lane project is set to be launched on November 1st.
* Dedicated for BMTC buses will be between Silk Board and KR Puram (around 20KM?). I guess both ways

I have seen around less than 1KM of stretch, marked with barriers from Innovative Multiple towards Kadubeenahalli (in one direction). Is there any other section marked for bus lane? Can they meet Nov 1 deadline?

[raghuram.cg]

Hi All,

Any idea when the Doddanekkundi (Narrow) underpass will open ? Its been closed for a week already, is the pipelaying work over ? Its a good bleeder route when ORR is jammed more than normal from Rainbow Hospital to Marathahalli Bridge

Thanks for the help

[bejoy]

Originally Posted by msdivy

Can they meet Nov 1 deadline?

No way its going to finish in 10 days. Read in today's news, the BBMP officials were "very confident" of finishing the work, at least in one direction.

Bollards installed on only 5 kilometres of 17-km route, but agencies say snags are expected and will fine tune the system by November 1

A few days ago, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) announced that the trial run of its ambitious bus priority lane on Outer Ring Road from Silk Board to Tin Factory would commence on Sunday (October 20). The system is expected to be formalised on November 1.

However, the reality is that the Corporation and other agencies, such as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), still have a long way to go even with regard to the trial run.

The BBMP, which is supposed to provide civil infrastructure such as bollards and signages, has not completed the work. Of the nearly 17-km route for the pilot project, only a few stretches near Narayanapura bus stop and Marathahalli multiplex have been demarcated with bollards. Agencies will have to race against the clock to meet the November 1 deadline for regular operations on the priority lane.

Officials, however, are confident of meeting the deadline. BBMP Commissioner B.H. Anil Kumar told The Hindu that the civic body has put up bollards for a stretch of 5 kilometres. “We will complete the rest in time (November 1), if not on both sides of the road then at least on one side along the entire route. A majority of work related to lane marking, footpath improvement and installation of signboards are progressing well,” he said.

Drivers continue to use other lanes

BMTC officials said that drivers are currently being trained to use the lane. On Sunday, several buses were seen using other lanes, thus defeating the purpose of the exercise.

“On certain stretches, the BBMP has demarcated a lane for our buses. We have given instructions to our drivers to operate on those lanes,” said a BMTC official.

Jayaprakash, a BMTC driver, hailed the initiative and is looking forward to Monday when office-goers will commute to work. “The priority lane improves the efficiency of our service and will help thousands of passengers. At present, personal vehicles are using large space on roads. Providing a lane for buses will encourage people to shift to our services,” he said.

Another driver expressed worry that work is not progressing fast enough. “Hardly a few kilometres have bollards. Issues at major points, like Agara and Tin Factory, are yet to be addressed by the authorities,” said the driver.

At present, the BMTC operates 768 buses on ORR with 6,596 trips per day. During peak hours, 170 buses are operate per hour. The BMTC expects the priority lane to increase ridership by 1.5 lakh per day. It is planning to install 'stickers' on buses operating on the stretch for the benefit of passengers.

Concern over bollards

Several bollards have already been damaged. Many motorists and citizens’ groups also expressed concern that the bollards would cause accidents and pose a threat to motorists. At a recent consultation with stakeholders, they had urged agencies to reconsider bollards, and suggested demarcating roads with paint, vigilant enforcement of rules and penalties for violations.

https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities...le29752181.ece

[itwasntme]

Terrible traffic between Windsor Manor and Hebbal towards KIAL. Any idea why? Google had an accident icon for some time near the BDA office earlier on.

[NPV]

How is the parking scene at Hotel Matthan (Sterlings Mac Hotel) on Old Airport Road, next to Manipal Hospital ? Is there sufficient parking space available there or should one look at other nearby street side options ?

[wildsdi5530]

Last night was tough. Water logging at Kodigehalli underpass, GKVK road, Rachenahalli Lake road and ORR near manyata, the first 3 had multiple vehicles in damaged condition. Manyata water logging had caused a huge traffic jam that finally cleared around 0030 only. My mobilio driven by my wife is now showing check engine light and needs to visit ASS. I've decided next vehicle I get better have excellent water wading ability. And non electric, never mind the environment.

And about the BRTS, BMTC will overtake any vehicle, but what really sets his blood boiling is another BMTC in front of him. All gloves are off until the bus is overtaken. This is behavior we see on a daily basis. Putting them in a single file, who are we kidding?

[mpksuhas]

Originally Posted by itwasntme

Terrible traffic between Windsor Manor and Hebbal towards KIAL.

