[silversteed]

Originally Posted by outdoorlover

Am not too sure if the high toll charges could be attributed to the high cost of land acquisition and also the unofficial money spent on "approvals".

AFAIK, NICE Ring Road is a private property. The infra company has bought the land, then built a road and is charging for usage. With most other toll roads, the land still belongs to the govt; the infra company builds the road and operates the stretch under its purview for a fee. The land acquisition needed for National Highways et al is done by the govt so that the construction company can lay roads and build the associated infrastructure, without staking ownership of the land.

[sachinpk]

Originally Posted by outdoorlover

Am not too sure if the high toll charges could be attributed to the high cost of land acquisition and also the unofficial money spent on "approvals".

Originally Posted by silversteed

AFAIK, NICE Ring Road is a private property. The infra company has bought the land, then built a road and is charging for usage.

Yes. NICE road seems to be another unique phenomenon. This road is a private property, with the owners pretty much having absolute control on what happens there. NHAI mandates FasTag to come up at every toll booth, but NICE toll booths still do not have it. State police Highway Patrol units patrol every major highway, but not in NICE road. No traffic law enforcement can be carried out. The police can enter the road, just like how it can enter a private house; after when a crime happens there.

There are off course political stories on which such a scheme got approved. But that would be off topic for the forum. But Karnataka state government had took up a case in even Supreme Court, with the final verdict being the state having to pay a fine+court expenses to Nandi Infrastructure (Ashok Kheni's company). Every single paper work clearly said that the land would pretty much be under the absolute ownership of Nandi Infrastructure.

Originally Posted by Rajeevraj

An emergency switch for passengers near the middle door, a panic button near the driver's seat, provisions for wheelchairs to enter and exit from middle door.
Two cameras to ensure safety. Feed is visible on a screen next to the driver. The device looked like a tab that seemed to have connectivity options.
I think it also has an outward dashcam. Recall seeing the video when alighting a couple of days back.
A 'STOP' button on every railing. I assume it is to trigger a bell/light indicator present next to the driver. Did not try it though.

The bolded part also seemed to be in the earlier series of the buses. I remember seeing a small screen on the left side of the driver's control console, which used to show images from the cameras inside the bus and even from the one camera which was at the rear end of the bus. When placed on reverse gear, the rear end camera angle would be on continous display. The STOP button on every railing seems to be a typical facility available in European buses (which generally does not have a conductor on board).

[sachinpk]

Looks like there is a traffic diversion in place in Varthur. Need to see if this adds to the problem I face on daily basis, or relaxes it a bit.
Traffic diversion in Whitefield from today
*Vehicles from Varthur proceeding towards Balgere, Panathur, Kadubeesanahalli and Outer Ring Road should take a left turn at Balgere and move on Gunjurpalya, Gunjur Dinne, Panathur, Kadube*esanahalli and Outer Ring Road.

* Vehicles from Panathur proceeding towards Varthur should move on Outer Ring Road, Panathur and reach Varthur.
----
https://www.google.co.in/maps/dir/Pa...12.9395989!3e0

[MeetSC]

Originally Posted by MeetSC

BETPL also revises their rates on every July 1st. They maintain a constant fare through July 1st to June 30th.

This is clearly mentioned here.

[sachinpk]

Due to certain late night calls which had to be taken from office, started my journey late night yesterday. Started from ITPL at around 2211Hrs only to reach Chandapura by around 2259Hours. Even at that late hour, there was good traffic at Hope Farm (Techies in evening shift returning home?) and it took three turns for me to get out of that junction.

The main "Time saver" in the journey was the lack of traffic jams at Varthur one-street town. From the data I have, I neatly saved around 10 minutes of time here*. In the other check points, looks like the time saved was minimal (1 min less, than the journey taken up at 1800Hrs). Muthanallur & Ramasagara areas also helped me save time, mainly because there were no slow moving vehicles on the road at that point of time. It was a "steady run".

* At Varthur, I saw a car borne gang blocking a National Permit truck and arguing with the driver. This was around 50meters after the L&O police station (towards Sarjapura). The driver steadfastedly refused to get down from his cabin. Two chaps were trying to pull him down, and what surprised me was a very young boy coming out of the driver's side of the car (which was blocking the truck). Felt a bit uneasy seeing this, after reading about the street gangs and thugs waylaying late night road users. Had stopped for a tea break, and then when I got back on the road saw the same truck back on road.

