Get your bums on the saddle!!

I know I shouldn't be preaching this as I am not good at following it, thanks to my mind (it has this little inertia which opposes and combats any move/change that tends to disrupt my rhythm of daily conventional activities). But, I just came across this cool idea of commuting in Bangalore, shared in the Ignite Bangalore event and couldn't help passing it on to the readers.

Yeah! I am talking about "Bicyling in Bangalore" or rather "Biking in Bangalore" (if that would convince you ;)) With the growing pollution, crowd, commotion and fuel costs at its worst-best in Bangalore, this seems to be a perfectly feasible and last probable resort left for the people. I understand that , the elite-few who are already into this movement (an accidental pun??) or those newbies who are getting inspired, are susceptible to some cranky talks around. Facing the traffic one fine morning in a tiny bicycle with a constipated face madeup to look cool while you are actually getting stresssed out pedalling hard is disgusting indeed. It takes nerves and ***** to do something that invites a dozen souls to giggle at you. Perhaps, there would be a saturation limit when the roads can no longer hold automobiles anymore, when the traffic real-estate will become immensely precious and ways to optimize it will be talked of, a web of flyovers spanning the entire 3-D space would have been built and that's when the city might think of conversion to this mode of transport. This is certainly a great idea atleast for those who are willing to take it up. I have myself known a friend of mine, who bicycles through the city.

Why Bangalore makes it easy?
- Great weather all around the year
- Good wide pavements along most roads and there's a talk of cycling lanes too
- Prospects of social networking on the way is high in the city ;)

Positives
- Healthier - exercise built into your commute - the treadmills were inspired by bicycles, now it's time you revert back :)
- Fuel efficient (unaffected by lorry strikes and market)
- Often quicker (average speed) than cars/autos (this you 'll best realize when you drive short distances monitored by multiple junctions and during peak hours)
- Physically and mentally reduces the feel of congestion
- Reduced (rather nil) carbon footprint
- Talk to people on the route and build friends ;)

So, guys! get your bums on the saddle..


Links:
Bangalore Biker's Club
Blog@BumsOnTheSaddleDotCom

Know your new Airport..

The new Bengaluru International Airport will commence operations on Friday, May 23, 2008 (00:01 hours of May 23). All flights landing and departing after midnight will operate from the new airport and flights arriving before midnight (on May 22, 2008) and departing after midnight will also operate from the new airport. As the date fast approaches, some insights into the whole new passenger experience that awaits you.

Departure from Bengaluru International Airport
Please find information on the location of the airport and the various means of transport how to get there in the attached materials. Once you arrived at the airport, enter the check in hall, which is common for domestic and international passengers. There are 53 Check In Counters and 18 Self check in machines. There is no need to screen your bag before check in.

Once you have checked in, follow the domestic and international departure gate signs on the first floor and proceed through security. Post security check you have on offer a wide array of retail and food & beverage outlets. There are also comfortable lounges for first and business class passengers. Free Wi-Fi Internet is also available for those carrying their laptops.

Arrival at Bengaluru International Airport

The airport is equipped with adequate number of immigration counters and baggage carousels for quick baggage retrieval. A large duty free shop is also located in the baggage claim area.
The following means of transport are available from day one:
* AC Volvo Buses operated by BMTC to key destinations in the city (Indicative Price to MG Road: Rs. 120)
*Reliable professional taxi services operated by MERU and Easycabs, with a metered fare (Indicative Rate to MG Road: Rs. 600)
*Premium Limousines operated by Hertz and Akbar Travels – cars with drivers as well as self driven cars are available.

However, Please note that all international passengers would be charged a user development fee of Rs 1070/- per ticket.

This way your travel experience should be to “Breeze in & Breeze Out”.





Documents for your reference:

Traffic & Parking Map - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: Traffic & Parking Map

Airport Shuttle Service - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: Airport Shuttle Service

Easy Guide - Upload a doc

Read this doc on Scribd: Easy Guide

Landmark Map



(Courtesy: Official Website of Bengaluru International Airport)

Traffic Tamasha.. (Odd/Even Rule ??)

That Bengaluru is a genuine Garden City is a known & well-accepted fact, with adequate number of parks set everywhere and the wisest decision taken ever - retaining all those good old trees along the roads! But how long this city is going to inspire its inhabitants is a million-dollar question. With congestion developing all over the city and every possible space knit with flyovers, congested roads turning into a candidate for the highly popular one-way philosophy & over 200 new vehicles hitting roads everyday adding up to the already fragile network of roads (one-ways I would rather call them!), I see this cosmopolitan city inching towards a deadend !

Gone are the days when motorists stuck to the roads & traffic signs, new axioms have now emerged - follow the road when the signal shows green, follow the footpath when the signal shows red! The inventor of this new style of driving deserves sheer appreciation. Dangling up & down between the pavement & the road when the signal toggles, these prank loving auto-geeks make it miserable for a typical 'sadhu' driver to move ahead peacefully.

Traffic jams have become inevitable part of the daily life - I have seen the worst ones materialize and worsen in Airport Road and Outer-Ring Road (to mention just a few), wherein vehicles stay lined up for hours together without batting an eyelid. The capacity of roads in Bangalore is in total disproportion to the exorbitantly high number of vehicles plying, thus flushing out traffic from a junction or a signal is not a cakewalk. Statistics reveal that every km road has about 714 vehicles, hence proving that traffic density in bangalore is greatest. Read this wonderful post on Bangalore Jams.

The City Traffic Police has come up with a novel (thoroughly debatable though!) idea of introducing the alternate day system to reduce the congestion on roads (Source: Times of Indian, Jan 13). This rule will allow vehicles ending with odd and even registration numbers, respectively, to ply on alternate days. This means a vehicle owner takes out his/her vehicle on alternate days. By doing so, 30% reduction in the traffic is targeted. Government & Public Transport would be however exempted from this rule. Besides crunching the traffic down massively (a 30-50% decrease == massive), it would reduce pollution and promote use of public transport. But, again these are days of nanos and so if this rule gets a permanent nod, car buyers could go for two nano's (with odd & even registration respectively) thereby, not falling prey to the govt ;) Its now left to the govt to decide within a month's time whether the rule is to be approved or not. Meanwhile its a sit-n-debate time for the audience.

The govt could also take some time off and take some sane decisions regarding widening roads (esp because most of the roads are reported to be surrounded by ditches and wastelands) and limiting the number of vehicles being registered perday/perperson or whatsoever.


Other links I hit upon:
Driving India is a site dedicated to provide Driving Education to people.