BENGALURU: An online survey by Citizens for Bengaluru, between November 19 and 23, on the Bus Priority Lane (BPL) introduced by Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) on Outer Ring Road, found that 55 per cent of commuters benefited from reduced travel time, while 33 per cent said they saw no difference to their commute time. The BPL was introduced between Silk Board and KR Puram. In a press statement on their findings, released on Monday, CfB found that the trip duration went down by seven minutes on an average.
A majority of the responses to the survey were from commuters who used buses on the BPL in the morning. “74.1% of the people felt the visual signage indicating BPL needed improvement. Violations by cars and two-wheelers driving in the lane are high, while enforcement by authorities is low. The number of parked vehicles on the lane is also high,” the survey found. Feedback from commuters stated that physical separation was needed in the form of bollards.
In addition to this, Kannada language signage was missing from buses. “Bus stops need more information display, audio system and enough space for at least two buses to park. Enforcement by the Bangalore Traffic Police through penalties on private vehicles using the BPL is missing,” the report added. The report puts forth feedback for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, BMTC and Directorate of Urban Land Transport to improve the efficiency of BPL.
Tara Krishnaswamy, coordinator of CfB, said, “More signage and indicators in both English and Kannada are part of the feedback we received from commuters. Posters at the back of the bus stating that this lane is for buses only, pre-existing infrastructure such as more colours, reflectors and small humps on the road need to be added.” She felt it was good BMTC removed the cement bollards initially placed, as they could cause accidents and death of two-wheeler riders, especially at night.
“We have suggested fibre bollards, the red cones used on roads to separate the BPL from the rest of the road and prevent encroachment. Fines for violation by private vehicles need to be publicised more,” Tara added. Yogeesh, who commutes on the BPL between Ecospace Tech Park and KR Puram, said there were a few pain points where traffic gets merged, and the BPL is not followed. These reflect in the survey as well. “From Marathahalli till Karthik Nagar, there is chaos under the bridge as people hardly follow the bus lane. This happens as manning takes places only at and near the bus stop. Another point is where service roads and flyovers merge.
Though buses are supposed to go on the flyovers where the BPL is marked, they tend to go on the service road. There is chaos near Total Mall flyover and Mahadevapura flyover, for instance,” Yogeesh said, adding, “Even if buses go up the flyover, the bottleneck causes lane violation.” Apart from stopping lane violations, he put forth another suggestion — reducing the amount of time each bus waits at a bus stop.