I love the bangalore bus system. When i traveled everyday for 6 months in 2004 from Padmanabha Nagar to Indra Nagar and took the bus, i felt cleaner, safer and more well-read to boot(reading books or people's faces-either way there is a whole new world to be explored). And it was fantastic seeing the little children flutter their schoolbags and ribbons strike up a cacophony like wailing birds when the crowd wouldn't let the kids get off in time. No schadenfraude here mind you, just fascination with all the systems of communication at play....I also like meeting people who are not working at my work place or doing anything that I can understand or pretend to understand-in fact, it makes me conscious of the alternate realities i can never have and they become more mysterious and intereto me. The only time i didn't like the bus system was when i was sandwiched within a foot of a bus on either side standing on the median in MG Road.
On Feb 8, 2008 11:08 AM, Deepa Mohan <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Ramjee...that was an excellent treatise on how to use the Bangalore > bus system, thank you. I too have been using buses almost exclusively > (green decision!) and though I disagree with you on the time > taken...it took me 2 hours to go from my home to Vidhan Soudha....I do > agree that the bus services have improved a lot lately. But then, I > don't travel at peak times, either. > > And I am still laughing! Why would you want a rickety jeep at the end, > when you will have Linda's cycle? > > Deepa. > > On Feb 9, 2008 12:31 AM, Ramjee Swaminathan > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On 2/8/08, Vinayak Hegde <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > >On 2/8/08, Linda L. Julien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > <snip> > > >> How's the public transportation in Bangalore? > > <snip> > > > > > <snip> > > > Public transportation is pretty much non-existent in Bangalore. > (unless your > > > starting point or destination is Majestic). The traffic problem is > > > horrendous as > > > everyone wants to drive their own vehicle. Driving in Bangalore is > algorithmic. > > > > > <snip> > > > > Nice rant, Vinayak! :-) > > > > But I completely disagree with the take on the public transport. > > > > But my opinion is that (there have been a few legit exceptions) the > > 'public' transport system as defined ONLY by the bus system itself is > > very good in Bangalore. I am not comparing it to chennai or Mumbai. > > IMO, Coimbatore has the BEST bus system that I know of - with > > surprisingly polite and friendly staff, apart from coverage, > > punctuality and stuff. > > > > Bangalore bus system has good connections, reasonable frequencies, > > laid back population, chatty passngers etc etc. I am very happy with > > this as a constant user of the system. I was 'working' in the s/w > > arena till about an year back and for most of the last year of my > > career, I used busses extensively. I did not miss even ONE meeting > > (how could one ever miss one), nor did I waste too much time on > > commute. I realized that, with not having to drive to work or > > wherever, the mind is free of the 'where do I get to park' and 'what > > if that horrendous sedan bumps into my honda civic while pulling out' > > kind of traumatic ;-) problems, the moment you outsource your worries > > to some other III party. > > > > It merely requires some planning - which could be painful to start > > with but becomes easy in a week or so. > > > > Also, the bus journeys have the following advantages operating at > > various levels: > > > > 1. In the heart of the city, as there is no byepass or pacemaker, the > > traffic crawls and a bus is better or equal to any other vehicle. > > 2. The level of the bus is higher - therefore there is less pollution > > (to you, that is). > > 3. You can take a paperback and stat reading it, while listening to > > popular and attrotious film music > > 4. You can hallucinate that you are polluting less. > > 5 You can also selfrighteously assume that you are experiencing the > > *real* india. > > 6. <scroll down to the postscript> > > > > Suggestions: > > > > 1. Take up your acco very near the office (in Bangalore there are > > residential tenements or the new fangled 'serviced apartments' > > available in practially all loations) in which case you may not need > > to commute much by vehicles at all. > > 2. The smaller roads in Bangalore are fun to walk. If you dont stick > > to the main roads, then the life is easy. Arm yourself with an Eicher > > roadmap which is nicely updated and usefully granular. Even a bicycle > > is not a bad idea at all.(and while leaving India, donate it to me) > > 3. If you want to use the bus system - always buy a Rs. 30/- (around > > 75 cents) wholeday pass - you can hop in and out of as many buses and > > as many times as possible. In this case you dont have to haggle for > > coin change. If you know your destination, you can very easily packet > > switch. Please note that it is okay to hop in and out of buses at > > traffic signals, wherever. I think probably this could be some > > solution like an unconcscious ant colony optimization problem. :-) > > Doing a constant trace routing during travel by asking the fellow > > travellers is an useful idea. While hopping etc, don't be too bothered > > by your TTL. ;-) > > 4. Even with the Autos - if one does the groundwork (a couple of > > enquiries with your office colleagues, Eicher map, Rs. 7/- per > > kilometre, etc) this is not a problem at all. One piece of suggestion > > is that, it is better to approach a lone auto or wave it down rather > > to go an auto stand with n autos. > > 5. If you want to anyway use the cars etc - you can go to the office > > at 5/6 AM or so and get back home/hole by 2/3 PM - nicely avoiding or > > rather outbeating the traffic - and having the rest of the day to > > yourself, silk, whatever. I have used this technique when a client > > (from US) was visiting us a few years back; forced both the client and > > the team to come in early - no long and useless lunch sessions at > > distant hotels etc. Actually this tactic was very useful and > > productive. > > > > I always feel that, if all the guys who whine incessantly about bad > > traffic conditions (of course the roads are congested, but why? It is > > because of all those other big and bigger cars, all those other jokers > > who drive with one or two occupants at best per car, other clowns who > > dont do their town planning, other nincompoops who want to bend all > > the rules because they have to atttend some goddam meetings, other > > gluttons who want to drive to the other part of the ciry for extended > > lunch sessions at the expense of productivity etc etc) started using > > the bangalore bus services, then this city would be a far better > > place. > > > > Note: And after all these whiney folks switch to buses, I plan to > > royally drive my rickety jeep all over the city congratulating myself > > on the consummate devilishness of my plan. buwahahahaha! > > > > Linda, welcome to India and to the silk list. :-) > > > > __r. > > PS: It also gives you a smug right to whine about the whiners, such as > > the tone and content of this post. :-) > > <now scroll up and read the rest of the post dammit> > > > > > >
