Bengaluru: City roads not pedestrian-friendly, says study

If you are a pedestrian or a cyclist, it would be advisable to venture out only during late night or early morning hours, when there is no traffic.

This is because the City is not pedestrian-friendly and this was proved at the Ballari Road mishap too. A recent study titled ‘Pedestrian Safety Index’, conducted by Consortia of Infrastructure Engineers, across the City shows that Bengaluru ranks 0.21 (21 per cent) on a scale of 0-10. This means that there is no space for pedestrians in the City.

The study looked at pedestrian safety roads, friendly walking spaces, footpaths, zebra crossings, width of footpaths, number and type of walkers, pelican crossings, illumination on footpaths, trees on footpaths and subways and sky walks, vendors occupying footpaths and two wheelers plying on footpaths, parking on road sides and speed of vehicles. It was conducted by Ashwini V, an engineer from Consortia of Infrastructure Engineers, along with M N Sreehari, advisor to the State government on traffic and transport issues. The study was done three months ago in which each parameter was ranked on a scale of 1-10.

According to the study, the worst roads are K G Road, Residency Road, Double Road, Inner and Outer Ring Roads  and main arterial roads -- Magadi Road, Ballari Road, Tumakuru Road, Mysuru Road, Kanakapura Road and Bannerghatta Road. There are very few good roads like Indiranagar, Jayanagar 4th and 9th Block Roads.

Road capacity

Further, according to Indian Road Congress (IRC) standards, footpath and road capacity is not maintained and is very high. Footpath width should be 1.8 metres, but it is not more than 60-80 cm and in many places, it does not even exist. Footpath capacity also should be 1,800 pedestrians per hour, but on the ground it is double. Passenger car per unit should be 900 vehicles per hour per lane, but in reality it is 1,500-1,600.

Skywalks and subways have failed as they are not well illuminated and not used by people. They have also become centres of illegal activities. Speed-breakers are not the solution to traffic menace. Well-designed skywalks and subways are the solutions. The study clearly shows that city roads are not all youth-, senior citizen- and disabled-friendly. There are no Pelican lights at all junctions, Sreehari pointed out. The government is only concentrating on signal-free connectivity, and no infrastructure projects have pedestrian facility. This shows the government’s attitude towards pedestrians, Pranav Jha, Founder of Praja RAAG (Research and Analysis Group), said.

Jenny Pinto, Praja member and petitioner who filed a PIL in High Court on pedestrian safety, asserted that wherever high speed corridors are built, pedestrian safety is a problem. The road opposite to International Airport is the only best road in Bengaluru. This is because it has been laid by Swiss agencies. It has rubble strips, proper signages and lighting, Pinto added.