[kavensri]

This is not exactly a rant.
Any idea, Sadanand nagar main road, why so many cars are parked on both sides on the road?
Any time of the day, I see so many cars parked which hinders the vehicular movement sometimes. Are these guys using METRO services and could not find space to park their vehicles in the parking area? If not, what could be the reason?

[NPV]

Originally Posted by kavensri

This is not exactly a rant.
Any idea, Sadanand nagar main road, why so many cars are parked on both sides on the road?

Yes, these are Metro users. Some of these guys even park inside the residential areas in front of houses/apartments, a new problem in the area, I have a friend who lives there and got to know this recently.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by NPV

Yes, these are Metro users. Some of these guys even park inside the residential areas in front of houses/apartments, a new problem in the area, I have a friend who lives there and got to know this recently.

If vacant plots in Bangalore are converted as multi-level parking like this, then parking problem solved . This will provide a decent source of money for site owners. Hope there are no rules blocking such initiatives.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XNZ3G2w5VVs

Link: http://www.smartparkingsolution.com/

[procrj]

BMRCL Purple and Green line not functioning since morning today. Rumours of technical glitch plus some strike. Not sure what the real reason is but its gonna mess up traffic today.

[kavensri]

Originally Posted by NPV

Yes, these are Metro users. Some of these guys even park inside the residential areas in front of houses/apartments, a new problem in the area, I have a friend who lives there and got to know this recently.

By looking at the number of vehicles (especially 4 wheelers), BBMP may as have to construct a multi-level vehicle parking building in this area. There are just too many vehicles when you consider, there are already big paid parking area available around the station.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by procrj

BMRCL Purple and Green line not functioning since morning today. Rumours of technical glitch plus some strike. Not sure what the real reason is but its gonna mess up traffic today.

Read this in newspapers today. But not sure if this is the reason as Technical glitches too were reported in past weeks.

BENGALURU: Thousands of commuters across the city, who arrived at various Metro stations to catch their trains to various destinations were welcomed by shut doors on Friday morning. Metro operations, which were supposed to start at 5 am, have remained non-starter in the wake of protest undertaken by Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) staff.

Speaking to TOI, UA Vasanth Rao, chief public relations officer, BMRCL said there was a tussle between their staff and Karnataka State Industrial Security Force personnel on Thursday following which few staff members have been arrested. "Metro staff are demanding release of their colleagues and decided not to attend work until then. We are trying to resolve the issue and resume train operations as early as possible," he added.

Metro staff on the other hand are staging a protest at Byappanahalli metro station in East Bengaluru and their colleagues are supporting them by not attending the work.

As a routine, first train operations from all four directions, namely Byappanahalli, Nagasandra, Mysuru Road and Yelachenahalli start at 5 am. Around 3 lakh commuters are dependent on Namma Metro network spread across 42 kms in the city.

[pratyush6]

Anyone who takes a U Turn on the Old Madras Road knows this place and this signal. This is around 8.40 am today morning. The signal is still green for people going straight but those who need to take a U Turn towards Indiranagar/MG Road keep blocking several lanes. It is ridiculous to see 5 cars taking a right turn at the same time

How has this idea turned out any good? It has put more blocks especially with BMTC and private buses stopping abruptly near the Metro.

[TorqueyTechie]

There was a huge traffic pile up from Nimhans flyover all the way till forum/checkpost signal. It took me close to 20-25 mins to cross this stretch being on a two wheeler. I could not see any reason for this even after crossing the junction. Thought there must have been some VIP movement along that stretch as the police were manually manning that junction and giving preference to traffic from and towards madiwala.

[sairamboko]

Hi all - need to travel from Hosur (bagalur road ) to Bangalore Airport tomorrow. Any suggestions for route which has less morning traffic? I will be starting around 7:30 am. Flight is at 12:45 pm. Starting early so that I don't miss the flight due to route confusions.

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by sairamboko

Hi all - need to travel from Hosur (bagalur road ) to Bangalore Airport tomorrow. Any suggestions for route which has less morning traffic? I will be starting around 7:30 am. Flight is at 12:45 pm. Starting early so that I don't miss the flight due to route confusions.

At 0730 AM from Hosur, you can take the Direct route through the city itself.

This is because on one of the major sections from MG road till Hebbal, you will be driving in opposite directions of peak hour traffic that will mostly be driving in.

Budget 20m to EC/Huskur, another 70 Minutes to Hebbal and further 30 Max to Airport : that's 2 Hours for sure.

The other option is via NICE but this also is likely to take same time as the one via city albeit an almost signal free corridor with just one traffic light.