Is the IIIT junction the next Cyber Towers ( as a bottleneck)?

The IIIT junction at Gachibowli never used to have heavy traffic earlier. But as the number of companies at Gachibowli and Manikonda increased, the inevitable increase in vehicles has occurred. Now the road width in front of ISB/Infosys has been increased and this was something I had envisaged a long time ago; if you see the amount of construction taking place in Manikonda then you just need to connect the dots to realize that the traffic too will increase.
Looking at the wide roads, traffic jams should ideally not occur at the IIIT junction. But, anyone who drives on that particular road would have noticed the increased waiting time, even when you have to turn left. Main culprits are the autos that have started stopping on the left hand side (in front of the IDBI college), the cars that stop beside the cigarette shops about 50 meters before the junction and, suprisingly, the traffic police. The constables turn a blind eye towards the autos and cars that block the left lane and on being questioned about their lack of action on this, actually shout at you for daring to question them. At Cyber Towers, this was not the case because whenever a constable used to be stationed at the junction, he used to make sure that the left lane was kept free.
The autos have complete disregard for traffic rules and it is very irritating to see them cause traffic jams while trying to jump red signals. How they manage to ride around with such confidence is beyond me.
All its gonna take for this junction to be jam free is for road users to follow these basic rules:

1. Maintain lane discipline
2. Respect pedestrians
3. Don't jump signals

The road from the IIIT junction towards Manikonda also witnesses NEEDLESS jams and shamefully it is the educated professional who usually causes the traffic jam. There may be a temporary break in traffic flow because of a truck that's stuck or some minor road work that's going on; as a response, all you need to dois to slow down and maintain lane discpline. You will only be late by 5-10 minutes. Instead, I have noticed car and auto drivers crossing over on to the right hand side of the road and merrily drive on. This causes a much bigger traffic jam and should be avoided at all costs. Stick to your side, slow down and things will clear up. But who's gonna listen to me?

Free the left lane - UPS proves us right!

http://www.pressroom.ups.com/mediakits/factsheet/0,1889,1493,00.html

UPS is the world's largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, offering an extensive range of options for synchronizing the movement of goods, information and funds.

In 2007, UPS implemented a new route planning technology, which minimizes left hand turns that:

• shaved nearly 30 million miles off already streamlined delivery routes;
• saved 3 million gallons of gas; and
• reduced emissions by 32,000 metric tons of CO2 - the equivalent of removing 5,300 passenger cars off the road for an entire year.

This is huge! If one were to calculate the amount of time , fuel and CO2 emission that can be saved/reduced by freeing up Left Lanes in India (keep in mind that USA has a right lane driving), the numbers could be significant because of the high density of traffic here. What started as a simple experiment in July 2007 after getting stuck in traffic jams at Cyber Towers now has quantifiable benefits as demonstrated by UPS' adoption of this rule.

I wonder if a similar study can be done for Indian roads to figure out what savings can be achieved by having the left lanes free for traffic turning left. If I had more time, I'd probably reach out to car manufacturers, oil companies and supply chain companies to help with this study. The funny part is that having better traffic or at least free left lanes would help almost every Indian road user (except if there is someone who absolutely doesn't take left turns for reasons best know to him), yet nobody seems to be interested in doing something about it. I have been working very hard for the last few months ; that, coupled with feeble interest displayed by citizens to help with traffic improvement as resulted in me taking a back seat as far as new projects and initiatives go.

Quick Update

It's been a long time since I last posted here. I have been very busy with work and have also been planning out the traffic initiative mentioned in the posts below. I will post a detailed update later, but for now I wish you a Happy New Year (It's still January) :)

P.S- I did not make it into the Top 8 MTV Youth Icon nominees. For those who voted for me and forwarded emails and smses - a BIG, heartfelt thank you! :)

Looking for Leaders - continued...

Abhinay, Rahul and I met the Additional DCP (Traffic) for Cyberabad, Mr. Ashok Reddy today to discuss about our plan. He really liked the idea and has asked us to submit a proposal stating what we want to do and how we want to do it.
We hope to submit the proposal by next week. Meanwhile, here's how you can help:

• Spread the word - chances of this project being successful get better if more people are aware of it.
• Speak to your HR/powers-that-be about pitching in with donations.
• Volunteer to manage this project within your company. You don't even have to step on to the road, just make sure that your company's employees are aware of this project and are willing to try this experiment that is good for everyone.
• If you know any higher ups in any FM channels or newspaper companies that would be willing to become media partners for this project, please pass on their details to us.

Please post your comments.

Looking for Leaders!

A couple of folks got in touch with me last week to work on the traffic problems we face. We have decided to work on the traffic issues based on the strategy in this post.

Also I hope that my nomination for the Pepsi MTV Youth Icon Awards will be helpful in reaching out to more people. ( AND BTW, PLEASE VOTE FOR ME) :)

We are looking for LEADERS who have the drive, passion and commitment to bring about a change in Hyderabad.

It is going to be very tough; It may be a thankless job but it will be very fulfilling. The same people you are trying to help will question your actions. The same people will argue and fight with you, but you will have to look at the bigger picture and carry on!

It will involve a lot of grit and dedication from your end; lot of sweat and tears as well! But when we're successful, we would have made our city a better place to live in- for us and for generations to follow.

The stretch of road we're targeting is from Jubilee Hills checkpost to Kothaguda junction.
Groups of LEADERS will manage the below entities:

• Autos
• Cabs
• APSRTC buses
• Pedestrians
• Citizens who use 4 wheelers and/or 2 wheelers to commute

You will have the chance to work on real problems that plague almost every citizen ... and solve these problems. If you consider yourself a problem solver and believe that you can make a difference, then please join us. Send me an email at sikhoya at gmail dot com or you could also join the Traffic Google group and send an email to the group.

Techie nominated for MTV award

This was the headline of the article in The Hindu about me today.
Incidentally the reporter, Abhijit Dev Kumar, helped a scooterist in a hit and run case this week. A two wheeler rider got hit by a Maruti Suzuki Swift car and the person drove away without bothering to stop. Abhijit then dialed 108(please use this number in case of emergencies - AMAZING Service) and called the ambulance - all this in the middle of the night!

Noticed something here? The scooterist got hit for no fault of his. Just because there was an inept person behind the wheel of a car, some poor soul on the road got hurt. This was exactly what I was trying to avoid by stopping the cab driver from driving rashly, but we all know how that story ended.

Here is the link to The Hindu article:
http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/06/stories/2008110657890200.htm

Excerpt:

Techie nominated for MTV award
Hyderabad: The ire against Hyderabad’s traffic is quite evident in his blog. His initiative, ‘Free the left lane’, inspired young professionals to regulate traffic near the Cyber Towers junction. Meet Sameer Mehta, who was recently nominated for MTV’s Youth Icon Award for his initiative on traffic that started last year through ‘trafficinhyderabad.blogspot.com’.

A solutions architect from Sum Total, an IT company, Sameer often got stuck at the Hitech City crossroads on his way to work. “I saw that most motorists blocking traffic at the junction were well-educated professionals working in IT companies. When I got to work, I decided to write about traffic in the city, especially about keeping the left lane free. Most of the traffic jams are caused because the left lane is blocked,” says Sameer.

With close to 12,000 hits and 68 posts about traffic on his blog since July 2007, Sameer is now making a short documentary on the traffic scenario. To vote for Sameer Mehta, visit ‘ http://www.mtvyouthicon.in.com/nominee.php?id=46566’ or via SMS, “Icon SM” to 56882.

My MTV video

This is the video that will be aired on MTV when my profile is covered:

http://mtvyouthicon.in.com/video.php?id=235