Auto-matic cure for B’lore’s traffic woes

Auto-matic cure for B’lore’s traffic woes



Ravi S JoshiFirst Published : 06 Jul 2009 07:57:35 AM IST
BANGALORE: A few years back, a friend and I took an auto in Delhi. When we reached our destination, the meter showed more than twice the fare. To be fair to the auto driver, he admitted that the meter was rigged.
When we asked him why he could not earn his daily bread the honest way, his reply left us speechless. This is what he said, essentially: “I have to pay a bribe at the RTO to get a licence. I have to pay extra to my owner every day because he thinks I earn more than what I claim. I have to pay the traffic policemen nearly every day to stay out of trouble. If you can get those guys to get straight, I will too.” The scene is not very different in Bangalore today.
Despite over 80,000 autos running in the city, it’s hard to find one who is honest. And boy, don’t even get me started on their driving skills. They are champions at multi-tasking.
They can drive (if you can call it that) while constantly scouting for passengers.
And when they do find one, they have no qualms about stopping in the middle of the road, others be damned.
A pedestrian would find it hard to walk between two vehicles but not your autowallah.
No sir. He can squeeze his pesky little machine through the eye of a needle, if given a chance. He will turn first and look for oncoming traffic later. And when you finally manage to arrive in one piece, you will have a heart attack just looking at the fare and arguing with him.
No politician or bureaucrat has been able to tame the louts that rule the roads of any city in India. Long years back, Delhi set up a helpline and fast-tracked complaints made by passengers. Nothing happened. The traffic police conducted regular drives against erring autos. Nothing happened. Then the Delhi government brought in the Metro and modern buses. Everything changed. The autowallah – faced with increasing competition – softened a little bit. He still charges the moon for short distances but I hear from friends in Delhi that the fights with the autowallah, which were a regular affair earlier, are now few and far between.
What Bangalore needs to do is pretty much the same, and then some more. Convert autos into mini buses and make most of the auto-wallahs part of a cooperative that runs these buses – and is accountable for any lapses/ misbehaviour.
Our traffic problems will be solved to a great extent if all autos are taken off the main roads. Some of the drivers could be given batteryrun rickshaws to ply in residential areas, working as micro feeders. The moment they touch an arterial road, their role should be played by a mini bus that, in turn, acts as a feeder to the Kendra Saariges, the Big10s and the Vajras. Not only will that ensure smooth traffic flow and better revenue realization for the BMTC, it will also cut down on pollution.
But that is going to be a big task for the politician – as Housing and Muzrai minister V Somanna realized on Saturday. It’s not clear whether Somanna slapped BBMP assistant engineer Somaraju or just hurt his ego. What is clear is that Somaraju is still in hospital.
Imagine what will happen if the government decides to straighten the auto-wallahs, over 1 lakh of them.