Come, Cross The Road - Report

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PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE
WALKING A TIGHTROPE
A report on Bangalore's pedestrian issues
from a rights perspective
Published by
HASIRU USIRU
Bangalore | September 2013
ABOUT HASIRU USIRU

Hasiru Usiru(HU) is an informal, progressive network of individuals and organizations working towards protection of Bangalores urban commons. HU believes in
activism and public spiritedness towards deepening urban democracy. Since 2005,
HU has campaigned extensively with people and networked with media, provided
legal and research support for campaigns, critiqued policies and plans, mobilised
protest rallies and advocated strongly for environmental and social goals.
Our areas of work include urban commons, streets and mobility and governance.
We support communities and individuals as they engage with various government
agencies through democratic processes. We believe that every resident of Bangalore,
irrespective of class, caste, gender, age, socio-economic background and religion has
a right to shape the development of the city.
Published by HASIRU USIRU

[email protected] | +91 9880788327 | +91 9341258123
The report is based on data collected from July 2011 to September 2011 as part of 'Come, Cross the
Road' events. The report writing was completed in July 2013.
Published in December 2013
Any part of this document may be used, reproduced or translated, provided the source is duly
acknowledged. No part of this document may be used for commercial purposes. Any distribution of
material derived from this publication must be done under the same license.
Printed at Print Express, Richmond Road
ACKNOWLEDEMENTS
We wish to acknowledge all individuals and groups who participated in the Come, Cross the Road
program - the Association for People With Disability (APD), Kilikili, Garment and Textile Workers
Union (GATWU), Swagat Education and Community Action (SECA), the residents of Okalipuram,
Malleswaram, Domlur-Inner Ring Road, Sadashivanagar, K.R.Puram, Bellandur Outer Ring Road
and other places where we conducted the events and the student interns at Alternative Law Forum
who helped us with the report. We also wish to thank the media for their support in covering the
events.
CONTENTS
SECTION I
BACKGROUND
1. Come, Cross the Road
2. Walking as a way of life
3. Who is thinking about pedestrians?
4. Organisation of the report
SECTION II
BEING A PEDESTRIAN IN BANGALORE

1. Crossing Bangalores Roads
5
6
2. Infrastructure for Walking
16
3. Street Vendors
23
4. Disadvantaged groups as pedestrians
27
SECTION III
STREETS FOR PEOPLE
35
1. Pedestrians and the Law
37
2. Policy critiques
39
3. Policy and programme critiques: Bangalore
42
4. Planning and decision making processes
46
5. Peoples responses
47
SECTION IV
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
51
Pedestrians need to be located in policy and planning
52
Reversal of weakening sense of community engagement
53
Moving beyond technocratic approach towards planning for pedestrians
54
Way forward
54
SECTION I
BACKGROUND
1. COME, CROSS THE ROAD

Hasiru Usiru (HU)1 envisioned Come, Cross the Road (CCTR) as a data-driven way to
highlight the myriad problems faced by pedestrians across Bangalore City. The objectives
included gathering concrete and definite data on the specific issue of crossing roads and
also to encourage a city-wide debate on the issue of making Bangalore a more pedestrian-friendly city.
HU initiated the program in July 2011. Over the course of six months in 2011 HU organised public events at over 20 major and minor traffic junctions across the city. Participants
attempted to cross the roads to understand the risks involved and time taken. Observations
were made of other pedestrians crossing the roads and the behaviour of motorists towards
these pedestrians. The events were publicised in the media and among various citizen
groups and received enthusiastic response. Initial findings confirmed that people find it
increasingly difficult to cross roads across Bangalore city, and particularly children, senior
citizens and people with special needs. Pedestrian subways and skywalks too were found
to be largely unusable.
Data from all the CCTR public events fed into a report on pedestrian woes. Further,
conversations with pedestrians across the city were revealing and led HU to expand the
scope of the CCTR process. HU took the decision to adopt a comprehensive frame for
the report, and include issues of footpaths, vehicular behaviour and street design in it.
The reality on the ground was placed within a pedestrian rights framework. We used the
data to assess and critique local and national transport-related policies and programmes.
2. WALKING AS A WAY OF LIFE

Bangalore is a city that used to be known for its tree lined avenues and wide footpaths.
For decades walking was the main mode of transport for several residents. Today 48%
of the city commutes by bus2 and all bus users are also pedestrians as they have to walk
from/to and between bus stops before reaching their destinations. Those who use private
vehicles, though less often, also have to walk from their parking spot to their destinations
or in shopping areas, etc.
For traders, shop-keepers, traffic police, pourakarmikas and street vendors, among many
others, walking is a part of their occupation. For many elders, a daily walk is not only essential to good health, but also a cherished opportunity for going out and meeting people.
1 Hasiru Usiru is a Bangalore-based network of civil society groups, organisations and citizens working towards protecting the
urban commons and promoting democracy.
2 DULT, 2009: Bangalore Mobility Indicators 2008
PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE
For children, safe access to schools and neighborhoods is a necessity. The differently-abled
among us have the maximum need for roads to be safe and accessible.
At one point or the other, all of us are pedestrians, some more, some less and we all need
safe and walkable streets for good living. However, the daily story on the streets of Bangalore does not reflect this reality. Walking is most difficult and unsafe today for a number of
reasons. The ones who commute with least damage to the city are the ones who face the
maximum threat.3
3. WHO IS THINKING ABOUT PEDESTRIANS?

In the last few years there has been a shift from looking at walking as a means of transportation to just hearing about it in the media when there are reports of pedestrian deaths.
This is a very unfortunate turn of events for a city like Bangalore. With the increase in
population and the need for more and more citizens to commute longer distances each
day, encouraging walking as a mode of transport individually or combined with public
transport is a great way to address some of the traffic issues in the city.
This shift of the city away from walking is a serious one and needs to be addressed both in
policy and practice. Instead of concentrating on getting more and more citizens to walk,
the citys municipal corporation Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike(BBMP) is concentrating on making things easier for motor vehicles and is planning entirely from a private
vehicle users perspective. Both BBMP and the State Government are busy planning road
widening, signal free corridors, flyovers, underpasses and other infrastructure projects. In
all this, there has been no concern shown for the pedestrian.
Bangalore has 800 kms of motorised roads, most of it in a good condition. It is evident
that the BBMP is able to generate the political will and resources to ensure maintenance
and expansion of the citys road networks. The situation of the footpaths along the same
stretches of well-maintained roads is a completely different story. It is not that maintenance of footpaths is a huge challenge, and yet large sections of Bangalores pedestrian
facilities are unusable at best and dangerous at worst. This dichotomy between road and
footpath quality is symptomatic of the transport situation in the city with a disproportionate focus on infrastructure for motorists, while infrastructure for non-motorists and
pedestrians is largely neglected.
3 The statistics on Bangalores pedestrian deaths are staggering, averaging over one death per day, as per a survey conducted by
New Delhi-based Clean Air Initiative for Asian Cities (CAI-Asia) to determine walkability (walking infrastructure availability)
of the city. Details of the CAI study available at: http://www.cleanairinitiative.org/portal/node/1470
4. ORGANISATION OF THE REPORT

The report is organised into four main sections. Section I provides the background to the
CCTR process and how the report evolved from it. Section II presents the bulk of the data
that emerged from the CCTR process it discusses the wide range of experiences of a
pedestrian who uses Bangalores roads. Topics covered include the experience of crossing
roads and the infrastructure that supports or deters safe and efficient road crossing. The
infrastructure available for walking, primarily footpaths, are also discussed in detail as is
the issue of street design and how it influences the pedestrian experience. Street vendors
and street vending on the streets is discussed at length and the report highlights the interlinkage between street vending and a safe pedestrian experience. Finally this section covers
the experiences of special groups of pedestrians like children, the elderly, differently abled
and women.
Moving from these empirical assessments, Section III provides a theoretical grounding of
pedestrian issues by locating it within a human rights framework. It argues that addressing
issues that impact the daily life of pedestrians on the streets such as footpath design, right
of way, etc., is just as significant as reducing fatalities and making walking an inviting mode
of transport. It proceeds to analyse the national and local level policies and programmes
focusing on pedestrian issues through a rights-based lens. Critical questions are raised
on the prioritisation of the needs of motorists over those of pedestrians and the violations involved. Current processes of decision making and participation are challenged
and re-imagined.
Section IV presents initial conclusions from both the analysis of both policy and practice
on the ground. A few suggestions for the way forward in Bangalore city are discussed.
SECTION II
BEING A PEDESTRIAN IN BANGALORE
1. CROSSING BANGALORES ROADS

The CCTR study showed the stark problems facing pedestrians while crossing roads. Data
collected on waiting times showed that waiting times typically increased during the peak
times, and in some places, it went up to 8 minutes for able-bodied individuals. This led
various pedestrians to engage in risky behaviour while crossing roads. During data collection of crossing and waiting times, it emerged that the primary issue that pedestrians face
is a complete lack of safety and comfort. This in turn is an outcome of their being entirely
disadvantaged when it comes to street and city development pathways. Other problems
noted in each of the locations surveyed include the malfunctioning or non-functioning
of traffic lights and pedestrian lights, and either the absence or inactivity of traffic police
men/women, and vehicular behaviour on the roads and sidewalks.
In this section, we discuss infrastructure and facilities provided to enable pedestrians to
cross roads in the city (skywalks, subways and pedestrian lights). We also discuss infrastructure that is built specifically for motorists, but has a direct impact on pedestrians as well
(medians, flyovers, underpasses and street design). Using data from the CCTR study and
secondary information we discuss the rationale for and features of these infrastructures
as well as the shortcomings of each. Finally we present our observations on vehicular
behaviour towards pedestrians across the city.
SKYWALKS AND SUBWAYS

