Bangalore Traffic.. oh!! what the heck!

karthik_mitta

Neither am I a good writer, nor am I an avid traveler (for IM standards). Oh yes, when I say traveler, I meant up the mountains and rivers and across the continents. But yes, I use my car and travel the roads of Bangalore every day.

I moved in recently from Hyderabad and I have at least 10 notes on my send off card wishing me luck with Bangalore traffic. Come to think of it, I was straight out scared to come back home. I was told that I will end up driving up and down to office all day long, I was told I will rot in my car, I was told I will die of hunger if I dont eat before I started to home/office. Well, there is an element of truth in it. Bangalore traffic is bad.. BUT (the big BUT here), I am absolutely OK with the traffic and I love the city the way it is. Let's leave my emotion out (I am a number guy) and talk about some objective measures..

Distance from office to home (Hyderabad) - 13 kms
Time taken to reach office - 45 mins
Time of travel - between 10 AM - 12 noon

Distance from office to home (Bangalore) - 17 kms
Time taken to reach office - 60 mins
Time of travel - between 10 AM - 12 noon

Now, come to think about it.. whats written above are averages (time) and there is no statistical evidence that I am traveling faster in one city compared to another. Ah yes, I travel in the roads that most Bangalore people travel to office.

Well, the point I am trying to make is (if i am capable of making one) -
Yes, Bangalore traffic is bad, BUT its not good in any other city that has similar challenges
Bangalore is not what it is 10 years ago, neither is my salary

Given the infrastructure available, the system has done a decent job to take me to office in 60 mins. Can it be better, yes. But does it deserve an unnecessary kick in the butt everytime someone talks about Traffic in Bangalore, the answer is NO.

And finally, this post is not about Hyderabad Vs Bangalore.. its about any city and its traffic. Since I lived in Hyderabad, it was easier to compare. I have been to other cities, but did not drive enough to get my averages right

Traffic or no traffic.. I love this city. Life goes on...

Prashant.M

You are right Karthik, its growing pangs. Happens to all the towns and cities in the world. The problem is, growth here has been mostly unplanned and the city has grown haphazardly. But will I relocate to any other city in India? No way! I love Bangalore!

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phantom

Bangalore surely has its good points but none of them relates to traffic. The point is, you wont know the difference until you have been to a city which has better infrastructure But then again, Blr is better than a lot of other cities !! So its all relative.

Goldendeer

The government should build a twin city for Bangalore instead of trying to rectify it with flyovers, underpasses, monorails and whatnot. The government loves these projects though because of the huge moneys involved and best part is it doesnt overload their thinking capacity.

Amyth

Absolutely! Traffic or no Traffic, I love to drive, I love to Travel, I love the Music in my car, I love the rain while driving, I love to drive fast ... Oh no!! Better not talk about the speed, the aphorism Speed Thrills and Kills holds so true for B'lore and Hyd traffic...

Killer- your 1800 cc car can’t go beyond 10km per hr
Thriller- a 2000 cc car is behind you
Killer- can’t use the third gear
Thriller- zipped through the yellow signal
Killer- driving a sports car on the city road
Thriller- watching someone else driving a sports car

Looks like I have an Obssessive Compulsive Disorder for writing crap!!

soumya_mukherjee

You're quite lucky. For most of the days, my stats goes like:

Distance from office to home (Bangalore) - 3 kms
Time taken to reach office - 30 mins (daytime)/60 mins (evening)
Time of travel - between 10 AM - 12 noon / 8PM - 10PM

This is worst in my experience compared to Kolkata / Pune.

Most of the cities have their share of congested roads, in Bangalore it has only some exception of slightly free roads.



So badly true!

karthik_mitta

Amity.. and i so loved the crap

Neat writing..

Soumya.. hard luck for you.. not sure if you are the exception or the roads you travel on...

Prashant.M

That's strange, maybe you are using the most congested roads at the peak hour.

Mine is something like this:

Motorcycle:
Distance from office to home - 20 kms, which includes a small detour to drop off Mrs.P.
Time taken to reach office - 60 mins.
Time taken to reach home in the evening - usually 60 mins but sometimes 70-75 mins.
Time of travel i.e. leave home between 9AM - 9:30AM and leave office between 6:30PM - 7:30PM.

Car:
Distance from office to home - 20 kms, which includes a small detour to drop off Mrs.P.
Time taken to reach office - 60 or 70 mins.
Time taken to reach home in the evening - usually 80 mins but sometimes 90 mins.
Time of travel i.e. leave home between 8AM - 8:30AM and leave office 7:00PM - 8:00PM.

I use the center of the city arterial roads used by lot of other people. I am a slow, cautious and defensive driver even on a bike.

roopesh_kohad

Cool. That means I can take job in Bangalore. Traffic was thing holding me back

Prashant.M

Roopesh, the best thing would be to rent a house near your place of work. Lot of my friends do that and they say "Traffic? What traffic?"

soumya_mukherjee

The crammed Banerghatta Rd and Hosur Rd causing big problem to me and friends who come to office in Dairy Circle from Koramangala/Banerghatta/BTM/JP Nagar areas. Worse in the rain.

Good advice! However Roopesh, ask for a very good raise. Other than traffic, another show-stopper in Bangalore is house rent and availability areas near IT parks / commercial spaces.

phantom

Thats not the only one.. think about those travelling from rajajinagar to marathahalli through airport road or travelling from koramangala to electronic city via hosur road. And I am not even talking about those travelling from jp nagar to hebbal

Anyways, apart from asking for a raise also try to change your appearance so that you look south indian and try to become vegetarian if you are planning to cook. Otherwise house hunting will become one major obstacle at least in the old bangalore area .. the other common demands of landlords are:
1) no friends allowed at home after 6 pm
2) no celebrations/parties allowed at home
3) strictly no hungama on holi or diwali.
4) no friend of opposite sex ever allowed while you are alone in the house
blah... blah blah..

Some ppl are lucky enough and get a landlord who doesnt stay in the same building. Try your best to find such house

Familyonthemove

17 Kms in an hour? That's a hyperspace by-pass compared to Mumbai!

shashank.aggarwal

lolz..sounds so true..

by the way I feel lucky to be living in Delhi..even though traffic is bad, but barring couple of sectors things have improved a lot in last 5 years..and routes that took 80-100 minutes few years ago are now 40-60 minutes..

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capt_mahajan

I am often told that Bangalore traffic is worse when I complain about Hyderabad. I don't know; I have only driven in Bangalore for two days.

But, based on driving in the last two years quite a bit in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai, I feel that Hyderabad drivers in general have the least traffic sense.

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