<p>The number of vehicles in the city is set to cross the 80-lakh mark, a huge jump from the 31 lakh in 2008, as increased buying power and gaps in public transportation have made Bengaluru the most congested city in the country.</p>.<p>A decade after a RITES survey warned about the exploding transportation needs of Bengaluru and suggested a comprehensive plan, including a 170-km network of Metro rail, 60 km of monorail and ring roads, successive governments have not been able to implement the projects in a time-bound manner.</p>.<p>A study by National Bureau of Economic Research, United States, has ranked Bengaluru first among the most congested cities of India, followed by Mumbai and Delhi.</p>.<p>Traffic in the city is the second slowest in the country, after Kolkata.</p>.<p>According to statistics from BBMP’s Transport Engineering Cell, the eight zones of the city have 1,400 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads, about half of which are two-lane roads with two-lane traffic.</p>.<p>Officials are finding it difficult to move even one-way traffic on two-lane roads at junctions like Silk Board and K R Puram.</p>.<p>While the ‘Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Plan for Bangalore’ in 2007 recommended ideal road traffic as 3,600 passenger car units per hour on a two-lane one-way road, the number has doubled and trebled at several places.</p>.<p>The average PCUs per hour on major arterial roads, including Mysuru Road, outer ring road and core city area has crossed 10,000.</p>.<p>“There is simply no scope for widening the roads, as it involves the acquisition of adjacent land at a huge cost. We hope elevated roads will address the problem to some extent,” said a BBMP official.</p>.<p>Professor Ashish Verma from Transport Systems Engineering cell of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has warned that construction of roads will prove to be a mistake considering the moderate traffic growth of 6.67%.</p>.<p>His recent study shows that the Rs 15,825-crore elevated corridors will be futile by 2025, the year they are expected to be ready.</p>.<p>Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister G Parameshwara had recently said that vehicle registration would be stopped for two years to check growing vehicle population, a move which will remain a hollow promise considering the anger it will evoke among the public.</p>.<p>Parameshwara was not available for comment but officials in the government said such a move will not stand the test of law.</p>.<p>“The only way forward is to ensure that owning a vehicle is a costly affair and using it in Bengaluru will not be easy. For this, additional taxes and cess have to be imposed and parking fee has to be hiked,” a senior official said.</p>
<p>The number of vehicles in the city is set to cross the 80-lakh mark, a huge jump from the 31 lakh in 2008, as increased buying power and gaps in public transportation have made Bengaluru the most congested city in the country.</p>.<p>A decade after a RITES survey warned about the exploding transportation needs of Bengaluru and suggested a comprehensive plan, including a 170-km network of Metro rail, 60 km of monorail and ring roads, successive governments have not been able to implement the projects in a time-bound manner.</p>.<p>A study by National Bureau of Economic Research, United States, has ranked Bengaluru first among the most congested cities of India, followed by Mumbai and Delhi.</p>.<p>Traffic in the city is the second slowest in the country, after Kolkata.</p>.<p>According to statistics from BBMP’s Transport Engineering Cell, the eight zones of the city have 1,400 km of arterial and sub-arterial roads, about half of which are two-lane roads with two-lane traffic.</p>.<p>Officials are finding it difficult to move even one-way traffic on two-lane roads at junctions like Silk Board and K R Puram.</p>.<p>While the ‘Comprehensive Traffic and Transportation Plan for Bangalore’ in 2007 recommended ideal road traffic as 3,600 passenger car units per hour on a two-lane one-way road, the number has doubled and trebled at several places.</p>.<p>The average PCUs per hour on major arterial roads, including Mysuru Road, outer ring road and core city area has crossed 10,000.</p>.<p>“There is simply no scope for widening the roads, as it involves the acquisition of adjacent land at a huge cost. We hope elevated roads will address the problem to some extent,” said a BBMP official.</p>.<p>Professor Ashish Verma from Transport Systems Engineering cell of Indian Institute of Science (IISc) has warned that construction of roads will prove to be a mistake considering the moderate traffic growth of 6.67%.</p>.<p>His recent study shows that the Rs 15,825-crore elevated corridors will be futile by 2025, the year they are expected to be ready.</p>.<p>Deputy Chief Minister and Bengaluru Development Minister G Parameshwara had recently said that vehicle registration would be stopped for two years to check growing vehicle population, a move which will remain a hollow promise considering the anger it will evoke among the public.</p>.<p>Parameshwara was not available for comment but officials in the government said such a move will not stand the test of law.</p>.<p>“The only way forward is to ensure that owning a vehicle is a costly affair and using it in Bengaluru will not be easy. For this, additional taxes and cess have to be imposed and parking fee has to be hiked,” a senior official said.</p>