Increasingly Bangalores city planners are looking to skywalks and subways as solutions for
difficulties pedestrians face while crossing the roads. The BBMP promotes what they term
skywalks, which are basically raised crossing platforms across main roads and subways
as facilities that ensure the safety of pedestrians while crossing roads. Although inaugurated with much fanfare and media attention, the usefulness and appropriateness of both
skywalks and subways are seriously in question.
First, both these facilities in their design are inherently exclusionary the differently abled
and elderly people cannot use either skywalks or subways due to the difficulties in climbing
up and down steps. People with heavy shopping bags or luggage, vendors with carts or
head-loads, children with heavy school bags and pregnant women also find it difficult or
impossible to use.
On the Golf Course Road, an employee of Association for People with Disabilities (APD),
attempted to use the skywalk to cross the road. She is differently abled and uses the aid
of crutches to walk. Despite trying multiple times, it was impossible for her to use the
skywalk. The situation is very similar for the elderly and very young children. The same
skywalk was not used by an 80-year old gentleman to cross Golf Course Road. He said
that climbing 116 steps (58 up and 58 down) was just not feasible for him, and would have
preferred a signal at the junction so that people like him could cross the road safely. It is
evident that a direct outcome of difficulties in using skywalks and subways is that people
are forced to cross at grade. Unfortunately, skywalks and subways are built along roads
at the cost of other facilities to cross at grade. Hence, those who cannot use skywalks
and subways are automatically subjected to great risk while crossing the road at grade.
Further, observations of people who are able to physically use skywalks and subways
present another interesting finding. During the course of a one-hour long observation,
out of the 50 people who attempted to cross the road, only 25 used the skywalk. When
interviewed, some of those who tried to cross the road without the aid of the skywalk
mentioned that that the steps were too many and not easy to climb. Time saving was cited
as another reason for the avoidance of skywalks. A woman in her mid-30s, working as a
cook, said that she cannot climb up and down so many stairs as it takes over 10 minutes
and delays her journey.
Skywalks with lifts were suggested by the BBMP to address difficulties in climbing, but
this is wrought with implementation hassles from the initiation. The costs shoot up, it is
dependent on steady supply of electricity and the increase in energy consumption itself is
A differently abled woman discussing how its impossible for her to use the skywalk. Photo credit Shajan Sheikh
an unsustainable option. Most importantly, it does nothing to address the basic question of
treating the pedestrian as a second class citizen in matters of street design.
Given that skywalks and pedestrian lights were not always useful, we found that most
pedestrians did not wait for traffic to stop entirely. On Richmond Road and St. Marks
Road, for example, we found that pedestrians waited for a lull in traffic to weave their way
through. This was dangerous especially at rush hour traffic, where pedestrians stood in
the middle of the road, navigating between the cars, scooters, and the buses. At Chalukya
junction most pedestrians could not or chose not to use the skywalk. We measured that in
peak-hours, waiting times were up to four minutes at this junction for those not using the
skywalk. The only available window of opportunity to cross at this point on Golf Course
Road is when there is a break in the previous junction at Chalukya Circle. At the Chalukya
junction, there is a break of about eight seconds once in three-four minutes. This means
that waiting times are long to safely cross Golf Course Road. And these long waits have
a disproportionately negative impact on pedestrians since walking anyway takes a much
longer time than other modes of transport.
In terms of design, the skywalk was built since the signal at the nearest junction was eliminated. However, with the removal of the signal, the distance between two subsequent
junctions along this road is long, and the skywalk is accessible to only one section along
that long stretch.
RSE
COU
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ROA
PALA
CE R
OAD
AD
RO
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E
NK
SA
HOTEL
CHALUKYA
CIRCLE
ACCESSIBLE TO PEDESTRIANS
SKYWALK
OPPOSITE
BANGALORE GOLF CLUB
NOT ACCESSIBLE TO PEDESTRIANS
This is clearly visible in the adjacent diagram, where the skywalk (opposite Bangalore Golf
Club) is accessible to pedestrians only along certain sections (painted light grey) of the
road. At all other points on the road (painted dark grey), unless a pedestrian walks a long
distance to reach the sky-walk, she is forced to cross the road at grade, and without the aid
of any signal or other crossing infrastructure. When a signal used to be present at this junction, people were able to cross a little further away from the signal as well, when vehicles
stopped at the junction. But now, vehicles have a free ride and the only options are to walk
a long distance to the skywalk or wait for a long time for a lull in traffic flow. The aspect of
easier accessibility to crossing around a traffic junction with dedicated pedestrian lights is
shown in the portion in light grey (at Hotel Chalukya circle) in the image.
In terms of accessibility and usability, subways do not a present a picture much different
from skywalks. The same arguments for exclusions discussed for sky-walks holds for subways
as well. Further, subways pose an additional set of problems that were not observed with
skywalks. These relate to issues of safety and cleanliness. At Chalukya Circle junction,
one of the subways has been converted to a urinal, while the subway near Shivajinagar
Bus Stand is always locked. The KR Circle subway is locked after 7 pm. Even if subways
remain open, pedestrians, particularly women find it unsafe to use after dark. In response
to this, BBMP appointed security guards for subways, but the guards leave at 5-6 pm which
means that the problem remains. Subways are also prone to getting flooded during heavy
rains, lights have been stolen from subways and some are used as dumpsites for garbage.
In terms of design issues, subways score no better than skywalks. Take the example of
the subway along Sheshadri Road which occupies a whole section of the footpath - even
if a pedestrian is just walking along the footpath, she is forced to enter the subway, climb
down and up the steps and re-emerge onto the footpath. Just as in skywalks, the presence
of subways cause difficulties for users along the stretch of the road. A classic example of
this is on Bellary Road where signals were eliminated at CBI junctions and the junction
before Hebbal Bus Stand; instead a pedestrian subway provided closer to the CBI junction. However, crossing at the junction before Hebbal Bus Stand is now nearly impossible
since the flow of vehicles on the signal-free stretch is continuous.
In conclusion, both the underpinning principles as well as the practicalities of implementation of skywalks and subways are against pedestrians and their comfort and safety,
despite assurances to the contrary. A young man who used the skywalk on Golf Course
Road says he prefers to use the skywalk since he wants to follow the rules. His statement
is indicative of a changing public view that a pedestrian is something of a trespasser on
the road space and that the road is meant for motorists, not pedestrians. The government fuels this thinking by offering pedestrians skywalks, subways etc., while the road
space is reserved exclusively for motorists. Erika Schlaikjer captures this situation masterfully in her article on Mumbais skywalks, Skywalks simply shift the problem upwards,
out of sight, like a Band-Aid suspended in air, trying to fix the wounds of poor urban
10
A subway located in the middle of a road and at the mouth of a flyover does not serve much purpose for
the pedestrian.
planning and unsustainable transportation, which should really be dealt with squarely, on
the ground4. It is absolutely critical to question why Bangalore finds itself in a situation
where pedestrians are being pushed up out of road space, while motorists are privileged
to have uninhibited access to the roads.
PEDESTRIAN LIGHTS
In this section we look at infrastructure for pedestrians that facilitates at-grade crossing, i.e.
the pedestrians can cross the roads at the same level as the vehicles.
Most traffic signals in Bangalore have dedicated lights for pedestrians - these lights turn
green after all the other vehicle signals have completed their cycle. But the duration for
which these pedestrian lights stay green is at the most only 10 seconds. Pedestrians waiting
at road dividers were a common occurrence across all such traffic junctions due to the
inadequate time allotted for crossing. Since the subsequent green light for pedestrians
comes only after all the other vehicular signals have completed, a typical waiting time of
3 to 4 minutes is normal. In cases where the roads were very wide, the waiting time and
the crossing time doubled for most pedestrians.
In some junctions (e.g. Bhashyam Circle, Sadashivanagar), the pedestrians signals were
not working most of the time. Even in the few cycles that the pedestrian lights came on,
4 Erica Schlaikjer, 2010, Lofty idea: Skywalks for Mumbai pedestrians. Available at: http://thecityfix.com/blog/
lofty-idea-skywalks-for-mumbai-pedestrians/
it was only the sound and not the actual light. As a result most vehicles continued to disregard the signal and kept driving on. The traffic policemen also did not help the pedestrians
waiting at dividers to cross the roads. Even in situations where the pedestrian lights are
working, motorists are frequent rule-breakers and drive on ignorant of the crossing time
allocated for pedestrians.
Vehicle flow during pedestrian green (see top right side of photo) and traffic policeman watches on.
Photo credit Sridhar Raman
Apart from pedestrian lights at traffic junctions, there are a few pelican lights present on
some of the roads5. These pelican lights are typically installed on roads that have immense
pedestrian usage with no regular traffic signals nearby. The pedestrians themselves can
trigger this signal when they wish to cross the road, and they flash for a given amount of
time when all traffic at the junction stops and the pedestrians are free to cross the road.
The intended purposes of these signals are not always fulfilled.
For example, at Bellary Road, near Mekhri Cirle, right opposite the Air Force School,
a pelican light had been installed. This is a high pedestrian area as there are bus-stops
on either side of the road. But this signal has to be forcibly enforced by two constables.
Most vehicles ignored the green pedestrian light and continued driving on. Only when the
constables stepped onto the road, did the vehicles stop. Without constant monitoring by
the constables, it was impossible to cross the road. Additionally, when interviewed, some of
the pedestrians said that the lights for crossing did not flash long enough to allow for easy
5
Around 1500 such pelican lights were installed across the city in 2008. But the majority of them became non-functional
within a few years. For details, see: Sheetal Sukhija, 2011, Rs. 200 crore wasted?, Bangalore Mid-Day, available at: http://
www.mid-day.com/news/2011/may/100511-traffic-control-room-heavy-rains-Fortis-Hospital-Bangalore.htp
12
crossing. The time provided to the pedestrians to cross was only 20 seconds, but this was
not sufficient for most, who typically ran across the road. In fact, we observed that a lot
of people were stuck in the median and had to wait for the next green pedestrian light to
fully cross the road. To compound the woes to the pedestrians, the waiting time between
two consequent green pedestrian lights is typically huge; in some cases, it was almost 15
minutes.
If long waiting times was a problem at Mekhri Circle pelican light, the one installed in
front of Esteem Mall (again on Bellary Road) posed other problems. A lot of vehicles
were using the break in the divider (intended to allow to people to cross at grade) to take
illegal U-turns. The elders who crossed said that they found the divider too high and that a
speed-breaker (before the actual crossing) would have been helpful. Some school children
said that sometimes the lights would not work and that most of the time the police were
not there to prevent vehicles from jumping the signal.
Majority of people we spoke to noted that the traffic police didnt intervene and enforce
the rules of lights and road crossing, so pedestrians were left to fend for themselves, especially during rush hour. However, in some locations, pedestrians are helped across by the
traffic police such as in 7th Cross & Sampige Road near the Malleshwaram Bus Stop,
although this is an exception rather than the norm.
MEDIANS
Over the last five years medians separating the two-way flow of traffic have sprung up
along several roads of Bangalore. The primary stated rationale for constructing these
medians has been to regularise traffic flow and systematise usage of lanes. Despite several
issues surrounding medians, from fatal accidents caused by crashing into them, to poor
visibility during nights and rains, the Bangalore Traffic Police maintain that medians help
ease congestion and save time for motorists.6 The medians are of differing heights and
some have metal fencing on top with no breaks, while others are shorter in length with
frequent breaks.
Medians are also meant to prevent pedestrians from crossing the roads at non-designated
spots. In fact, in several cases the median becomes a way to exclude pedestrians from
road space. For instance, on Bellary road, after several pedestrian deaths, a 1.5 feet high,
narrow median was installed. While this will prevent pedestrians from crossing and maybe
meeting their death, it puts pedestrians who use the road right back in the soup. While the
median does make crossing difficult for pedestrian and acts a deterrent, this strategy, in the
absence of safe and comfortable crossing points at regular distances, only makes crossing
more difficult and dangerous.
6 See reports in: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/deadly-medians-the-bane-of-motorists/

article2329486.ece
As a fallout of such short-sighted planning, Bangaloreans often opt to cross the roads
across the medians. The main reason for this is lack of other crossing facilities at accessible
and convenient intervals like zebra crossings, signal lights, etc. In this situation, rather than
managing traffic and assumedly improving safety for pedestrians, the medians have led
to several unintended consequences, most of which directly impact pedestrians crossing
the road.
Medians present challenges to pedestrians mainly due to their height. Medians on most
of Bangalores roads are too high and too narrow for safety or comfort for the pedestrian.
People waiting at the median were also put at risk, since cars, scooters, and buses rarely
slowed down in spite of people standing on the medians. Any slip could result in an accident or fatality, as it happened in Vatal Nagaraj road the week prior to our survey.
Our findings indicate against using medians as a method for preventing pedestrians from
crossing the roads. In the absence of other options for safely crossing roads, they need to
be made sufficiently wide and accessible to allow them to use them comfortably and safely
to halt till they can cross the next lane.
FLYOVERS AND UNDERPASSES

