Bengalureans are unlikely to get respite from traffic congestion as the number of vehicles registered in the city crossed the 75 lakh mark as of May 2018. This is more than an eight per cent rise from last year’s data, which put the number of vehicles at 69.31 lakh, according to the Transport Department.
The State government has been coming out with various proposals to stem the tide, such as allowing owners to register new vehicles only if they have parking space, but there has been little action on the ground.
In 2007–08, the number of vehicles registered in Bengaluru stood at 29.27 lakh.
I n a decade, 45.79 lakh new vehicles were registered in the city. With traffic congestion becoming a problem and even industry experts warning of its negative impact on investments, there is an urgent need to find a solution and improve mass transit systems.
“As of now, we cannot restrict registration of new vehicles. We will seek public opinion on restricting the registration of new cars by allowing only those to who have parking space. But these initiatives cannot be done hastily. We will seek opinions from various stakeholders and take a decision accordingly,” said Transport Minister D.C. Thammanna said.
Of the 75.06 lakh vehicles currently registered in Bengaluru, 52.07 lakh are two-wheelers and 14.49 lakh are cars. Since May 2017, nearly 5.74 lakh new vehicles were registered.
Transport expert Ashish Verma said, “There is a need to discourage use and ownership of cars. But the State government is encouraging people to use and own more number cars by proposing projects such as elevated corridors.”
Bus services hit
Increased traffic on the road has hit the efficiency of bus services. BMTC managing director V. Ponnuraj said the average speed of buses was just 12 kmph.
In areas such as Whitefield, which see more congestion owing to Namma Metro work, buses are running at 8 kmph during peak commuting hours. “It is not only speed, the mileage of buses has also dropped drastically and fuel consumption has gone up. For instance, the KSRTC, which also operates AC buses, get a mileage of 4 km per litre of diesel, but our buses get hardly 2 km per litre of diesel,” he said.