I noticed this last month while heading to airport in BMTC. It took around 40 minutes to cover section from Windsor manor to Hebbal flyover. This was on a Friday evening and I was of the impression that it may be due to buses parked near Hebbal which is causing this jam, however that was not the case since road was comparatively empty over there.

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by NPV

How is the parking scene at Hotel Matthan (Sterlings Mac Hotel) on Old Airport Road, next to Manipal Hospital ? Is there sufficient parking space available there or should one look at other nearby street side options ?

I visited this a few years back, but I do remember that they have parking inside the hotel. If you do run out of parking there, you could probably pay and park at Manipal Hospital next door.

[srvm]

Originally Posted by NPV

How is the parking scene at Hotel Matthan (Sterlings Mac Hotel) on Old Airport Road, next to Manipal Hospital ? Is there sufficient parking space available there or should one look at other nearby street side options ?

Hi NPV. I do not know about parking options at Matthan.

I assume you are approaching from ISRO junction side or taking U-turn at Manipal junction if coming from Domlur side. In either case, going from Matthan to Manipal hospital parking (in the case of not getting parking at Matthan) as suggested by BHPian Newpunter will mean a lengthy detour and two U-turns.

Instead take left from Matthan go towards Domlur and you could park at Ganesha Temple parking lot on your left which is just near Kodihalli pedestrian skywalk and before the Indian oil Petrol pump. From here Matthan is just 2 minutes walk. Hope this helps.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by bejoy

url]https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/operations-on-bus-priority-lane-stutters-on-first-day-of-trial-run/article29752181.ece[/url]

Concern over bollards

Several bollards have already been damaged. Many motorists and citizens’ groups also expressed concern that the bollards would cause accidents and pose a threat to motorists. At a recent consultation with stakeholders, they had urged agencies to reconsider bollards, and suggested demarcating roads with paint, vigilant enforcement of rules and penalties for violations.

Deja Vu....

Originally Posted by paragsachania

within few days these bollards were flat and mixed well with asphalt thus making it the first road in Bangalore that was partly made of plastic!!

Call me a critic but having seen the implementation of this so-called dedicated Bus/Auto lane many years before on roads that were part of my commute to home, I am still not confident how today, when the road width still remains the same but vehicle population significantly more will make this work!

In all this, we are also forgetting the incentive system for BMTC bus drivers/conductors and the practices they indulge overtaking each other to grab passengers from the next stop. Expecting them to follow one lane is wishful thinking IMO.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by bejoy

No way its going to finish in 10 days. Read in today's news, the BBMP officials were "very confident" of finishing the work, at least in one direction.

Was chatting with BMTC driver. He was of the opinion that a single bus lane will fail. There are times BMTC drivers & conductors have to stop the bus for few minutes, either for completing ticket issuing or for the passenger to get down in the middle or any other reason. A single lane would block the entire traffic behind throughout.

He said the lanes reserved for the bus must be *two* and then there is chance of this scheme succeeding.
(I totally agree with him).

Other challenenges to be worked out (either single or two bus lanes):
1) Traffic from service road enter & exit the ORR. This will block the bus lane.
2) Are the bus lanes operational for 24 hours or is enough only during peak hours?
3) BMTC plans to get up the average speed to 10 Km/hr. They must plan for 20 Km/hr.

Originally Posted by msdivy

A precedent exists in Bangalore for the dedicated lane concept.

The driver also recalled the dedicated single auto lane in RC road. I think it was tried after a few years of Queen's road failure.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by srvm

Hi NPV. I do not know about parking options at Matthan.

Thanks @srvm. In fact I was thinking of an alternate route to avoid old airport road by taking the Jeevan Bima Nagar-Leela palace road and finding a roadside parking spot somewhere and then just walk up to the hotel

[deehunk]

Check parking option around Domlur BMTC bus stand or HP filling station near Challaghatta signal.

Originally Posted by chinkara

I went for a meeting in Bangalore a couple of weeks back, at Sarjapur.
14 hours for a 2 hour meeting.
Hats off to those who survive it daily.

Your presence made the difference, employees lack courage to raise concerns and suffer silently. If international meetings can be conducted through video conference, why not internal ones? A 4-4.5 hour travel is guaranteed every day for those who work beyond Domlur.

[chinkara]

I went for a meeting in Bangalore a couple of weeks back, at Sarjapur.
14 hours for a 2 hour meeting.
Hats off to those who survive it daily.