In this section, we look at roads that have junctions removed due to the presence of a
flyover or an underpass. Bangalore has seen a huge increase in the number of flyovers
and underpasses in its roads. Though a flyover or an underpass is constructed for the
sole purpose of speeding up road traffic, we wanted to observe the change in pedestrian
dynamics due to these constructs. The absence of a junction means that there are no
traffic signals for vehicles, but in all the roads of Bangalore with a flyover/underpass, a
lack of vehicular traffic signal automatically results in no pedestrian signal as well.
For example, on Old Airport Road, just around the Diamond District flyover (which has
zero traffic signals), it was nearly impossible for people to cross the road. Anuradha Parekh
carrying her 1 year old child, tried to cross the road. She took 5 minutes just to reach the
divider, then another 5 minutes to go to the other side! She reported that sometimes she
hires an auto for the distance of 1km, because crossing the road with a young child in
her arms is hazardous. On this road, despite the fact that there were bus-stops on either
side of the road, indicating a high number of pedestrian usage, this stretch had no signal
(be it pedestrian or pelican light) or zebra crossing. The only way for people to cross the
road is to wait for natural breaks in traffic, which are very few and far-between. Typically,
people bunch together in the hope that vehicles will slow down eventually and then they
run across the road.
On some roads leading down from flyovers, such as the Intermediate Ring Road, the
presence of zebra crossings (in front of Embassy Golf Links) did not improve the crossing
or waiting time for pedestrians. In fact, we observed that it took more than 7 minutes for
14
people to cross the road. We learnt that, during peak traffic, it takes more than 20 minutes
of waiting before an opportunity to cross arises. In fact, few of the people mentioned that
a traffic jam helps the pedestrians unexpectedly - as the vehicles are not moving, it gives
some respite for the pedestrians. During our observation, no vehicles stopped for pedestrians voluntarily.
In our study, we noticed that there wasnt too much difference between a flyover and an
underpass. Both have roads with fast-moving vehicles leading to and going away from
them. As a result, pedestrians had to take a lot of risks in crossing roads.
STREET DESIGN
A cursory look at the design of streets in Bangalore tells us the priorities based on which
our planners design our streets. There is more emphasis on tackling problems faced by
motor-vehicle users rather than pedestrians. An important point to be observed in this
prioritisation is the hierarchy of vehicles that are considered while designing a street.
A majority of the people of Bangalore commutes by public transport or non-motorised
transport or walk7. Despite the fact that public transport like buses and autos carry a huge
chunk of the population, a higher priority is given to cars and two-wheelers. The traffic
policing system is geared to inconvenience as few of the private vehicles as possible, and as
a result, completely ignores the silent majority - pedestrians, public transport and non-motorised transport.
A street is used by both pedestrians and vehicles. In Bangalore, people commuting by walk
or public transport (which intrinsically includes walking) constitute 50% of commuters,
even by the highly conservative estimates in Bangalore Mobility Indicators 2008, a report
commissioned by Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT). As per the same report,
private vehicles carry roughly 38% of the commuters, but the street space occupied on a
capita basis is skewed in favor of private vehicles.
The location and planning of pedestrian zebra crossings is one prime example. In a lot
of places, zebra crossings end abruptly at a fence, leaving the pedestrian no choice, but
to either climb up the fence or walk through traffic to find an opening to get onto the
footpath. Even if there is an opening in the fence to enable the pedestrian to get onto
the pavement, this pathway could be blocked by construction debris, public-utility boxes,
etc. A similar transgression on the road blocking the movement of vehicles would be
unthinkable.
Another critical example of pedestrian-unfriendly street design is in the presence of Free
Left turnings. By its very nature, a free turn for a vehicle implies that pedestrians will
have to risk their lives in attempting to cross the road. The fact that such free-left roads
7 DULT, 2009: Bangalore Mobility Indicators 2008
exist in junctions that have dedicated pedestrian lights highlights the dissonance in the
identification of priorities. In such a conflicted state, the pedestrian always comes out
on the losing side - to be more specific, in a free-left road, even when the pedestrian light
is green, vehicles will continue to speed along, while the pedestrian would have to wait
precariously at the lane divider.
This unfriendliness of street design has percolated to so many levels within the traffic
system that even the police who is supposed to help maintain the egalitarian nature of
roads feels compelled to alleviate the motorists movement, in the process harming the
rights of the pedestrian.
VEHICULAR BEHAVIOUR
The preceeding discussions point to the ongoing and consistent conflict between the path
of the pedestrians and vehicles. The question is not if the conflict exists, but how it manifests. Consequently, when considering issues impacting pedestrians crossing roads, equally
important to infrastructure design is the behaviour of vehicles. In some cases, these two
aspects complement each other - that is, a poorly designed road encourages more rogue
vehicular behaviour, resulting in immense problems for the pedestrians.
One of the common issues noticed in a lot of Bangalore roads that do not have signaled
pedestrian crossings is the lack of respect for pedestrians. In roads (such as Inner Ring
Pedestrians stuck amidst traffic at Sangolli Rayanana Circle. Photo credit Sridhar Raman
16
Road, IRR) that do not have signals, but just a zebra crossing, vehicles do not stop for
pedestrians. People are forced to push their way through the vehicles in the hope that once
they are on the road the vehicles will stop. In the case of IRR, people tired of waiting to
cross, even take auto-rickshaws to get to the other side of the road.
An example of bad design abetting rogue behaviour is in the case of very wide roads (such
as Vattal Nagaraj Road). Here, vehicles travel at prohibitively high speeds as there are no
speed-breakers (in the form of humps or signals) and pay scant respect to pedestrians who
are attempting to cross the road. The only other way for a person to cross the road is to use
a subway (inaccessible to the elderly and physically challenged) that is closed after 7pm in
the evening. Hence, this road sees pedestrian accidents on a frequent basis.
Roads are, however, public spaces and they belong as much to the pedestrian and the
cyclist as they do to people in vehicles. To shift the behaviour of vehicle users towards
a pedestrian-friendly approach requires concerted action at the policy level and on the
ground.
2. INFRASTRUCTURE FOR WALKING

Moving from infrastructure that influences the crossing of a road, this section discusses the
infrastructure available for pedestrians and for walking in general that is footpaths. It is
common knowledge that footpaths worth their name in Bangalore are mostly non-existent
and when they do exist are beset with problems. They are more often than not broken,
dangerously uneven and rife with hazards for their users. Whether they are in a pitiable
condition or are smooth and usable, they are abused by motorists. People dump garbage
on footpaths some spots become favourite dumping grounds such as street corners and
this naturally deters people from using them. We elaborate on a few aspects of footpaths
and their usage that were observed through the CCTR process.
POOR QUALITY AND CONDITION OF FOOTPATHS

Poor quality footpaths are a never ending issue in Bangalore. BBMP has been re-laying
footpaths even where footpaths are perfectly fine while poor quality footpaths continue to
remain poor in quality. At Malleswaram 15th Cross, after BBMP widened the road and
shrunk the footpath, walking has become dangerous for more than one reason. In some
places there is a drop of 1 foot along the footpaths! And this in a newly laid footpath! In
September 2011, a pedestrian died after he tripped on a footpath and fell8.
8 Sridhar Vivan, 2011, Man trips to death on footpath, Bangalore Mirror. Available at: http://www.bangaloremirror.com/
index.aspx?page=article&sectid=10&contentid=2011092320110923055049316d433457a
Photo credit Mathew Thomas
Missing, misaligned, loose stone/concrete slabs are common. There are gaping holes,
sudden gaps. Many times inexplicable bits and pieces of sharp metal protrude out from
the footpaths posing great risk to the unwary. Pedestrians need to tiptoe around or jump
over the impediments. Most times they need to take two steps sideways or backwards for
every one step forward. Needless to say, elderly residents and differently abled people find
it very difficult to use the footpaths. The footpaths themselves are built very high with no
ramps for people with special needs.
Garbage on the footpath is a serious problem, becoming more serious in the context of
the garbage crisis in the city. While the main roads in the core city area do not face this
problem now , some of the interior areas in the core (the portions between J.C. Road and
Lalbagh Main Road), some of the outlying areas (L.B. Shastry Nagar off old Airport road)
still face this problem.
The presence of utilities (transformers, light poles, telephone poles) is another knotty
problem. What has been happening is that the utilities departments ( BWSSB, BESCOM
etc) take pedestrians for granted and install equipment on the footpath. It is fine if pedestrians are impacted as long as vehicular transport is not affected seems to be the mindset.
However this problem can be sorted out with political will. In 2012, BESCOM and BBMP
18
have initiated a move to replace 2-3 pole transformers with single pole transformers9. This
problem is a mindset issue and one of poor co-ordination between civic agencies.
Water-logging on the roads is also a serious issue. In a focus group discussion on mobility
with school children of a slum in South Jayanagar10 children often spoke of how they
get sprayed by the rain water on the roads, when cars or other vehicles speed past. Rain
water also makes it difficult to walk because sometimes one needs to wade through huge
puddles just to move ahead. Overflowing drainage is a similar problem with even worse
consequences.
In the outer areas of Bangalore and in residential areas where there are not very many
people, absence of or non-functioning street lights is an issue which affects pedestrians.
Women in particular are impacted as this impacts their safety. The absence of streetlights
restricts womens freedom by being a factor which dissuades them from walking, a mode
of transport where they are dependent on none.
FOOTPATHS ROADS BY ANOTHER NAME?

