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I think the solution to traffic moving smoothly is the building of proper footpaths. If footpaths are well build and the kerbs are regular then people can actually use the left most lane.

Ramesh

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 I think the solution to traffic moving smoothly is the building of proper footpaths

No its not. Lets not bring trees, pedestrians, animals, rich-poor, kannada etc into lane management.

Pedestrians are for more than freeing up one lane. They have to be a part of urban planning.

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@ pathykv and rs... IMO, ids has a point. Let's not confuse improper zoning (ribbon usage etc.) and pedestrian facilities. Although they would (possibly) be encompassed under the umbrella of traffic engineering, ids (if I've got his drift) is solely talking about lane design. Well-designed lanes, in my mind, are analogous to a canal where your ultimate aim is to to smooth flow.

"  (The traffic engineer provides)... roadway conditions that contribute to smooth and efficient traffic flow. Experience has shown that safety goes hand-in-hand with smooth traffic operation. Disrupting the smooth flow of traffic increases the probability of accidents." - Quoted from the link above

Now, no one would dispute the fact that pedestrian infrastructure is a vital part 'in any holistic road/traffic plan'. But traffic lanes are NOT pedestrian zones. They might become so because we haven't provided pavements, but (again) pedestrians are NOT traffic. And as for all drivers/passengers of (those non-unmanned) motor vehicles, they cease to be motor vehicle users once they are no longer in (or on) the motor vehicle and now are classified as pedestrians.

Back to ids' core issue, a little bit of data mining and a pic (worth those 1000 words) reveals something really strange in IRC.

(Source: DNA E-paper (dated 30-07-2010), page 4)

See 3 vehicles occupying the 2 lanes? Without getting derailed about the whole debate about autos, Nanos, rich 4-wheeler owners and all that..., let's look at a few numbers:

In the US, in the state of Florida, the maximum width of a motor vehicle should not exceed 102 inches or 2.59m (see 'Width Limitation' section in this source). Although that's 15cm larger, it does compare to the maximum permissible vehicular width of 2.44m as set by IRC. Logic would then point us to conclude that IRC should specify narrower lanes for Indian conditions. Right?

Wrong.

Specifications for urban-multi lane roads in Florida call for a width of 10 feet (or 3.3m; see Table 25.4.3 in this link) while desirable 'carriageway width'  as specified by IRC is 3.5m for each lane in India (source). Simple algebra, instead tells us that desired carriageway width for a multi-lane road for Indian vehicles should be closer to 3.1m. 

In the picture above, by marking narrower lanes, you could have got a much wider pavement or provided for 3 lanes and not have that Swaraj Mazda forging it instead.

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Of course I have had an opinion on this for long so let me go first.

The conclusion he draws that lanes are for direction setting is the right conclusion IMO. Lanes segregate traffic on direction and makes it smooth for the people going in that direction. There arent any other primary objective for having a lane. Segregation of traffic for speed and type is only a secondary side benefit of using lanes on roads. And like correctly mentioned will only work on large stretches like highways. City streets should not bother trying to use lanes to segregate vehicle by speed.

So why are we frustrated with the chaos on the street? It has more to do with the lack of the first E of the 3 E's - Engineering. When BBMP/Anybody builds roads it has to ensure the lane width remains a constant 3.5 meters regardless if a cycle is going on it or an oil tanker. Having uneven lanes, snaking borders, irregular geometry makes the whole effort meaningless. Roads have to be designed to ensure it takes not only a respectable speed on that road but allows traffic to join other surrounding seamlessly. Each road needs to have speed on it clearly identified. Both lower & upper limits.

Today even if an auto is ripping its guts at 45kmph on a 45kmph road, along comes a BMW who believes his speed is limited by his speedometer or by the idiot yellow board taxi ripping even faster in front and not by and specification on the road (which is non existant today BTW). So speed has to be written on the road first via signboards & paint. The lower limit should be 10kmph below the upper limit marked. Then we can go about weeding the slow vehicles even if it was a BMW on a slow mode. 

Secondly is Education. Regardless of what the type and speed of the vehicle they should be taught to stick to their lane and if they missed it should continue on without selfishly interrupting the flow of others go ahead and take a U turn at the next junction. They should be taught not to jump the queue or join in at the last minute because this selfishness is the bane of our society today. It is the root cause of destruction of common good, corruption and civil strife. We have to understand some of the worst offenders are cars in Bangalore today and if they can get their manners right others will fall in line.

Now comes the aspect of frustration due to speed of slow vehicles. Most motorized vehicles including motorbikes above 150CC can match expressway speeds. Let me just say once again the days of the autos and low speed vehicles are over in Bangalore, wegot rid of cyclerikshaw or tonga as time moved on. Autos served their purpose well in their day and age and they need to go, so should unsafe low speed vehicle less than 150CC. If an auto can keep up the speed and pimp their vehicles they should be allowed to run. How do you get rid of the slow ones? Not by passing a decree but by designing roads for speed limit which is reasonable and not for a prehistoric era.

Until the engineering is laid down & implemented we are going to have chaos on the streets regardless of if it was a mass transit bus or a private transport car. Organized traffic is a reflection of the ability of people to work together and a commentary on how our personalities are shaping us as a community. We underestimate this facet of our life.

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Create a smaller width lane for 2 wheelers.

@ amitc, that throws up a whole lot of other questions. Here are a few:

1. What would be the plan then for at a typical 4 way-junction (e.g. Brigade Rd-MG Rd)? Would there be one 2-wheeler lane for each directional lane (which if you were coming from Kamaraj Rd (or Trinity Circle or even Anil Kumble junction) be 3 regular lanes and then 3 two-wheeler lanes? What about more complex junctions (e.g. South End circle)?
2. If that is not the case, will they merge with other traffic before the intersection? What then, would the minimum road length be to permit safe merges between modes of transport. Finally, and most importantly, how many roads in town meet this criterion?

We are not the first city to have struggled to figure out how to manage 2-wheelers. Chennai has had mode-based segregated lanes for a while now on Anna Salai.

(source: The Hindu)

However, (IMO) the very fact that I have not seen it implemented on any other road in Chennai, testifies to its very limited applicability.

I think it's time we stopped making excuses for 2-wheelers and simply require ALL of them to obey the same set of rules as other motor-vehicle users (as every other country in the world does). The only two-wheelers that deserve exemptions are bicycles (see here).

FYI, I asked a friend of mine how they got traffic to stick to their lanes in Chennai. Apparently, they flooded the stretch with cops, went all out on fines... and lo and behold- entropy dissolved into order (shock and awe if you will!)

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