By Qamar ZJ
While the very idea of a bus priority lane (BPL) has become a non-starter, post COVID-19, the BMTC drivers are adding to the sham. Yesterday, one BMTC driver was seen overtaking another bus on the bus priority lane by damaging the plastic bollards. Technically, the BMTC drivers are never forbidden from using the non-BPL lane. However, damaging the bollards in a non-emergency situation cannot be justified.

“Once the bollard is crushed, it will not be useable again,” says Bellandur resident Nagesh Aras. “The bollards cannot become straight again… it is again a mechanism to avoid injury. But now, those bollards could lean out and becoming a danger to the passing vehicles, particularly two wheelers.”

Residents have reported that many bollards from Marathahalli underpass till Kalanikethan are crushed to the ground. One frustrated citizen has tweeted that this driving behaviour is a common occurrence on the Outer Ring Road (ORR): “At bus stops, if the bus in front stops for a longer duration, the bus at the rear overtakes it by going over these bollards.” Resident R Srikanth is suggesting steel fences as a good deterrent “like the ones separating the main carriageway from the service lanes on Hosur Road”. However, such immovable structures could be dangerous to vehicle users.

Citizens group Whitefield Rising had a bigger question: “If bus drivers do not see the feasibility of the Bus Priority Lane, and are looking to undercut it, then we have a problem.” While the BMTC might punish the driver for his urgency to keep his time with the bus schedule, the real answer is about filling up the empty BPL that has become a common sight on ORR today.

Some residents are asking for the BPL to be removed for good. Others want the BMTC top brass to study the traffic pattern, both pre and post COVID, and come up with a viable model that does not stress the vehicle users on the road. But for now, allowing the BPL to be used by everyone appears to be a temporary solution to the problem, according to Bellandur activist Nagesh Aras. “BPL is ill-chosen and not justified,” he told Residents Watch. “Like the Metro, BPL is also foisted upon us. If you do the traffic analysis before and after COVID, the travel pattern has changed. There is little daily travelling in the city. Bengaluru doesn’t need BPL or road widening.”

The ideal solution for the BMTC lies in plain common sense. “BMTC should provide last-mile connectivity by engaging sub contractors,” says Aras. “But they should not rely on unorganised, small-time operators, such as the temperamental auto drivers.”

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