Another serious problem is of motorists driving their vehicles
on footpaths. It was noticed that motorists often ride the footpaths and expect pedestrians to make way for them during
rush hour. To highlight this problem, an event was organised to reward motorists with sweets when they drove on the
sidewalk in Infantry Road. In the hour that we conducted
this even, more than ten motorists rode on the footpaths and
we were able to reward them with sweets and distribute information on pedestrian rights.
On Infantry road, right outside the Police Commissioners
office, two-wheelers use the footpath, every day during peak
hour. In morning times at the same junction, just before the
signal turns green one can count at least 6-7 two-wheelers
using the footpath every minute. The two-wheeler riders not
only get onto the footpath, they even honk at the pedestrians
sometimes.
The same plan for the same

reason (car-parking) was executed
in 2011 in Malleswaram 15th
Cross
Even cars climbed onto footpaths to park or to drive, posing

a walking hazard to pedestrians. When we spoke to a car user
who had parked on the footpath, he justified his action by pointing to lack of parking space
9 Deepthi MR, 2012, Pole transforms to be removed to save pedestrians in Jayanagar, DNA. Available at: http://www.
dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_pole-transforms-to-be-removed-to-save-pedestrians-in-jayanagar_1649952
10 Unpublished report by Swagath Education and Community Action, 2011
on the road or on any roads nearby. When we asked him why he hadnt thought of taking
public transport to the area, he had no response.
There are also certain stretches where there is a high pedestrian count but absolutely no
footpath. The bus-stop at Diamond District on old airport road has no pavement at all.
People waiting for the bus wait on the road next to the fly-over. A stretch of St. Marks road
near Koshys also has absolutely no pavement.
SHRINKING FOOTPATHS
Road-widening by shrinking footpaths is an short-sighted move from BBMP which is
hitting pedestrians hard. For instance, in Jayanagar 10th Main, BBMP widened the road
in order to provide for car-parking. The road was widened by shrinking the footpath in
more than half ! A complaint lodged with the Joint Commissioner, BBMP (South) and
numerous calls to the corporator while the work was happening were not enough to
prevent the footpath from being encroached.
Widening roads by shrinking footpaths in Jayanagar 10th Main March 2012
20
FOOTPATHS UNDER THREAT FROM DEVELOPMENT WORKS

Construction of public infrastructure causes nightmares for pedestrians. Works like the
Bangalore Metro, road-widening, flyovers etc. damage or completely remove footpaths,
encroach upon that space and force people to compete with vehicles on the roads. For
the Metro construction near the Chinnaswamy Stadium, the footpath space is completely
occupied and the road has also narrowed down. People were earlier forced to walk between
the barricades and the vehicles on the narrow roads. Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (BMRCL) then constructed a narrow one foot wide footpath on one side of the
road while neglecting the other side. This shows us how that given the will, even in such
places where construction work has encroached on existing pedestrian space, space can
be provided for pedestrians. However what generally happens is that there are diversions
and other measures to serve vehicles but pedestrians are expected to fend for themselves.
A pedestrian navigating her way through debris on Mysore Road which has been dug up for road-widening.
Photo Credit K.Murali Kumar/ The Hindu
PEDESTRIANS AND THE MISSING TREES

One of the problems that pedestrians face, but is rarely acknowledged as a problem for
them, is the increasing absence of street side trees which can provide welcome shade to
pedestrians. Walking becomes extremely difficult and tiring without proper shade. This
leads to those who can afford other modes of traffic, switching modes and adding to
vehicular traffic. For the urban poor who cannot afford to switch to any other means, this
becomes not just a mobility problem, but even a health and livelihood problem.
Street trees also act as shields against increasing temperatures and pollution. A study
done by ATREEs urban ecology team found up to 5C difference in temperature and 20
percent increase in humidity at mid-day between tree-lined stretches and barren stretches
of the same street. The study also found that pollution on stretches of road without trees
was as high as four times the permissible limits, but reduced to near permissible limits
when trees were present.11
Barren roads also contribute to turning the city into a concrete jungle by taking away the
trees, which can be one of the redeeming features of a cityscape. Presence of trees makes
the space around them natural spots for street vending, helping both the vendors and
Hosur road, which has been widened and redesigned - Right next to the road is a concrete drain and then the
wall of the adjoining property. Picture courtesy S. Nityananda
11 http://www.atree.org/city_trees
22
their customers, many of whom are also pedestrian. Trees also support a variety of urban
wild life like birds, squirrels, and insects. All this has an impact on the physical, social and
ecological character of the streets. The presence of trees makes the streets more habitable
and makes walking a much easier, healthier and pleasanter experience.
There are large stretches of roads in the city, which have been widened by BBMP, where
not a single tree is left today. Even when alternate designs or alternate approaches were
suggested to BBMP where trees could be saved, BBMP has not taken these suggestions or
approaches seriously.12
While street trees are being cut for purposes as wide ranging as road widening to shop
boards and hoardings being blocked by trees, there is very little effort to plant new trees on
the streets anymore. Roads are often even being designed in such a way that no trees can
be planted in future too. On Hosur Road, for instance, after it was widened, the edge of
the road is now lined by the concrete drain which is covered by slabs. This concrete over
the drain is itself the footpath and there is no space left to plant any trees!
OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO WALKING

Low number of public toilets in the city is also a problem for the pedestrian. For people
who travel more than 3-4 kms by walk, the lack of accessible toilets becomes a distressing
factor. People with diabetes and other health issues like Irritable Bowel Syndrome sometimes need to use the toilet quite regularly. People who are on the road all the time such as
auto-rickshaw and taxi drivers will also benefit from the availability of more public toilets
in the city.
A long-standing city-wide issue has been that of construction material on footpaths. When
a building is being built (public or private), almost always, the construction material like
sand and jelly spills over from the site to the adjoining footpath. The BBMP building
bye-laws13 make it very clear that construction material should not obstruct pedestrian
movement. Section 3.8 says, The ground rent for stocking of building materials on public
land as prescribed by the Authority without causing obstruction to movement of vehicles
and pedestrians subject to the permission of the Authority. However, very rarely is action
taken against those who do violate this.
Pollution from vehicular emissions is another source of discomfort for pedestrians. Apart
from the discomfort, its also a health hazard. This is a phenomenon very similar to
passive smoking.
12 See Reports: http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/yet-another-green-canopy-under-threat-1499191.html, http://bangalore.

citizenmatters.in/articles/view/665-sheshadri-road-road-widening-road-design-map
13 Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, 2003, Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Building Bye-laws, available at: http://www.
scribd.com/doc/44439071/BBMP-Bye-Laws
3. STREET VENDORS
In the context of pedestrians, street vendors or hawkers are sometimes spoken of as a
hindrance and an obstacle to walking14. We contend that these articulations fail to capture
the larger environment within which street vending is located on the streets of our city.
The mutually beneficial relationship that pedestrians and street vendors share is rarely
mentioned. In this section we show that the conflict between pedestrians and street vendors
is inaccurate and make the case for encouraging street ecosystems that create spaces for
both vendors and pedestrians.
By their very definition, street vendors belong on the streets and very naturally, they locate
themselves on footpaths where pedestrians can interact with them easily. Street vending is
an integral part of Bangalores daily life and its residents are all beneficiaries of the work
of the street hawkers. From the vegetable vendor pushing his cart in residential areas to
the cobbler, the coconut vendor, the flower seller outside places of worship, the tea seller
and the balloon seller outside parks etc., the general public depends on street vendors for
their daily needs and conveniences. Wholesalers in the main City Market and subsidiary
markets depend on the vendors as customers. There is clearly a whole economic system
feeding off and dependent on street vending. Not surprisingly, street vending has strong
historical roots. In fact it is impossible to imagine Bangalore, or any other city, without its
culture of street vending.
Most pedestrians we have spoken to do not refer to vendors as a obstruction. However it
is often inaccurately perceived that vendors cause conflict with motorists and pedestrians.
Often sections of the media, the State and civil society groups play a role in presenting
street vending at best as a bothersome activity and at worst as an illegal activity. There is
glaring lack of reflection on the reasons for conflicts that arise or exploration on ways of
resolution. Consequently, public and State responses to vendors include eviction, harassment and complete absence of dialogue.
THE LEGAL STANDING OF STREET VENDORS

In July 2010, 250 vendors were evicted from the streets of Shivajinagar on the pretext
of giving space to pedestrians. The footpath has now become a public urinal, and the
pedestrians are still not using it. Meanwhile, the street vendors are yet to be rehabilitated, depriving the pedestrians of easy access to goods and services at affordable prices.
14 For a sampling on the evictions of Bangalores street vendors in recent years see: Vendors evicted to uphold public health
(http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/article2867270.ece); Why target street vendors alone?
(http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/3849--gandhi-bazaar-street-vendor-eviction); Licensed vendors cry foul
over BBMPs attitude (http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/BAN-licensed-vendors-cry-foul-over-bbmps-attitude-1738483.
html); Street vendors vent their anger over eviction (http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/
article841928.ece)
24
The then BBMP Commissioner is quoted as saying Footpaths are meant for pedestrians.
When the question of priority between pedestrians and hawkers arises, obviously the
pedestrians have an upper hand.15
There is a inaccurate perception among many that footpaths are meant exclusively for
pedestrians. In this context, a 1989 Supreme Court ruling on the right to vend assumes
importance. It says that if properly regulated, according to the exigency of the circumstances, the small traders on the sidewalks can considerably add to the comfort and convenience of the general public, by making available ordinary articles of everyday use for a
comparatively lesser price. An ordinary person, not very affluent, while hurrying towards
his home after a days work, can pick up these articles without going out of his way to find
a regular market. The right to carry on trade or business mentioned in Article 19 (1) g
of the Constitution, on street pavements, if properly regulated, cannot be denied on the
ground that the streets are meant exclusively for passing or re-passing and no other use. 16
This ruling draws on Article 19 1(g) of the Constitution which grants all citizens the right
to practice any profession or carry on any occupation, trade or business. Invoking the
right to livelihood for street vendors is a critical argument for creating an environment that
embraces street vending as an integral and integrated element of city life.
Building on the right to livelihood, in 1999 the Government of India released a National
Street Vending Policy17 to legitimise the practice of street vending Article 1.6 of the policy
says This Policy recognizes that to be able to practice any profession or to carry on any
occupation, trade or business is a fundamental right of every citizen in our country. A
person who wants to buy some items in wholesale and sell the same in retail by hawking is
actually exercising such a right. Thus, it would be desirable, other things being equal, that
such a right is not circumscribed unless reasonable restrictions are warranted in public
interest.. As recently as 2009, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh also wrote to all
Chief Ministers in 2009, asking them to provide all facilities to Street Vendors to carry
on their Business without any harassment so that they can prove goods and services to the
poorer section of our society at reasonable rates.18
Recognising the needless harassment that vendors face, the Lok Sabha has now passed
the The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Bill,
2012 which recognizes the rights of street vendors and puts in place a mechanism to facilitate and regulate street vending.
15 The Hindu, 2011, Police foil vendors bid to reclaim space. Available at: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/
tp-national/tp-karnataka/police-foil-vendors-bid-to-reclaim-space/article1122788.ece
16 Sodan Singh & Others versus New Delhi Municipal Council, 1989. Available at: http://www.indiankanoon.org/
doc/165273/
17 National Urban Street Vendor Policy, 2009 mhupa.gov.in/policies/StreetPolicy09.pdf
18 Prime Ministers Office, 2009, PM for a new deal for urban street vendors. Press release available at: http://pmindia.nic.
in/press-details.php?nodeid=975
Clearly, nowhere in legal understanding has street vending been pitted against pedestrianism, rather, there are clear precedents for establishing the right to walk and the right to
practice trades on the footpath as mutually beneficial.
DO STREET VENDORS CAUSE CONGESTION?

