The Bus Priority Lane from Marathahalli to Silk Board junction is being appreciated by several commuters. However, there are naysayers and violators galore as well. Around 1200 people were fined recently for using the dedicated lane along this corridor.
While the first fortnight was spent educating the vehicle users about not using the lane, the cops decided to impose fines last week to prevent repeat offenders. In addition, there are public-service marshalls deployed at critical junctions to ensure that the people follow the rules. However, they are not stationed along the entire stretch of the road, leading to many violations enroute.
SUGGESTIONS
While education and fines are both fine, what might work is some sort of an announcement system asking the vehicle users to give way or a noticeboard displayed in front and back of every bus that asks users to step away from the dedicated bus lane, something like: “Move Out of Bus Priority Lane or You Will Be Fined Rs 1000!” This will not only educate those who don’t know, but also warn people who do as the fines should also be clearly mentioned. Three months of such an awareness campaign is a must for this trial to succeed.
Ofcourse, more media stories on this could help too, and therefore, this article. The video (above) shows how some people are still violating the rules, either due to ignorance, lack of knowledge or on purpose. Much more needs to be done, but this is a good start for the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC). The sensible citizens are with them.
