Lack of bus bays make bus stops dangerous

Lack of bus bays make bus stops dangerous
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Picture this. On a hot afternoon, a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus approaches a bus stop in JP Nagar and wheezes to a halt a few metres away.

Vehicles behind it honk, two and three-wheelers manoeuvre all around it and amid the confusion, people are trying to scramble into it. In a city touted to have one of the highest number of public transport buses in any metro, bus bays are few and far between.

It is often observed that more BMTC accidents occur at the bus stops rather than on the road. A report compiled by the Commuter Comfort Task Force (CCTF) has rated BMTC’s accident rate at 22 per thousand kilometres. With no exclusive parking bays at the stops, many passengers trying to board or alight a bus have been injured, sometimes even died. More bus bays will bring down the number of accidents, BMTC believes.

‘‘At present, there are only around 13 bays in the city. In stops like JP Nagar, there are none. It is difficult for bus drivers too, as other vehicles try to squeeze in through the little space there is. In case of a bus bay, no other vehicle would be permitted to enter, so accidents would come down,’’ BMTC managing director Upendra Tripathy said.

The Bangalore City Corporation (BCC) has been approached for constructing more bus bays. ‘‘BMTC wanted 500 bus bays. After a survey, we have identified 135 stops for bays,’’ BCC commissioner K. Jothiramalingam said. However, work has not started yet, he added.

Another proposal of the BMTC are dedicated bus lanes, with which it plans to improve speeds and reduce accidents.

But after a failed experiment on Bellary Road, it is doubtful how effective it will be. It is not enough to chalk out a separate lane for buses, enforcement is more important, says traffic expert M.N. Sreehari.

‘‘It is necessary to move buses on separate lanes, as the impact of one bus on the road is equivalent to that of four cars. But dedicated lanes should be monitored so that buses move only on them, without other vehicles barging in. Simply terming them ‘dedicated’ will not work.’’