Moves to impinge on the right to livelihood of street vendors have adopted congestion arguments, resulting in harassment and in some cases, eviction. Empirical data has debunked
the myth that street vendors cause congestion, In fact, during a field survey in twenty-two
earmarked crossings in Kolkata for non-vending zones, organised by the Urban Research
and Policy Programme (URPP) of the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS),
pavement vendors were observed to have played a marginal role in causing congestion.
It was additionally observed that the presence of several other factors unrelated to street
vending such as car parking areas in the vicinity of the crossing, auto rickshaw stands,
road repair works, narrow road and pavement spaces compared with the extent of traffic,
existing retail shops encroaching pavement spaces, and instinctive violation of traffic rules
by pedestrians and automobiles, caused congestion and anarchy.19
Further investigations are required to identify the extent to which private vehicles and
motorists are in fact causing conflict between pedestrians and street vendors. Due to
increasing number of private vehicles roads are becoming wider and footpaths narrower.
This increases the pressure on pedestrians and street vendors who are forced to share
a shrinking space. Rather than recognising these external pressures for footpath space,
mainstream logic is happy to jump to the conclusion that street vendors are the cause for
congestion.
STREET VENDORS AS BUILDING BLOCKS OF FOOTPATH ECOSYSTEM

In addition to providing goods and services at low cost and within quick reach, street
vendors keep the streets safe. In fact a study by Jagori from Delhi showed how women
found streets with street vendors safer than those without.20 The most recent endorsement
for street vendors, in fact, comes from the Justice Verma Committee report, which was
set up in the light of the gang rape at Delhi, which says that street vendors make the city
streets safer for community and pedestrians and they should be encouraged.21
While street vendors are sometimes blamed sometimes for causing hygiene issues, several
19 Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay, India in transition: the rights of street vendors, Hindu Business Line. Available at: http://www.
thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/india-in-transition-the-rights-of-street-vendors/article2490788.ece
20 Safe Cities Free of Violence against Women and Girls Initiative: Report of the Baseline Survey Delhi 2011: http://jagori.
org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Baseline-Survey_layout_for-Print_12_03_2011.pdf
21 Justice Verma Committee Report: http://www.prsindia.org/uploads/media/Justice%20verma%20committee/js%20
verma%20committe%20report.pdf
26
times it is the vendors who keep the streets clean. For instance, in Bangalore, the footpath
opposite Shivajinagar bus-stand has now become a public urinating spot, ever since the
street vendors were evicted. When street vendors were trading on that footpath, it was
much cleaner and hygienic. Vendors on the street are actually a good urban planning
principle, particularly for pedestrians and users of non-motorised transport who cannot
afford to shop in expensive stores and malls.
While fulfilling their right to livelihood, street vendors play an invaluable and symbiotic
role in the footpath ecosystem. Street Vendors offer goods and services at a cheaper rate
for the large working class in the city, most of whom are pedestrians or use the bus, and
find it economically and otherwise convenient to buy off the street. Any impact on streetvending will increase their expenses. In fact the fact that these vendors are located on the
street make it easy for people to avail of goods and services, whle on the way to a bus-stop
or on the way to work/home, thus saving the time required to go into a market and do
the same. Which is why that even though the government has proposed indoor markets
for street vendors in places like Gandhi Bazaar, vendors are reluctant to move in there. A
pedestrian would rather buy her vegetables off the street than get into a market building
and climb into the first floor to do the same. Street vendors fit very neatly into the urban
transport fabric of most of the people in the city. Services provided by street vendors to
pedestrians and cyclists are invaluable. Pedestrians need cobblers on the road to have their
footwear fixed, just as much as car owners need tyre repair shops. Bicyclists need repair
shops to have their tyres, chains and pedals fixed. All commuters feel the need at some
point for cold drinks, snacks and other services on the roadside22. The presence of street
vendors providing these serveices make it easier to walk, cycle and use the bus. Street
vendors are an integrable part of our city and will remain inevitable.
Doing away with vendors in the name of pedestrian comfort will upset the balance of
life transacted on the streets, resulting in harm to the pedestrian, rather than helping her.
STREET VENDING AND THE PEDESTRIAN IN THE FUTURE

With the Lok Sabha passing the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation
of Street Vending) Bill, 2012 and the Rajya Sabha set to pass it, it is only a matter of time
before the bill becomes a law.
Howver, one is not very sure of the impact of this law on street vending and consequently
the street and the pedestrian. As discussed earlier in the report, the street vendor and the
pedestrian mutually benefit from the others presence on the street. If the law protects
street vendors it will also indirectly support the pedestrian. However, while the law for
the first time recognizes and acknowledges in law, the right of any resident to vend on the
22 Geetam Tiwari, 2000, Encroachers or service providers?, The Seminar. Available at: http://www.india-seminar.
com/2000/491/491%20geetam%20tiwari.htm
street there are also several concerns around the law.

This law makes it mandatory for any person who wants to vend on the street, to have a
license. While organized vendors who have been around for many years may be able to
get a license, one is not sure if all the vendors in the city will get a license and how easy it
is for newer vendors to do so. The law also calls for strict demarcation of vending zones
and timings. Vendors will be allowed to operate only in vending zones. In 2001, the then
BMP made vending zones and had just 50 odd streets in Bangalore as vending zones. If
the vending zones are similarly restricted in the future, then that might severely restrict
vendors on the street.
The law however does well in providing for an institutional mechanism at the local level
which will work to implement street vending as a right and also serve as a space for
resolving any issues.
The bill envisages an institutional mechanism known as the Town Vending Committee
(TVC) consisting of officials and representatives of street vendors for protecting the livelihoods of street vendors while at the same time imposing reasonable restrictions. Once
implemented, the TVCs would ensure that conflicts if any between pedestrians and
vendors will be resolved in a fair and just manner.
What is required is for the city municipality, the police (both law and order, and traffic
police) to have the willingness to work out an amicable solution. This willingness will not
happen automatically and this requires street vendors unions, civil society and elected
representatives from the BBMP and State Assembly to make a conscious effort in this
direction.
It remains to be seen if the law will help Indian urban streets retain what is remaining of
its people-centredness and encourage street vendors, or with its excessive regulation will
rid the street of vendors, thereby harming pedestrians in the long run.
4. DISADVANTAGED GROUPS AS PEDESTRIANS

