ESG calls for ideas to save trees and manage traffic

Call for Ideas to save trees and manage traffic.

Back Ground
The city beautiful -- Bangalore was called so because of its people, culture, character, its parks, trees, the colonial bungalows, amongst other things. In the last decade, Bangalore has grown significantly - in size, population, and the economy. Bangalore has been attractive for its climate, its greenery – its tree-lined avenues being a significant part of this attraction. However, "the times, they are a-changing". Not only has the landscape of the city changed, but the very character of Bangalore has been undergoing a forced change due to unchecked growth.

Along with everything else, there has been a rapid growth of vehicles in the city -- some estimates suggest that over 700 vehicles are registered in the city everyday. So, just in the last year, that is an additional 2.5 lakh vehicles on the city's roads! It is no surprise that this has also led to a rapid growth in vehicular traffic, with its attendant problems of traffic congestion, longer commuting times, and unbearable air pollution. Rather than thoughtfully planning for the city's growth, the administrators have built flyovers wherever necessary and unnecessary, converted 2-way roads to one-ways, and are now chopping down trees to make way for (more) vehicles and for wider roads. The privileging of private vehicles over public transportation is essentially a blind aping of the North American developmental model, and is not the best solution for Bangalore.

The net result is that Bangalore is rapidly losing roadside trees, not only depriving the city of its majestic tree-lined boulevards, but also depriving pedestrians and bus commuters of the comforting shade. Everyone faces unbearable traffic and pollution. People who do not own private vehicles (who, incidentally, contribute the least to creating traffic problems) have the poorest transportation options and the most inconvenience as a result.

In the last couple of months, citizens from many backgrounds (including old-time Bangalore, tree-lovers, students, professionals, NGOs, etc.) have come together under the banner of Hasiru Usiru to protect Bangalore's trees. These citizens have pressed for solutions that avoid indiscriminate cutting of trees, and have been asking important questions about the city's future -- with a hope to re-create Bangalore as city which is livable and pleasant for all its residents, from all walks of life.


Call for Creative Ideas and Solutions
Setting a different example from other cities, under the creative leadership of its mayor, the Brazilian city of Curitiba solved its problems (similar to Bangalore many decades ago) without making huge investments in flyovers, constant road widening, by relying on a rapid bus transport system. The Colombian city of Bogota also adopted creative solutions, including car-free days, to deal with its traffic woes with active participation of its citizens. An easy way to learn more is to search for more information about these cities on the Internet.

We are hoping that the city of Bangalore can also come up with and adopt creative solutions with the input of its citizens. The City's officials have requested Hasiru Usiru to offer alternate solutions to the city's traffic problems, if the city's trees are to be saved. While we continue to resist the idea that cutting of trees of will solve the city's traffic problems, we will have to present some other viable options to address these problems. Hasiru Usiru is now appealing to all citizens for proposals that seek to address Bangalore's traffic problems. We ask citizens, planners, architects, engineers, and anyone with creative ideas to submit proposals for managing traffic, while still protecting trees and respecting the needs of citizens.

We will request the authors of selected proposals to present their ideas at a public forum (where the city's officials will also be invited) on the 12th of June, 2005 (to be finalized). Hence we appeal to you to submit your proposals by the 5th of June 2005, which also happens to be the World Environment Day.


Suggested Guide Lines For proposals
Proposals might seek to answer any or all of the following BROAD questions, as well as any other problems that you notice:

• How can the bus system be improved? Can sections of roads be dedicated to buses? Can bus stops be redesigned so that buses loading and unloading don't block traffic?
• Can schools mandate that their students commute by public transportation, or find ways to strongly discourage private transportation of its students?
• How can we achieve stricter lane discipline?
• How can excessive speeding be addressed?
• Can we create no-vehicle zones in designated areas?
• How can we reduce the number of vehicles on the road each day? Taxes? Carpools? Encouraging shared autos/taxis/vans, other?
• How can we encourage bicycling? Can we create safe cycle lanes?
• How can the needs of pedestrians be met? Can we make it easier and safer to cross roads and to get about on foot? Can sidewalks be improved, so that pedestrians need not walk in the road?
• Does the city need the Metro? Is Monorail the answer? Is there another public transportation solution?
• Have the existing flyovers helped? Should more be built?
• How can parking issues be addressed?
• How can the city's ecology best be protected in the long-term?
• Is road widening the solution, or do better options exist?
• What other solutions do you have to manage any aspect of traffic?

We also invite proposals to solve SPECIFIC problems on individual roads in individual neighborhoods. These short-term solutions can be designed to give everyone breathing room to deal with the larger problems outlined above.

• Study the problem in your neighborhood on roads where there is a traffic problem (especially those roads where trees are slated to be chopped down), and suggest what could be done to address the traffic bottlenecks while preserving trees.
• Is it possible to convert a tree line into a lane divider on that particular road?
• Will tree-felling actually solve a traffic problem on particular roads?

For the ideas to be credible, do attempt to work out your ideas to some degree of detail. As an example, several people had suggested that existing tree lines be converted into lane separators. But, the city's rebuttal has been that this is not possible because private land has to be acquired to widen the roads. However, don't hesitate to throw up creative ideas, even if you have not thought through all the details. Who knows what might work?

Please submit your ideas and proposals by the 5th of June, 2005 to the Hasiru Usiru address at the beginning of this appeal. Please mark your letters “Traffic Seminar, Hasiru Usiru". If you would like to send by email, please send to HasiruUsiru@esgindia.org.