Fun Sustainable Transport
Comments
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yes rohin, very well said : that is THE solution to solve problems of our cities. Unfortunately these are sentiments shared by a very few minority. The general perception that wider roads, flyover and higher speeds in cities can solve the traffic problem is all humbug. In fact it leads to more trips in a segment and ultimately gets clogged. The only thing we have to do now is wait for our cities to get so traffic jammed that people are forced to think about alternatives like 1. Public Transport 2. Car pooling 3. Cycling 3. 3- wheelers (one of the best designed automobile for Asia !!) Till then we enjoy our cycling and wait for the city to hit rock bottom !! I had some guests from Paris - an elderly architect couple who told me how 20 years back they used to go everywhere in Paris using their car, but now they can only take it out on a Sunday or for late night dinner. They either take metro, walk or cycle. And they are much happier today then they were 20 years back, as they enjoy their city in avery different manner. Wish rather than just copy the west, we can actually learn from their mistakes. Do we know that two lanes of road (i.e carriageway in one direction) in urban areas is more than sufficient. Most of our roads wider than those in London and we still suffer from jams. Because in the first case wider roads is not the solution. Unfortunately we are still practicing an archaic form of urban planning which is centered around private transport and car ownership, things cities across the world rejected in the 80's !! pratyush (interested in history of cities) faculty of architecture, CEPT
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nice article and very nice (eXellellant!!!) comment. most of the bangaloreans have a habit of copying everything which is WESTern. then why dont they think of CYCLING as most of the WESTern tourists do here and also in their countries? i think they are willing to do the same mistake which western people did about traffic(as told by PRATYUSH)and learn the lesson practically and do follow the CYCLING. most of the traffic jams happen in Bangalore because of lack of common sence among drivers and pedestrians.pedestrians always use roads only though the footpath is very broad. need is to educate them about this.
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I do agree on that "common sense" bit. Cities like Bangalore are (or were?) always known for their beautiful city center. Cycling, pedestrianization and public transport can only save it now. London, if I am not wrong has now congestion charges of around 20 pounds, for cars that want to enter the downtown. Works wonders for the city. So management more than infrastructure is the key.
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yup. Actively discouraging folks from using their own vehicles and encouraging them to use the public transport instead is the best way to solve this problem ! Congestion charge is something that works for London I guess :) Their roads are narrower than most of ours !