This section discusses the issues impacting special groups of pedestrians, those who
are particularly disadvantaged by the current situation of roads, footpaths and their
development.
CHILDREN
Through the Come, Cross the Road events, we found that children, who were not accompanied by adults, were especially inconvenienced as pedestrians. For example, in Tilaknagar, children found it extremely difficult to cross the road, especially when walking or
28
catching a bus to school / college. In the main road, there were two bus-stops, one on
either side of the road. There was no signal or zebra crossing, and the children had to cross
to get to the bus, after waiting for a break in traffic, or weaving through existing traffic. We
observed that on an average, they had to wait three minutes to cross to the median and
then another one minute to cross the road finally. Near Nagawara Palya, children have to
cross the road to go to school. In the absence of any zebra crossing or pelican / pedestrian
lights, children were running across traffic to get to the other side. This is highly dangerous
and has to be remedied. In another location in Jayanagar, where there was a junction of
three roads and no zebra crossing, the waiting time to cross the road was approximately
three minutes because of the vehicles approaching in three different directions.
Children attempt to cross the road as a car zips by them at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital.
Photo credit Nanda Ramesh
ELDERLY
Not only children, but the elderly too find it inconvenient to traverse the roads of Bangalore. During our observations, Chandra Ravi Kumar, 70 years, a resident of Jayanagar
tried to cross the road three times. She waited for many minutes each time, but finally gave
up because she was unable to do so. This was not an isolated incident. In all of the locations
surveyed, we noticed that the elderly especially have a difficult time crossing the roads.
Near Esteem Mall on Bellary road, the pelican lights are turned on for 16 seconds, but that
is hardly enough time for an average person to cross. There is a divider in the middle of
the road, and this is usually the stumbling block to crossing the road within the stipulated
time. The elderly, in this case, are especially disadvantaged, given they find it very difficult
to climb up and down the divider. Also, the service roads flanking the main road made it
difficult to judge the direction of the vehicles that were coming onto the road. The confusion was not helped by the presence of the police, who did nothing to aid the pedestrians
or direct the traffic for a smoother crossing.
In other places where there were no dividers, such as Richmond Road, the waiting time
for the elderly was still disproportionate to the average user of the road. For example, the
average time to wait in Richmond Road was about 67 seconds, but the average senior
citizen took about 3 minutes to cross the road. This is because most people waited for
traffic to slow down a bit to cross the road, but older persons waited longer till the road
cleared completely which meant that they waited longer and took longer to cross. One
senior citizen, Devare, suggested that pedestrians should probably carry posters that say
Please let me cross in Kannada and English, in order to raise awareness of pedestrian
problems.
The elderly also complained about the uneven pavements, and the gaps in the footpaths
which made walking in the city intolerable. The National Institute for Medical Healthcare and Sciences (NIMHANS), in a study conducted in Bangalore23, reported that road
traffic injuries (RTIs) were among the leading causes of injuries among the elderly, and
the leading cause of injury-related deaths among the elderly in the city. Further, according
to the study, it was while crossing the road that most such accidents happened resulting in
injuries or death. Elderly pedestrians hit by heavy vehicles such as cars, trucks and buses
accounted for nearly half of the deaths. The report recommends that the design, construction, management and maintenance of roads and vehicles needs to take into account the
needs and limitations of the elderly and be designed accordingly. Recommended features
included traffic calming, traffic separation, safe pedestrian walking and crossing facilities,
with special emphasis on the elderly.24
DIFFERENTLY ABLED
For the differently abled, crossing the road is fraught with danger. Pedestrian lights did
not account for the disabled, so the lights would turn red even before the disabled could
completely cross the roads. Given the footpaths were not even, and there were often slabs
missing from the footpath, many wheel-chair users were forced to use the roads, which
increased the risk of collision with other traffic. They are also unable to cross at any roads
23 Injuries Among the Elderly, NIMHANS BISP, p. 1, Available at: http://www.nimhans.kar.nic.in/epidemiology/bisp/fs3.pdf
24 Ibid, p. 4
30
where there were no zebra crossing or pedestrian lights, as the traffic is relentless, and does
not slow down for them. For example, at Sophias School, near Golf Course Road, the
only way to cross the road for disabled pedestrians was through the skywalk, and it was
not disabled-friendly. During our survey, we interviewed a person on crutches who had
previously tried to climb up the 58 steps, who stated that it was quite impossible for her
to climb the stairs or cross the road. The volunteers with the survey had to stop traffic in
order to help her cross the road. This is just an example of the ordeal for disabled individuals as pedestrians.
The city roads are hardly welcoming to physically able pedestrians- to pedestrians of a
diminished physical capacity they are practically hostile. While citizens lose their right
to walk on roads, and environmental issues compete with traffic problems, what happens
to concerns of accessibility? How do we ensure that the disabled and the elderly are not
pushed off the roads entirely? Section 45 of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act25 talks about non-discrimination on
the road, and enjoins a duty on the appropriate government or local authority to provide
for:
installation of auditory signals at red lights in the public roads for the benefit of
persons with visually handicap;
causing curb cuts and slopes to be made in pavements for the easy access of wheel
chairs users;
engraving on the surface of the zebra crossing for the blind or for persons with low
vision;
engraving on the edges of railway platforms for the blind or for persons with low
vision;
devising appropriate symbols of disability;
warning signals at appropriate places;
Article 9 of the United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities26, which
India has signed and ratified, states that State Parties shall take appropriate measures to
ensure that disabled persons have access, on an equal basis with others, to the physical
environment, to transportation, to information and communications, including information and communications technologies and systems, and to other facilities and services
open or provided to the public, both in urban and in rural areas. This shall apply to,
among others, buildings, roads, and transportation.
25 Act 1 of 1996, available at http://socialjustice.nic.in/pwdact1995.php
26 International Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities, G.A. res.
61/106, Annex I, U.N. GAOR, 61st Sess., Supp. No. 49, at 65, U.N. Doc. A/61/49 (Dec. 13, 2006), 46 I.L.M. 443, available
at: http://www.un.org/disabilities/convention/conventionfull.shtml
A research study and pilot project conducted by the National Trust for the Welfare of
Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities27,
stated that in the twelve years between the passing of the Persons with Disabilities Act,
and the publication of the report, nothing significant had been done to implement the
provisions of the Act. One of the suggestions made in the report was the employment
of traffic calming strategies, such as carriageway narrowing, and speed cushions.28 The
report also makes mention of access features such as kerb ramps and handrails, none of
which are features to be found on Bangalore roads.
URBAN POOR
A Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES)/Operations Research Group
(ORG) study of 1994 showed that in Delhi, more than 50% of the lowest income households (households with income less than 1000/month) relied on walking for their trips29.
A study by NGIL-CSTEP in Bangalore30 showed that almost half the population among
slums in Bangalore (survey done among 1200 Hhs across 36 slums) relied on walking for
transport. Clearly, walking is one of the most important modes of transport for the urban
poor. What is important to note is that, walking here is not a choice, but in most cases a
compulsion. Two-wheelers and cars are out of reach for them and in many cases so are
buses. With bus-ticket prices becoming higher with every diesel price hike, walking is the
only option to them many times. The location of their houses also sometimes makes it
imperative that they walk. For instance, there are two slums off Tannery Road - Roshan
Nagar and Tank Mohalla, which are two kilometres from the main road (Tannery Road).
The roads inside are so narrow that no buses enter there and the residents of these slums
are forced to walk 2 kms to the main road to be able to catch a bus.
When slums get relocated, they often get put at the very edge of the city again making
public transport difficult to access. When construction of the Bangalore Metro started,
residents of Lakshmanpuri slum were relocated to Kudlu village, at least 15 km from
where they stayed. The nearest bus-stop is a few kilometeres away forcing them to walk
or take an expensive auto31. The Karnataka Slum Development Board has resettlements
sites at the edges of the city only - Sadaramangala, close to Whitefeild; Kudlu, close to
Parappana Agrahara; Laggere, near Peenya - these are some of the largest sites. All of
these sites are far away and have poor access to public transport.
27 Research Study and Pilot Project on Road Safety Aspects and Right of Way for Persons with Disabilities, The National Trust
for the Welfare of Persons with Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities, p. 15, available online
at http://www.thenationaltrust.co.in/nt/images/stories/Other_Publication/road%20safety.pdf
28 Ibid, 75
29 RITES/ORG, 1994, Household Travel Surveys in Delhi, Final Report, New Delhi and Baroda: Rail India Technical and
Economic Services Ltd. and Operations Research Group.
30 NGIL-CSTEP, 2010, Poster presented at Urban Mobility India
31 For more details see: Slum dwellers source of livelihood snatched () and An RCC house isnt everything ().
32
The NGIL-CSTEP study also spoke of the problems faced by the urban poor as they
walked. The biggest problems they mentioned are - unsafe crossings, unwalkable footpaths
and absence of street lighting. The urban poor among the pedestrians are also more
affected by the problems affecting pedestrians - pollution and accidents. This is because of
poor nutrition levels and poor access to health services among them.
For the urban poor, mobility is key to realising their other rights education, employment
health. Given this, coupled with the fact that walking is a key mode of mobility for them,
one would assume that steps are taken to ensure that people can move around safely by
walk in the city. However this fact seems to be routinely ignored by policy makers and
decision makers. Walking is often promoted to reduce pollution and congestion, which it
does very well, but it is never seen that there is such a huge proportion of the population
dependent on walking and that therefore one needs to make walking safer in the city.
WOMEN
Street sexual harassment (SSH) is harassment experienced generally by women (sometimes by children, transgenders and occasionally by men) in public spaces, and covers
a range of behaviours that are verbal, emotional, and physical in nature. Some of the
behaviours documented by Prajnya and other organisations such as Jagori (Delhi) are
staring and talking to breasts, passing comments or rating womens bodies, making kissing
noises, stalking, touching, fingering, spitting, and taking photographs without consent.
SSH is overwhelmingly done by men and is not restricted only to the streets, but extends
to buses, trains, malls, parks, shops etc.
Street sexual harassment is restrictive and deters womens freedom of movement in public
spaces. Women are either restrictive in their movements, or are restricted by their movements in certain public places, especially in the night. It is considered normal and natural
to expect women to take defensive and precautionary measures against SSH. In fact,
women themselves often approach public spaces with the expectation of being harassed
and take preventative action. One of the major problems of SSH is that it severely curtails
womens movements in streets and other public spaces, and inhibits their full participation.
One of the persistent policy measures to address SSH has been to create public spaces
that are multi-use32. The diversity of use engenders a diversity of population that allows
for lower chances of sexual harassment and higher sense of safety for women. Surveys of
women pedestrians have reported that familiar faces on streets such as street vendors, bus
patrons, walkers, and other regular users of streets helped women to feel safe33. Research
32 Kalpana Vishwanath and Surabhi Tandon Mehrotra, 2008, Safe in the city?, The Seminar. Available at: http://www.indiaseminar.com/2008/583/583_kalpana_and_surabhi.htm
33 Jagori, 2010, A draft strategic framework for womens safety in Delhi, Safe Cities Free of Violence Against Women and Girls
Initiative. Available at: http://jagori.org/wp-content/uploads/2006/01/Strategic_Framework.pdf
on public behaviour has also estimated that onlookers are more likely to help a woman in
distress when they know her, or are in their own familiar surroundings. The presence of
informal activity such as street vending was overwhelmingly seen as safety nets by women,
and increased the feeling of security. So, instead of clearing the streets of unfriendly
elements (as per usual standards), a policy recommendation is to create and populate the
streets with regular familiar and diverse group of people which automatically discourages
street sexual harassment.
We strongly believe that the right to safety for women is not an individual right, but a
collective one. Women have an equal right to public spaces, including the streets, and
must function as equal citizens in these spaces. Advising them to carry pepper sprays, pins,
and other defensive objects does not boost confidence. So, we argue that a consultative
process whereby people from different quarters can engage with alternate solutions must
be conducted. Only then can all people use public spaces successfully.
SECTION III
STREETS FOR PEOPLE
36
The majority of the discourse on walking as a form of transport in India, and even across
the world, is primarily concerned with either the promotion of walking as a form of
non-motorised transport with its attendant benefits, or with the design of safe passage for
pedestrians on roads. While the importance of these two conceptual and practical orientations cannot be overstated, we throw our weight behind a growing movement towards
the affirmation of walking as a basic right of all humans.34
This movement expands popular articulations of pedestrian rights to include more
than design solutions (subways, pelican lights, etc.), which if implemented lead to
safer and more comfortable experience for pedestrians. The right to walk framework
moves beyond the determinism of pedestrian-friendly design solutions, and introduces a human rights lens, with the obligation of provisioning resting with the State.
The right to walk should be seen as an extension of fundamental rights, specifically
the Right to Life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India to every
Indian citizen. The Supreme Court of India has clarified that the right to life under
Article 21 of the Constitution of India includes the right to life with human dignity.
In Francis Coralie v. Administrator, Union Territory of Delhi and Ors. [(1981)
1 SCC 608] the Honble Supreme Court observed: We think that the right to
life includes the right to live with human dignity and all that goes along with
it, namely, the bare necessaries of life such as adequate nutrition, clothing
and shelter and facilities for reading, writing and expressing one-self in
diverse forms, freely moving about and mixing and commingling with fellow
human beings. Of course, the magnitude and content of the components of
this right would depend upon the extent of the economic development of the
country, but it must, in any view of the matter, include the right to the basic
necessities of life and also the right to carry on such functions and activities
as constitute the bare minimum expression of the human-self.
In Olga Tellis v. Bombay Municipal Corporation,[AIR 1986 SC 180] the Honble
Supreme Court held that , The right to life includes the right to livelihood.
Further they held that, The sweep of the right conferred by Article 21 is wide
and far reaching. It does not mean merely that life cannot be extinguished
or taken away as, for example, by the imposition and execution of the death
sentence, except according to procedure established by law. That is but one
aspect of the right to life. An equally important facet of that right is the right
to livelihood because, no person can live without the means of living, that
is, the means of livelihood. If the right to livelihood is not included in the
constitutional right to life, the easiest way of depriving a person of his right
to life would be to deprive him of his means of livelihood to the point of
34 See, for instance: Ray Thomas, 2008, Oregan pedestrian rights: A legal guide for persons on foot, available at: http://www.
stc-law.com/pdf/OPRlegal_guide.pdf and Right to Walk Foundation Hyderabad (http://right2walk.com/).
abrogation. Such deprivation would not only denude the life of its effective
content and meaningfulness but it would make life impossible to live. And
yet, such deprivation would not have to be in accordance with the procedure
established by law, if the right to livelihood is not regarded as a part of the
right to life. That, which alone makes it possible to live, leave aside what
makes life livable, must be deemed to be an integral component of the right
to life. Also they held that Deprive a person of his right to livelihood and you
shall have deprived him of his life.
In order to ensure that people can enjoy the above mentioned rights Right to Livelihood,
Right to freely move about and mix and commingle with other human beings, being able
to walk freely and safely is absolutely essential. Thus a right to walk needs to be made a
fundamental right and till such time it is done, must be treated as a fundamental right. As
a democratic society striving for equality, being able to provide the right to walk to all residents is absolutely essential. Not being able to walk freely, safely and securely will actually
curb the freedom of people to enjoy their other rights.
1. PEDESTRIANS AND THE LAW

Existing policy and legislation surrounding pedestrian issues reflect a huge gap from a
rights-based perspective. There are no laws which support a right to walk freely, safely
and securely. The following are the meager provisions in the laws that currently addresses
pedestrian rights and safety.
I. RULES OF ROAD REGULATION, 1989

