Q. Why doesn’t traffic police penalize BMTC bus drivers for violations?

A. It is not true to say that BMTC buses are exempted from traffic enforcement and that only two wheeler drivers are penalised. Firstly, as against 23 lakh two wheelers, there are only 6000 BMTC buses and hence enforcement of two wheelers is more visible due to sheer numbers. Statistically, whereas two-wheelers constitute 73% of the total vehicle composition, the cases booked against two-wheelers are only 41% of the total cases. Secondly, the mode of penalising buses is different from that of two wheelers. For traffic violation done by BMTC driver it will be extremely unfair to make 60 passengers suffer by delaying them. Moreover, stopping a BMTC bus even for five minutes can create huge traffic jam and chaos which will take hours to clear. Hence, BMTC buses are not stopped on the roads and instead the violations are noted and notices sent to the Depot Managers who recover the fine from their salary and deposit with traffic police. For the general information, in the year 2009, during first 10 months Rs.27 lakh was recovered from BMTC bus drivers alone as fine amount.

Q. Does traffic police has any targets for collection of fine?

A. Ideally our target for fine collection should be zero since ultimate objective is to see that no one violates the traffic rules. We are neither a revenue earning department nor the amount collected has any correlation to departmental budget. Fine collected goes to the general revenue of the government. The fact that strict enforcement resulted in more than Rs.35 crore in 2009 is not a matter of pride for the department but the matter of shame and concern for all of us. We will be happy with fine collection going down if people were to follow rules. Unfortunately traffic violations are rampant especially when police men are not present.

Q. Why do policemen catch the people jumping the signal? Why can’t they stand on the junction so that no one jumps the signal ?

A. All over the world when one installs signals policemen are removed totally as people follow the signals themselves even at mid night. The scenario in our society is quite opposite. Red means stop, if the policeman is there; red means nothing if policeman is not there. This is a sad reflection on our value system. Ideally, we would like to remove these police-men from the signalized junctions and re-deploy them in the residential areas which are totally neglected. However, in the absence of self regulation this appears to be the distant dream. Traffic police catches people because they jump signals. Motorists should follow rules irrespective of presence and absence of police men. In the absence of sustainable attitudinal change, enforcement is the only deterrence against indiscipline on roads.

Q. Why do traffic police catch vehicles for over speeding even when road is good and empty? Why do they put a speed limit?

A. Roads are not only for motorists but for all other road users including pedestrians who have to co-exist. Empty road is not a license to speed without limit because driver can not always anticipate sudden entry of some other road users. Roads are designed for a particular speed from safety point of view. Driving responsibly is an essential part of defensive driving which should take into account mistakes likely to be committed by other road users. Most of our roads pass through residential and commercial areas where sudden intrusions can not be ruled out. Speed limits are essential for defensive driving.

Q. Why do we need signals ?

To avoid chaos and gridlocks, we need to regulate traffic. Rotaries are space sharing devices where traffic from each direction merges, goes around the circle and weaves out. However, rotaries cannot function when PCU (a measure of vehicle density) exceeds 5000. Also rotaries require better discipline and awareness of rules regarding right of way on the part of road users.

Beyond 5000 PCU we require signals which are time sharing devices; allowing one stream of traffic at a time to avoid any merging, weaving and conflict. However, beyond 10,000 PCU, even signals become unmanageable due to abnormal increase in cycle time. We can still continue up to 12000 PCU by restricting few turning movements. Beyond 12000 PCU a grade separator is compulsorily required. Grade separators share space vertically and are the best solution for handling a junction with high PCU.

Signals are essential part of traffic management in any city. It is neither feasible nor desirable to make grade separator at each junction. Essentially signals bring discipline. Moreover for the pedestrians these are the safest places for crossing the roads.

Q. Why does police make one-ways?

A. One ways are made to overcome limited width (carriage way) of the road and to avoid frequent hold ups for right turn. For two way, every time traffic has to turn right, there arises a need for junction signalized or otherwise. For every right turning traffic has to stop traffic from opposite direction. By making one way, not only width problem is eliminated but also traffic can turn left and right without stopping. As a result, traffic continues to move without stopping.

However, one ways can only be made if there is a parallel option for reverse flow in the vicinity. Also, if there is no possibility of preventing frequent right turns.

Contrary to the common perception, traffic police has not made any one way in past two years except for temporary purpose of metro or BBMP developmental works. In fact major roads have been made two ways like Sarjapur Road, Hosur Road, Palace Road etc. Widening and restrictions on right turns made it possible.

Q. Why can’t we have signal free ride in the city?

A. With 40,000 junctions in the city, and high vehicle density, non-stop movement of traffic can only take place by providing grade separators. It may not be feasibly, practical or even advisable to have grade separator at every junction due to constraints of money and space. Hence, signals are inevitable. Moreover, for pedestrians signals are the only places for crossing the roads safety. All the cities in the world manage traffic using signals. Signaling system, however, can be made more efficient and logical.

Q. Why can’t signals clear entire traffic in one cycle?

A. World over, time cycle (completing all 4 directions) does not exceed 180 sec. Due to excessive vehicle density, we have time cycles upto 200 sec. About 25 junctions in city have time cycles even upto 250 sec. This is not a healthy trend and our aim is to bring down upper limit to 200 sec. If time cycle is extended unlimited to clear complete traffic then it causes irritability to the other directions. If entire piled up traffic does not clear in one go, it is actually a problem of capacity of junction i.e. inadequacy of infrastructure and not the signaling system.

Q. My vehicle was towed for wrong parking. After release; I was issued one receipt issued from Black Berry and another handwritten. Why these two different receipts? Is there something wrong?

A. All towing vehicles run under PPP model. The Black Berry receipt comprise of parking violations fine and government component of towing charges. This amount is remitted to the government. The manual receipt reflects the private component of towing charges which is paid to a person who owns the towing vehicle. There is no leakage in this system.