Traveling within the city

Anyone who has traveled to US and driven their, is aware of two concepts – defensive driving and right-of-way. Both, incidentally, are missing when it comes to Indian drivers. Are all Indians who drive in the US, bad drivers? Perhaps not. In fact many are good drivers. What makes them good driver in the US and not in India? Two things make the impact – the construction of roads in a well planned manner and the tight linkage between offensive driving and insurance premium pinch.

The roads are as smooth as butter…not slippery, smooth! Once you reach a certain speed, you can maintain it without having to worry about potholes or pedestrians crossing the road without warning or buffaloes ruminating idly in the middle of the road. All the above conditions can be corrected with some modifications to the design in an Indian scenario.

We all know constructing roads is not rocket science. It is perhaps a very well mastered branch of civil engineering. But a lot of times we miss out on the usability aspects (no need to explain that term to anyone who has used computers, for benefit of those who do not know, it is the ease of use of any machine, program etc. by a layman) while designing roads. For instance, before someone decided to construct the famous Paud Phata, was there a study of traffic patterns? There perhaps may have been one, but looking at the mess today, I have my own doubts.

Were all traffic patterns studied before the road in front of Sancheti Hospital widened? Did anyone think how will people from HDFC and Bank of Maharashtra offices go home? Even today, the Firodiya Bridge square has a “do not turn right” sign. Someone coming out of HDFC House can either go straight towards Kamgaar PutaLaa or turn left towards Engineering College. How do you go to Kothrud, Sadashiv Peth or Pashan from that signal? When road divider was constructed between the Agriculture College Gate and E-Square on University Road, was the need of people living in cross-lanes for this section taken into consideration? Merits or demerits aside, perhaps these aspects made the people living in Nal Stop area anxious and protest.

Our roads are far less drivable and that situation has to change fast if we want to retain the lead from attractive destination to do business perspective.

Can we do something about this? First and foremost, the discipline – unless at least 80% drivers follow the rules, the congestion will worsen. Other aspects that will aid the drivability of the roads are engineering and construction. To bring the roads up to world standard, we need:

1. Smooth, well constructed roads that can sustain the speed and weather
2. Lanes marked appropriately, such that turning lanes – for left or right turn do not hamper the traffic and automatically bifurcate the traffic reducing the possibility of congestion
3. This should be followed more strictly in case of right turns without obstructing the traffic moving in the straight direction – this will avoid a lot of traffic congestion
4. Appropriate signs on the road should guide drivers about important landmarks, lanes that take to the landmark (e.g. lane bifurcation at Paud Road flyover), speed limits, pedestrian zones, school zones etc.
5. Smart signals – these can be installed by studying the traffic patterns. For example, more people are likely to turn right from FC Road to University Road in the morning. Signals should be smart enough to understand this!
6. Coordinated signals, such that if you get one green – you are likely to get all other green! (Hope you don’t get stuck behind a red!) This will help people attain certain speed and continue at that speed for a longer duration, taking them to their destinations faster
7. Speed should not be treated as enemy – instead speed should be used appropriately for faster movement of vehicles. Speed breakers should be installed only near schools, not anywhere else. With appropriate training, people will understand how to manage the vehicle speed, especially if there are not going to be any obstacles in the path
8. Footpaths should be clear of any debris, waste, and usurpation by shopkeepers and hawkers – and should be used by pedestrians without blocking the road traffic
9. Cycle lanes should be provided near footpaths and cycle riders should adhere to it rather than block fast moving traffic.
10. A little more time should be provided to the pedestrians to cross the road – current 10 seconds for a green-man is too short
11. Bus lanes to be provided on all major roads to ensure smooth mass transit
12. Zones should be made for Rickshaws such that they do not obstruct the traffic and at the same time can conduct their business
13. Convert some portions of the city in a Fussgaengerzone – German noun for areas in the city where no private vehicles are allowed. Bajirao Road, Lakshmi Road, MG Road are good candidates for this. (Loading/Unloading activity by shops can be scheduled outside of peak hours and the residents in this area can be given special passes.)
14. Ample parking space to be constructed and provided for private vehicle owners. Parking meters should be installed to charge the vehicle owners with a reasonable fee for the time they use parking space.
15. Localities/Areas to be made self-sufficient so that the tempos/trucks carrying goods, vegetables etc. do not have to cross the city. For example, separate market yards should be constructed for Aundh, Kothrud, Hadapsar etc. areas. These areas should not be dependent on the Gultekdi Market yard.

Apart from this, the traffic volume itself is a major cause of concern. Atlanta has 16 lane highways and still lot of traffic congestion. To reduce the traffic volume, mass transit alternatives should be provided. The current infrastructure of PMT and PCMT is far too short to take care of the needs of a rapidly growing city. Every effort should be made to ensure that this is improved and improved fast! First get the basics right – make sure the bus service is good. Fancy ideas of Mono-rail, sky bus, underground rail etc. can be evaluated only after the bus service improves and handles at least 50% of daily traffic.

All the road encroaching activity should be banned – be it Ganapati Festival or any morcha. The Ganapati and other festivals can be celebrated on the large open grounds such as Engineering College ground or open areas in University or Saras Baug/Nehru Stadium etc. rather than digging and occupying roads. All the shopkeepers who worry about losing business because the festival has moved away can set up makeshift shops in these grounds for a fee.

Stiff penalties should be applied to Telephone, Water, Electricity and Sewage department who cannot plan their activities and are always trigger-happy when it comes to digging the road. Yes, I am suggesting that a department of the Municipality should be fined and money deposited in Municipality Treasury because of lack of planning by that department. Or better – the tax paid to Municipality by the citizens should be refunded from this money. The penalty should be high enough to return reasonably significant amount to the entire city.

The punishments for breaking the rules should be punitive enough to not let the offense happen once again. This should include everyone - the Municipal Commissioner, elected representatives and regular drivers. One hopes that if they realize that they will have to go to jail for a mishap – they will do the job better.

The moral of the story is, if someone starts from University circle and attains a modest speed of say, 45 KMPH, that person should be able to continue at that speed ideally at least till hiser destination, but otherwise, at least on the major roads!

And above all, mass transit should be encouraged at all levels. In Mumbai, white-shirt wearing executives are seen traveling in 84 Limited from Andheri to Nariman Point or in Kalyan Fast from Thane to Dadar. You really cannot beat the 13 minute, 22 kilometer ride from Dombivli to Thane in a fast local.

Puneites can perhaps learn a lesson or two from them…then perhaps we will not consider more than 5 KM distance as a “far away place”. If you are living in a growing city, expect a daily commute of at least 20 KM in one direction. Anything we can do to make this commute easy and relaxing will only improve the quality of our life.