These include only three rules mentioning pedestrians or their right of way35:
the duty of the driver to slow down when approaching a pedestrian crossing (Rule 8)
no driver can park a motor vehicle near a traffic light or on a pedestrian crossing or a
footpath (Rule 15)
pedestrians right of way at uncontrolled signals (Rule 11)
motor vehicles are not allowed to drive on the footpaths or cycle lane except with
permission from the police officer on duty (Rule 11)
However, this has no impact since neither the state agencies nor people have knowledge
of these regulations nor does any arm of the state strive to implement these regulations.
35 Roshan Toshnival, 2012. A peek at the legal provisions protecting the walkers in urban areas, Transparent Chennai, available
at http://www.transparentchennai.com/2012/12/
38
II. THE MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988

The Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 deals with the regulation of motor vehicles in India. The
statute recognises powers of making rules of both the Central Government and the respective state Governments. The Act covers all aspects relating to motor vehicles, including the
way the motor vehicles must be driven and parked.
Section112 provides for speed regulation
Section 115 provides for prohibiting or restricting motor vehicles in the interest of
public safety or convenience.
Section 122 and 126 prevents motor vehicles being left in positions or conditions that
cause danger, obstruction or undue inconvenience to others.
Sections within this act minimally address protection to pedestrians by regulating driving
and parking practices that inconvenience or endanger the pedestrian. For instance Sec
112 can be used to apply and enforce speed limits in the interest of pedestrian safety, Sec
115 can be used by governments to notify high pedestrian areas as vehicle free zones and
provide cycle/non-motorised transport lanes, Sec 122 and 126 can be used to regulate
vehicles occupying footpaths. However, these provisions again are rarely used in a manner
which makes the city safer for pedestrians.
III. KARNATAKA MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS ACT, 1976

This law governs Bangalore and all of the corporations across the state, however the act of
walking does not seem to be considered as something that needs to be covered by the law.
There is no mention of the word pedestrian or of the verbs walk or walking. The act
does mention that it is is the duty of the corporation to protect and maintain pavements
(Sec 266 and Sec 278) . The law in fact speaks of powers or Urban Local Bodies to widen
roads, but speaks nothing in terms of pedestrian access.
IV. PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES (EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES, PROTECTION

OF RIGHTS AND FULL PARTICIPATION) ACT, 1955
This is an act passed to protect rights and opportunities of the differently abled. The Act
also provides for infrastructural necessities that must be given to such persons.
According to Section 45 there must be no discrimination on the road. This section states
that: The appropriate Governments and the local authorities shall, within the limits of
their economy capacity and development, provide fora. installation of auditory signals at red lights in the public roads for the benefit of
persons with visually handicap,
b. causing curb cuts and slopes to be made in pavements for the easy access of wheel
chairs users;
c. engraving on the surface of the zebra crossing for the blind or for persons with low
vision;
d. engraving on the edges of railway platforms for the blind or for persons with low
vision;
e. devising appropriate symbols of disability;
f. warning signals at appropriate places
Among all the acts considered, the Persons with Disabilities Act is the only one that
travels some distance in ensuring that there is no discrimination on the road. However, this
too largely addresses the issue from an infrastructure standpoint.
Thus it is amply clear that while the law offers only a few provisions to protect the rights
of pedestrians and enable walking, even these few provisions are not really used to protect
the rights of pedestrians or enable walking.
2. POLICY CRITIQUES
The following sections use the rights frame to critique national and local policies and
programmes that impact on pedestrians and their experiences on the roads.
THE NATIONAL URBAN TRANSPORT POLICY

The National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP)36, much touted as a progressive policy document, and ostensibly used as the basis for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission (JNNURM) reforms, evidently views the issues of pedestrians as those that can
be easily solved by universalistic and often simplistic design solutions. For instance, the
NUTP recommends the construction of safe pedestrian footpaths and crossings as a way
to to enhance safety and thereby enhance use of non-motorized modes37. There is no
conceptual understanding of pedestrian rights and there is a belief that pedestrian issues
can be addressed through appropriate design alone.
Even when the policy hints at a rights-frame in its objective of bringing about a more
equitable allocation of road space with people, rather than vehicles, as its main focus
solutions like reserved lanes and corridors for non-motorised transport and walkers are
36 National Urban Transport Policy, 2006, available at: http://www.urbanindia.nic.in/policies/Transportpolicy.pdf
37 National Urban Transport Policy, 2006, Sec 30-32
40
proposed, and appropriate amendments called for to the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 to
ensure enforcement and penalties38. The NUTP unfortunately falls into the comfort of
transport planning solutions as a means to achieve equity. What is missing is the realisation
and articulation that achieving equitable allocation requires much more than announcements of priority lanes no mention is made of the integrated policy changes in financing,
taxation, accessibility and inclusion of needs of vulnerable groups, which are required
for pedestrians to truly realise their rights.
The NUTP thus presents a very limited view of walking and misses the opportunity to
recognise walking as a daily reality for millions of people, whether or not the streets are
safe, and thus fails to incorporate pedestrian rights into policy language.
A SUSTAINABLE APPROACH TO ACHIEVE PEDESTRIAN RIGHTS

The good design approach to addressing issues of pedestrians is pervasive in whatever
other legislation there exists on pedestrian issues in India. The Indian Road Congress
(IRC) Guidelines for Pedestrian and Cycle Track Design provides standards and basic
check-lists for pedestrian-friendly streets39. The 1996 Urban Design Plan Formulation
and Implementation (UDPFI) has suggestions for standardising pedestrian infrastructure
based on traffic patterns40. Further, the Central Motor Vehicles Act (CMVA) Rules of the
Road Regulations 198941 provide passive protection for pedestrians, stating that pedestrians have right of way at uncontrolled crossings, and imposes penalties on motorists
who enter footpaths. Additionally, obstruction in public way of movement is punishable
under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)42.
We contend that design is but a single tool in the structural change that is necessary for
achieving rights of people on the streets, and not the centre-piece. The issues of pedestrians are not purely technical ones that can be solved by scientific and practical solutions, they are issues that mirror the political will of our decision makers and can only be
addressed with programmes that acknowledge and understand the underlying socio-political factors. The current focus on design solutions in the national policy documents runs
the risk on diverting attention from fundamental issues of pedestrians, by failing to reflect
on the causes of growing inequity on the streets, which are basic political questions.
Another entry-point for policy making on pedestrian issues is that of road safety. Based on
the recommendations by the Sundar Committee on Road Safety and Traffic Management
38 National Urban Transport Policy, 2006, Sec 12-13
39 IRC 103-1998
40 Roshan Toshnival, 2012. A peek at the legal provisions protecting the walkers in urban areas, Transparent Chennai, available
at http://www.transparentchennai.com/2012/12/
41 Central Motor Vehicles Act, 1989, available at: http://morth.nic.in/index3.asp?sslid=106&subsublinkid=41&lang=1
42 IPC, sec. 283
200743, the Government of India released a National Road Safety Policy, which addressed
the issues of safety of vulnerable road users. This primarily covered non-motorised transport users (like cyclists) and pedestrians to some extent. The central assumption made in
this approach was that motorised transport and its unfettered growth is the default situation, and in this path of growth, the unfortunate victims are the cyclists and pedestrians.
Therefore, safety and protection must be recommended for them. The option of considering mobility as a comprehensive issue and viewing pedestrians as equal users of the road
is completely missing.
Though necessary and well-intentioned, neither of these approaches design-driven and
road safety-based is singly or together equipped to address the issue of pedestrians in
a sustainable and holistic manner. They are both downstream considerations that should
ideally follow a rights-based articulation of walking. However, as discussed earlier existing
policy like the NUTP presents a very limited view of walking and misses the opportunity
to recognise walking as a daily reality for millions of people, whether or not the streets are
safe, and thus fails to incorporate pedestrian rights into policy language.
A Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study on how walkable are our cities captures
the existing situation, ...India does have a plethora of laws and bye laws related to road
safety, road infrastructure, pedestrian protection, and urban planning that have bearing on
pedestrians. But laws are fragmented and do not add up to effectively promote pedestrianisation or protect pedestrians and their rights with any degree of stringency. Currently,
laws cannot even prevent loss of walking space to widen the roads. Communities are not
involved in decision making on road infrastructure.44 Roshan Toshnival in a review of
legal provisions for pedestrians concurs, The Draft Bill of the National Road Safety and
Traffic Management Act suggested a separate board at the national and state level to
look into road safety and provide and promote special requirements for pedestrians and
the other vulnerable road users, something which has not been constituted. In spite of
this, there are no considerations made for pedestrian infrastructure in the JnNURM, the
countrys biggest urban infrastructure program till date. This is a glaring omission.
In the current situation, despite the glaring gaps in pedestrian rights legislations, cities
across India are racing to come up with pedestrian-oriented policies. Several municipalities have adopted guidelines on footpath construction, street design, etc. - for instance the
Delhi Development Authority through its Unified Traffic and Transportation (Planning
& Engineering) Centre has adopted Pedestrian Design Guidelines in 200945. Pune is
43 ttp://morth.nic.in/writereaddata/linkimages/SL_Road_Safety_sundar_report4006852610.pdf
44 CSE releases findings on how walkable are our cities http://www.cseindia.org/node/70
45 Delhi UTTIPEC Pedestrian Design Guidelines http://dda.org.in/ddausers/UTTIPEC/images/PedestrianGuidelines30Nov09-UTTPEC-DDA.pdf
42
expected to bring out a pedestrian policy46 and Bangalore came up with its draft in 200847.
A general critique of all the policies for which texts are publically available is the absence
of a rights-frame. This is hardly surprising considering the history of pedestrian related
decision making highlighted in the earlier sections.
Concrete steps can be taken to sustainably achieve pedestrian rights only when in fact
walking is actually seen as a right. One of the first steps in this direction is to create platforms and forums for participation of pedestrians in self-determining the decision making
on streets, safety and transit. The Central Motor Vehicles Act has resulted in Road Safety
Councils in all States, and similar steps are necessary for pedestrian issues. Once there is
legal clarity on pedestrian rights, there is a need to integrate existing legislations to offer a
holistic lens with which pedestrian entitlements can be implemented. Further issues to be
addressed include equitable sharing of road space, prevention of encroachment of pedestrian spaces, etc.48 Such a rights-frame is essential for achieving pedestrian friendly spaces
that are equitable and sustainable.
3. POLICY AND PROGRAMME CRITIQUES:

