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Enrique Peñalosa is the mayor of bogota who put their BRT in place in the 80s i think. it takes just one innovative leader with a will to make a differnece. and what a difference, if the youtube film was anything to go by!

anyway, let praja fill that gap...why dont we start putting a plan in place?

 

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Yes. Most of the suggestions are implementable, replicable and sustainable but whenever we try to take a step forward, we are pushed two steps backwards due to public apathy and non-cooperation.  What is one man's food is another man's poison. That is the attitude of our people.

We must make a beginning somewhere without being pessimistic. I am not a lover of city buses either, because majority of them are dirty and badly maintained, particularly the black/red board buses catering to the aam aadmis.

We can take these suggestions further and make them workable albeit in small Praja groups.

Count me in...I have already started walking for my daily needs shopping. 

We can also think of 'vehicle free zones' in busy roads during particular timings.

- Vasanthkumar Mysoremath

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A large part of the reluctance to walk or cycle or take a bus is cultural, an issue of 'prestige'. Those of us who are convinced about the need for 'sustainable transport' must use such transport, and must be seen to be using it. We must in fact shout from the rooftops that we are doing so. The cultural barriers break down if 'people like us' are seen to be using these modes of transport.

I have been using either buses or my bicycle to move around in Bangalore (including commuting to work) for close to a decade now, and have managed to convert quite a few people along the way, by shamelessly marketing myself.

An example: http://blog.bumsonthesaddle.com/2009/3/18/botw-dasarathi

Also by spreading messages through presentations like this. http://www.slideshare.net/das_gv/traffic-solution

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We need BMTC Sarathis to monitor the buses at main bus stops like Corporation Circle, Richmond Circle, Town Hall since lots of people change buses over here.

We have to take up this with BMTC.

 

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If there is ONE person whose expertise is most needed urgently in India then it is Enrique Peñalosa. If there was a rule saying that in the year 2009 only one person can be brought into India I would pick Enrique Peñalosa. I have been hearing about Bogota's excellent public transport system of late and I did some research. So far my impression of Bogota was that it was the drug capital of the world and that it was equal to if not worse than a third world country. But the photos and information in these links have made me change my mind and conclude that it must be a 2nd world country much better, more civilized and disciplined than India -

http://www.gobrt.org/Transmilenio.html

Play the video in this link (pay special attention to the video starting at minute 11.32)
http://thecityfix.com/category/colombia/bogota/
 

Absolutely fabulous video,  the perfect answer to every Indian city's needs -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRGoketbIZE

It is amazing to notice the discipline of the people in getting off and on at the designated places..not crossing over the roads, the discipline of the bus drivers in stopping at the assigned spots and not overtaking randomly, amazing general cleanliness. Wow, just amazing.

Again, I really cannot contain my joy on seeing this..have to share it..I am really impressed with the discipline of the bus drivers as well as the crowd coming out with from the station -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_etB3qQofTc

Amazing thought and execution seems to have gone into building the infrastructure, what better way than this (a roundabout exclusively for buses on the dedicated BRT system) for buses to interchange to other routes or turn around ..back on their return journey thus keeping them circulating in the BRT system thus sequeezing out maximum efficiency -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lelkwLtypCA&NR=1 .  This avoids the need for costly, complex flyover/clover leaf interchanges that are an eyesore as well.

A view from inside the bus, shows how easy it is to follow the rules rather than break them, by rules I am referring to the bus driver stopping in at the correct place and just sticking to the lane.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkAtL6nzYwI&feature=related

When it (bus drivers and passengers acting with discipline to make a wonderful infrastructure work to their advantage) can be done in Bogota, Paris, Shanghai, London, Seattle, Brazil, Australia..why can't it be done in Bangalore/Chennai?  What makes us not want to stick to rules, not build good infrastructure and make a mess out of everything causing it to fail be it volvo service or vayu vajra or the recently introduced HOHO service?

Must watch videos (2 part series) -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZl1N6bTp_M

   and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LEtf32Bu3Y&NR=1

 My vote would be to bring in the colombians to sort out our public infrastructure mess. But going by what happened in the case of BIAL's Albert Brunner where the politicians went after his throat, labelled him a "foreigner" and incapable, and did everything possible to get HAL reopened..I am not very optimistic about the end results. I have read that New York is in fact seeking Bogota's expertise, I am more optimistic that things will turn out better in New York than in Bangalore. 

An excellent video on how Seoul revamped it's public transport system, special mention is made of how IT was leveraged, sadly, in the so called IT capital of India which is Bangalore, there is neither information nor technology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vr4VDX1VVyI&feature=related

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