JOIN USBus yatra on Dec 11 to promote priority lane
To promote greater use of the Bus Priority Lane along the outer ring road, a unique #NimbusExpress Bus Yatra has been arranged on Wednesday. The campaign has been jointly organised by civic groups such as Citizens For Bengaluru (CfB), Bus Prayanikara Vedike, Whitefield Rising and Bellandur Jothege.
Calling the Bus Priority Lane project Bengaluru’s fight against traffic, CfB said: “The objective of this bus yatra is to raise awareness and encourage compliance so that it becomes a habit and success. It then can be a model for adoption across the city.”
It has been nearly a month since the project opened along the 22-km-long road. “It is Bengaluru’s fightback against traffic, especially on a corridor notoriously jam-packed with private vehicles, long delays and terrible pollution that affects health, morale and productivity,” the organisers said. “The project that designates a dedicated lane for public buses must be encouraged by all of us and adopted by commuters who travel on this segment daily.”
Why Bus Priority Lane works
* Buses carry a lot more people (70 at a time) and therefore deserve more access to the road space. Each bus takes up the space of three cars but carries the capacity of 30 cars. Buses are the best available option to move more people.
* This will allow more commuters to reach their workplaces faster, improving their morale, productivity and work-life balance.
* As car and motorbike users realise this, they may also be incentivised to switch to the faster, less stressful buses. This will reduce the volume of vehicles, thereby traffic congestion and jams. As their speed improves, buses can complete more trips and be available to commuters more frequently.
* This, in turn, directly improves air quality along the entire 22-km corridor, reducing pollution and positively impacting health.
* Buses serve the majority of travelling Bengalureans. Buses also serve all demographics of commuters, including daily wagers, security guards, vendors, students and IT employees. Prioritising a lane for the bus ensures more equitable use of road space, which is a common, public resource to all, regardless of economic strata. Cars and motorbikes appropriating all the space starve other passengers.
* Recent commuter experiments, conducted over multiple days of the week, have shown that buses running on the priority lane take less time than a private car to travel from KR Puram to Ecospace on the ORR, travelling at peak hours in the morning. This validates and confirms the need for dedicated bus lane corridors to reduce congestion, improve commute time and air quality.