Bus stop chaos calls for better planning and discipline

A large section of Bengaluru travels by bus. Buses are an indispensable mode of transport that millions of people use every day. However, the system is plagued by several issues, including an in adequate number of buses and the slow modernisation of the fleet. One smaller but persistent problem affecting life in the city is the tendency of buses not to pull over to the side of the road where the bus stop is located. Instead, buses are often seen stopping in the middle of the carriageway to drop off and pick up passengers, preventing other vehicles from moving past them. Experts weighed in on this nor malised practice, stating that the problem is more complex than it appears.

Shaheena Shasa, who has long campaigned for making buses the centre of urban mobility in the city as part of the NGO Bengaluru Bus Prayanikara Vedike, said, “It’s a complicated problem and I'm not where buses need to enter to reach the bus stop. And we discourage people from using them in several ways, like not building walking infrastructure or placing bus stops at inconvenient locations.” While the city does have bus bays where buses can pull in to pick up passengers, these are found only on arterial roads where there is sufficient space for their sure why it happens. Bus drivers have been incentivised to bring in more passengers and they want to quickly get from one bus stop to another.

So they stop on the road so they can quickly get going again. They have that pressure. We can design the city in a better way to prioritise buses because if we have something like a bus priority lane, then there won't be any conflicts with other vehicles for space. I think we as a city need to prioritise buses more than private vehicles because they carry many more people than private vehicles. construction. There is also the is sue of waiting passengers spill ing onto the road, occupying the space needed for buses to pull in. In addition, autos and vendors often park their vehicles in areas “So it's a design-level issue, which I think the authorities have been slowly trying to address.

But with respect to people, it could be that the bus stop areas are so crowded in some places that people spill onto the road. So that needs to be strictly enforced. Then some motorists always try squeezing through from the left side. From a design standpoint, if you look at it, this can be ad dressed to some extent. One thing that can be done, and is done in many cities globally, is to mark the entire bus shelter area very clearly in bright, vibrant colours saying ‘Bus Only’,” said mobility expert Vi vekananda. Bus marshals can also be seen at several bus stops, especially during peak hours, ushering passengers towards the footpath so as not to obstruct the path of the bus. “People should be patient and wait on the footpath rather than rushing into the path of an approaching bus. It’s not safe, and it disrupts the flow of traffic as well,” said on-duty marshal Jayaram.