Gridlock: Footpaths are for bikers in Bangalore

At the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bangalore last Friday evening, an 85-year-old lady was brought in with minor injuries after being knocked down by a two-wheeler on Tannery Road. Nothing unusual there. And the reason is simple: there are no pavements in Bangalore, especially at key intersections.

Two-wheelers usurp footpath space as they wind their way through the mad traffic, knocking down a few. According to the Bangalore police, 48% of the accident deaths which took place in Bangalore in 2012 were pedestrian hits.

Additional commissioner of police (traffic) MA Saleem, while admitting that this was a cause for concern, says the number of accident deaths in Bangalore has come down — from 400 cases in 2010 to 367 cases in 2011 to 358 cases last year.

However, one factor that has remained constant is the fact that pedestrian hits have hovered in the 48-52% range over the past three years. At the Bowring Hospital alone, an average of 10-12 traffic-related cases are reported each day, according to the staff.

During peak hours it takes close to two hours to travel a 10-km stretch. “The main bottlenecks around KR Puram flyover, Silk Board Junction, Bannerghetta Road and Marathalli can aggravate stress levels of any commuter,” says MN Sreehari, adviser to the Karnataka government on transport infrastructure.

Bangalore does not have a well-networked Metro yet. As it exists today, the service caters to barely 1% of the population. Over 40 lakh commuters use the 5,000-odd public buses in Bangalore and around 1 lakh use autorickshaws. But these vehicles occupy just 2% of the city’s road space.

Bangalore’s 35 lakh commuters who use private vehicles take up 90% of the road space. This figure is set to rise at the rate of 10% annually. According to projections by the traffic police, there are likely to be 1.8 million cars in 2020 and 4.7 million cars by 2030.

And while Bangaloreans wait for infrastructure projects to finish and the Metro to be fully operational, non-governmental organisations have been clamouring for a separate allocation for pedestrians in the municipal budget.

“When they talk of fund allocation for underpasses and overbridges, a similar fund must be earmarked for pedestrian safety as well,” says TG Sitharam, chairman, Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and urban Planning, Indian Institute of Science.

Vehicle: Population Ratio = 1: 3