The BMLTA Act was passed in 2022.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) Act was passed in 2022. Two years on, the BMLTA is yet to formalise the rules.
According to the TomTom Traffic Index 2023, Bengaluru has the highest travel time per 10 km in Asia. DH spoke to urban activists and experts to shed some light on the issue.
Revathy Suresh, CEO of Bangalore Political Action Committee, moot for a strong and seamless integrated multi-modal transport planning in Bengaluru.
She said, “There has to be a singular agency which is in charge of mobility planning because typically different modes of transport have their own networks and are not answerable to each other.”
“It requires the will of the government to implement and ensure that BMLTA is given the necessary autonomy. Our infrastructure planning and provision have to be ahead of the curve. Currently, we are always on catch-up mode. We have to be ready with mobility plans for crowds 20 years from now,” she lamented.
Civic activist and Bicycle Mayor of Bengaluru Sathya Sankaran told DH, “BMLTA takes away certain discretionary powers because it brings in process and transparency. It is convenient for people who don’t want such a process and transparency to not implement it.”
Sathya thinks the government must give citizens more buses, trains, different types of cycle tracks, and walking spaces. “Building more roads is a losing game; it will give you temporary relief for a couple of years, but it is not a sustainable mode. Due to our mental addiction to what worked in the past the solutions are also coming from the past. We cannot keep using cars anymore,” he said.
V Ravichandar, a civic evangelist, who has been an integral part and parcel of many a planning committees that shaped the city’s urban infrastructure said BMLTA rules have not been framed yet, because it lacks a champion in the politico-administrative system. He told DH, “A law needs rules that give it teeth. It is in the rules where the intent of the bill comes alive. And without the rules, the bill is dead in the water.” “The need for BMLTA is a no-brainer for the city with its various transport and civic agencies that impact movement. It will be far better than anything else that we have in place right now,” he opined.