In the past nine months, more than 4.33 lakh new cars and two-wheelers have joined the stream of traffic on the city's roads.
Of these 3.4 lakh are two wheelers, and 93,172 were cars. The spike in numbers has been highest for two-wheelers, compared to previous years, and transport officials expect the number of new two wheelers registered in their offices to cross 4 lakh by the end of the financial year in March 2017. In 2014-15, 3.81 lakh two wheelers were registered in the city, and the number dropped marginally to 3.78 lakh the next year.
Till end of 2016, Bengaluru had 46.6 lakh privately-owned motorbikes and 12.88 lakh cars. The total number of vehicles rose from 61 lakh in March 2016 to 66.65 lakh by December last year.
The numbers are dizzying, and point to the gaps in policy-making. For decades, planners have not paid enough attention to providing efficient and convenient public transport systems in Bengaluru to curb this growth in vehicles.
Ridership on Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses has remained stagnant at around 50 lakh for the past five years. It's only recently that 31km of the promised 42km Namma Metro network was made operational and average ridership touched 1.75 lakh. It is estimated that the metro will ferry 10 lakh commuters when the north-south corridor is connected with the east-west line.
These additions will not solve the crisis, says Bangalore Development Authority's revised master plan for 2031.
Pawan Mulukktla, urban transport expert with World Resources Institute, Bengaluru, said the capacity of the public transport system is far lower than required by the population of the city. "Second, the per-kilometre cost of travel is less on a bike than on a bus. This incentivizes a citizen to own and use a two-wheeler. The third issue is convenience: when a person finds it easy to manoeuvre a motorbike and it takes less time for him/her to reach office from home, the point-to-point service is better using a private vehicle than public transport," he said. "The government needs to address this."
He suggested a strict parking policy and congestion pricing in central business districts. "This will disincentivise people to use their own vehicles and switch to public transport. The government should ensure integration of metro, suburban rail and BMTC to support the behavioural changes that the disincentivising policies will bring about," Mulukktla said.
Of these 3.4 lakh are two wheelers, and 93,172 were cars. The spike in numbers has been highest for two-wheelers, compared to previous years, and transport officials expect the number of new two wheelers registered in their offices to cross 4 lakh by the end of the financial year in March 2017. In 2014-15, 3.81 lakh two wheelers were registered in the city, and the number dropped marginally to 3.78 lakh the next year.
Till end of 2016, Bengaluru had 46.6 lakh privately-owned motorbikes and 12.88 lakh cars. The total number of vehicles rose from 61 lakh in March 2016 to 66.65 lakh by December last year.
The numbers are dizzying, and point to the gaps in policy-making. For decades, planners have not paid enough attention to providing efficient and convenient public transport systems in Bengaluru to curb this growth in vehicles.
Ridership on Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses has remained stagnant at around 50 lakh for the past five years. It's only recently that 31km of the promised 42km Namma Metro network was made operational and average ridership touched 1.75 lakh. It is estimated that the metro will ferry 10 lakh commuters when the north-south corridor is connected with the east-west line.
These additions will not solve the crisis, says Bangalore Development Authority's revised master plan for 2031.
Pawan Mulukktla, urban transport expert with World Resources Institute, Bengaluru, said the capacity of the public transport system is far lower than required by the population of the city. "Second, the per-kilometre cost of travel is less on a bike than on a bus. This incentivizes a citizen to own and use a two-wheeler. The third issue is convenience: when a person finds it easy to manoeuvre a motorbike and it takes less time for him/her to reach office from home, the point-to-point service is better using a private vehicle than public transport," he said. "The government needs to address this."
He suggested a strict parking policy and congestion pricing in central business districts. "This will disincentivise people to use their own vehicles and switch to public transport. The government should ensure integration of metro, suburban rail and BMTC to support the behavioural changes that the disincentivising policies will bring about," Mulukktla said.