Easing traffic to an extent

Despite being clogged with traffic, many roads in the City have dedicated markings near the bus stops for the buses to stop at. Be it near Fraser Town, Queen’s Road, Guttahalli, Hebbal or even outside bigger bus stands, these bus bays can be seen in areas across the City.

Though the buses have been using the space meant for them dedicatedly, sometimes there are traffic snarls thanks to these bays. Metrolife interacts with the commuters to find out the advantages and disadvantages of these bus bays.
 Sanjay Stevens, a final-year BCom student of St Joseph’s College of Commerce, travels daily to MG Road from Lingarajapuram and has seen the bays near Tannery Road and Indian Express Circle.

“Thanks to bus bays, people know where to stand. Moreover, the buses just don’t stop if these markings aren’t there,” he says. However, at the Indian Express Circle, he feels the buses go on the section marked for them and take a left towards Shivajinagar Bus Stand without waiting for the commuters.

“The buses might be crowded but if there is a stop, they have to stop isn’t it?” he asks. Siddharth, another student who travels by the bus daily, says, “Most buses don’t stop exactly at the bus stop anyway. So a marking like this helps.”

However, the ones who are driving on the roads either love or hate these bays. Narayana Swamy, an auto driver, feels dedicating space just for the buses to stop at is a waste. “This is not America with huge roads! The roads here are so narrow. On top of that, if they waste space for buses to stop, then where do we drive?” he asks. “The authorities need to focus more on the development of the roads first,” he adds.

But Ann Kuruvilla, a lecturer at Bishop Cotton Women’s Christian College who drives from Indian Institute of Science campus to Corporation everyday, is all praises for the system. “When a road has a marking for a bus, it’s easier for the others driving on the road as you are sure that the bus will move to the left to stop. It makes the traffic more organised,” she says.

Comparing Guttahalli Road near Cauvery Theatre to KG Road near Majestic, she says, “The road near Cauvery Theatre is never jammed due to buses. However, the KG Road stretch, especially from State Bank of Mysore to Majestic, is always jammed as it’s full of buses. This problem exists because there are no bays on this road for the buses to stop at.” M Lakshminarayana, commissioner, BBMP, assures that there will be more such bays for the buses in future.

“The BBMP is asphalting around 400 km of roads in the City and planning to create bus bays on them. Some of these roads include the 80 Feet Road in Koramangala and Devanahalli Road,” he says. He adds, “We plan to create these only on wide roads. If a road is less than 60 feet wide, we will not do so.”