Cops for 6-month moratorium on vehicle registration

Congested roads, improper road planning and traffic mismanagement together define all that is wrong with commuting in Bengaluru.

Many arterial roads remain overcrowded despite being widened to the hilt. Clearly, there is mismatch in the city’s vehicle population and its road network. The existing roads, flyovers, underpasses and subways just can’t handle the vehicle population of 70 lakhs and counting, say the traffic police.

Two-wheelers account for more than 70% of the vehicle population while cars (15%), autorickshaws (4%) and buses, vans and Tempo Travellers (8%) make up the rest. Clearly, people prefer personal vehicle to public transport. About 20% of the space on most of the roads is used for parking.

Experts suggest the construction of multi-storey parking complexes to reduce congestion. Police recommend suspending registration of new vehicles for six months, besides adopting the Singapore model of imposing steep parking fees and strict enforcement of lane discipline. High parking fees on certain roads would discourage the use of personal vehicles.

Another problem is the lack of a single agency to control the city’s transport spheres. The lack of co-ordination among the BMTC, the KSRTC, the BMRCL, cab aggregators and traffic police means the problems are magnified. There is also a need to hire more traffic police personnel. There are about 1,000 traffic constables for one lakh vehicles in the city,