BANGALORE
FLYOVERS AND UNDERPASSES
Flyovers and underpasses have largely been the city administrations response to Bangalores traffic woes. A look at the various flyovers and underpasses in the city is sufficient
to realize that these dont address traffic problems because it either shifts traffic from one
junction to the next or encourages more vehicles thereby negating any temporary relief
sooner than later.
However, what is of concern for us here is how this impacts the pedestrian. Flyovers and
underpasses eliminate traffic signals, thereby leading to uninterrupted high speed flow of
motor vehicles making crossing the roads risky and unsafe at/near the junctions. Bus
stops are also often shifted away from the intersection, increasing the walking distance to
bus stops for bus commuters.
In fact, a recent study done by researchers from IIT Delhi establishes that construction
of flyovers increase the risk to pedestrians.49 The study further suggests that flyovers
46 The Times Of India, 2011, Pedestrians policy on the cards , Available at http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.
com/2011-04-20/pune/29450203_1_pedestrian-safety-footpaths-traffic-signals
47 Draft Pedestrian Policy for BMR: http://indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/Draft%20Pedestrian%20Policy%20
for%20BMR.pdf
48 Same as 35
49 Statistical analysis to measure pedestrian risk at foot of flyover, 2011, Mariya Khatoon, Dr. Gitam Tiwari, IIT Delhi: http://
encourage people to use private vehicles and move away from public transport, walking
and bicycling. The concept of underpasses being similar to flyovers in that it eliminates
signals and speeds up traffic, underpasses also have the same risk and safety implications
and discourages pedestrians, as flyovers do.
In spite of research and experience on the ground that clearly shows how flyovers and
underpasses increase risk to pedestrians (besides providing, at best, temporary relief to
traffic congestion), underpasses and flyovers continue to dominate Bangalores traffic
policy discourse and initiatives.50 While subways and foot-over-bridges are often touted
as solutions for pedestrians in such situations, these are equally pedestrian unfriendly as
noted earlier.
ROAD WIDENING
Road widening was taken up in a big way to address traffic congestion in the city in 2005.
However, these projects have attracted citizens ire for various reasons and led to widespread protests and court cases. Widening of roads has failed to resolve traffic congestion.
Hosur road was widened in 2008-2009 with the promise of relieving congestion. However,
three years and an elevated road (from Silk Board to Electronic City) later, congestion
continues. The case of the widened Sheshadri Road or Bellary Road is no different. In
no time, vehicles have increased to occupy and overflow the additional space that was
created through widening. This fact is also borne out by the experience all over the world
from attempts to reduce congestion by widening roads51. An example is this study of
American cities across a time period of 30 years has shown that wider roads dont reduce
congestion52.
An oft forgotten aspect of road widening is how it impacts the pedestrian. While the city
authorities continue plans to widen more and more roads, reality may be that many roads
in city are already too wide for people to cross comfortably and safely. Wider roads mean
longer crossing times. This makes crossing more difficult or even impossible in some cases.
This acts as a strong deterrent to walking. Wider roads also mean higher traffic volumes
and vehicle speeds. Higher speeds make it more difficult for the motorists to spot the
pedestrian or stop on time. Wider roads with opportunity to speed through also often lead
to rash driving by motorists. All these significantly endanger pedestrian safety53.
iutindia.org/urban2011/images/stories/prsnt_UMI11/3A/MariyaKhatoon.pdf
50 See reports: http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/article3802063.ece, http://praja.in/en/blog/madhusudhan/2012/07/06/old-madras-road-and-whitefield-road-connectivity-becomes-reality , http://www.commonfloor.com/
stories/flyover-brings-sigh-of-relief-for-bangalore-commuters-18897
51 Surface Transportation Policy Project, California: http://www.transact.org/ca/congestion2.htm
52 The Fundamental Law of Road Congestion, Duranton and Turner; 2009; National Bureau of Economic Research http://
www.nber.org/papers/w15376.pdf
53 Times Of India, 2012, Survey finds Bangalore has Indias worst-behaved motorists http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.
com/2012-04-25/bangalore/31398352_1_walkability-index-roads-asian-cities
44
On arterial roads, medians between lanes can address some of these problems to an
extent. However, as can be seen from the observations above, medians on most of our
roads are too high and too narrow for safety or comfort for the pedestrian. This poses a
huge risk to people trying to cross wide roads. Road medians should be sufficiently wide
and accessible to allow pedestrians to use them comfortably and safely to halt till they can
cross the next lane.
In residential neighbourhoods, wider roads and high volume fast moving traffic also affect
the quality of life as people feel discouraged to walk across streets to meet their neighbours, roads become less safe for children to access parks and playgrounds nearby and
so on. In fact, studies have shown that people living on a street with light traffic (2,000
vehicles per day)54 had three times as many friends and twice as many acquaintances on
the street as did people living on a street with heavy traffic (16000 vehicles per day) . The
most affected, as always, are children, the elderly and those with special needs. Streets that
are not walkable not only impact people, but also impact the businesses in those streets as
walking to these stores for shopping will not be a pleasant experience and those who can
afford to will start avoiding these shops.
Many road widening projects not only widen the roads, but also end up narrowing the
footpath. This is yet another way in which road widening affects pedestrians in our city.
Our footpaths are often non-existent and where they exist, they are often too narrow.
Road widening projects often end up cannibalizing even this limited space available for
the pedestrian. With street trees getting the axe when roads are widened, it also takes away
the soothing shade that made walking easier and even pleasant, and sometimes also acted
as natural barricades to vehicles coming on to footpaths.
What one can sense is an urgent need to reduce the effective width of roads, widen footpaths and implement traffic calming and other measures to ensure pedestrian safety and
encourage walking, among other things. This can go a long way in making the city friendlier and healthier for its inhabitants and reclaim a quality of life that moving inside boxes
can never provide.
SIGNAL FREE CORRIDORS

Signal free corridors entered the traffic planning discourse in Bangalore in 2009 through
the Road, Traffic Management and Transportation plan, prepared by ABIDE, an advisory body to the chief minister55. ABIDE proposed an aggressive strategy of junction
elimination to reduce travel time on Big 10 arterial roads to ORR (Outer Ring Road) and
54 Appleyard, Donald, 1981. Livable Streets, University of California Press, Berkeley. Available at:
http://www.walkinginfo.org/pedsafe/background.cfm, http://raisethehammer.org/article/1620/
the_impact_of_street_traffic_on_residents:_some_research_findings
55 Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDE) http://abidebengaluru.in/; Road, Traffic Management and
Transportation Plan prepared by ABIDE.
beyond. From there, it soon found its way into BBMP, the elected local government of
Bangalore. The BBMP Budget Speech of 2009-10 also states that ABIDE directed BBMP
to develop these corridors as signal free corridors and decided to make ORR signal free56.
83 crores were allocated for this project in the Budget. BBMP called for tenders for this
project in 2010, however eventually shelved the project due to lack of funds and transferred some to BDA57. BDA has been attempting to work on some of these projects amidst
public protests and controversies. Signal free corridors have again come to the centre of
Bangalores transport planning with Karnataka State Budget 2012-13 sanctioning 426
crores for the project (5 corridors covering 51.5kms in length) and the PIL against the
Agara Sirsi Corridor, which has since been rejected by a court appointed committee. The
most recent development is that BBMP has called for tenders for the 5 signal free corridors
again58. One can see that signal free corridors seem to be recurring solution in Bangalores
traffic infrastructure portfolio.
The signal free corridors are fundamentally flawed as a mobility solution within the city. It
goes against the pedestrians right to walk as it severely impairs the pedestrians ability to
cross the road. While some may argue that foot over bridges and subways can be solutions
for pedestrians to cross these cannot be provided at all possible crossing points and even
where they can be, they are not desirable as we have seen before in the section on skywalks
and subways.
Apart from all the ills that go with wider roads (which signal free corridors, by default, are),
a wide road without signals inside the city is an open invitation to motorists to over-speed.
As per a plan approved by BBMP Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), on just 7 of
the 12 proposed corridors, 60 signals are to be removed59. An absence of signals for long
stretches will force people to attempt to cross the road in between the traffic, putting their
lives to risk. With motorists driving at extremely high speeds, accidents on such corridors
are not a possibility but an eventuality. With walking and crossing the road becoming such
a high risk activity, it can also affect the basic neighbourhood activities of walking across
to the neighbourhood store, visiting friends or relatives across the road etc. and can make
people either stop doing such basic things or start using vehicles for these also, thereby
adding further to the traffic.
Bellary Road is a live example of how a signal free corridor plays havoc with peoples lives
literally and figuratively. When the road was first opened for traffic to the BIAL airport,
there were hardly any signals on this road after Mekhri Circle. The accident statistics on
56 BBMP Budget Speech 2009-10: http://bbmp.gov.in/documents/10180/13106/ENGLISHBUDGETSPEECH09-10.pdf
57 Times of India, 2011, Dead-End to Signal free corridors http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-08/
bangalore/29633319_1_signal-free-outer-ring-road-km
58 Citizen Matters, Project to make ORR, Hosur Road, Silk Board Junction signal-free takes off http://bangalore.
citizenmatters.in/articles/orr-hosur-road-rajkumar-road-to-become-signal-free
59 Citizen Matters, 2009, Junctions where grade separators are to come up http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/
view/1574-grade-separator-projects-bengaluru
46
this road are telling - 54 deaths just in 7 months from January to July 201160. Though a few
signals have been installed on this road at a couple of points, the situation continues to be
bad. This recent article clearly brings out what such high speed signal free corridors does
to the city and the people living along such corridors61. What needs to be remembered is
that, these are city roads and not highways, which would have much less pedestrian traffic.
Outer Ring Road, Hosur Road etc are also examples of similar nightmares within the city.
When able-bodied people die in scores on such stretches, what chance do people with
special needs stand? Signal free corridors are not a desirable component in a citys mobility
solutions. Speeding up traffic is not a solution or a public need. Along with strengthening
public transport solutions, we need to reduce the traffic and introduce traffic calming
measures as many progressive cities across the world are doing. This is the only solution to
a citys mobility needs, which serve the people and not vehicles.
4. PLANNING AND DECISION MAKING

PROCESSES
As per 74th Amendment of the Constitution of India62, functions of urban planning,
change of land use and roads are devolved to the local governments, i.e., BBMP, in the
case of Bangalore. However, these functions in Bangalore are still largely driven by the
State Government and the States Urban Development Department and/or the parastatal bodies like BDA or private bodies like ABIDE etc. Road widening projects, for
instance, was initiated by the Urban Development Department. Signal free corridors
project, though initiated by BBMP, was taken up under the direction of ABIDE, an advisory body to Chief Minister. As can be seen in BBMPs budget speech of 2009-1063, it
directed BBMP, the elected council of Bangalore, to develop 10 arterial roads as signal
free corridors. Thus, in matters regarding road infrastructure and pedestrians, the elected
representatives of BBMP often do not make the decisions, but end up implementing them
on behalf of the state government. Even in such a situation, if BBMP is involved in the
project, it gives the public an opportunity to engage with the BBMP corporators, standing
committees, Mayor etc. regarding their grievances or opposition. But, in projects where
BDA is the decision maker and/or implementer, this window of engagement also doesnt
exist. Thus such decisions get made and implemented undemocratically and in violation
of the 74th Constitutional Amendment.
While it is important that these functions be devolved to BBMP, that, in itself, may not be
60 http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/approach-roads-witness-most-fatal-accidents-093
61 http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/cities/bengaluru/bellary-road-death-trap-307
62 74th Constitutional Amendment http://www.urbanindia.nic.in/programme/lsg/74th_CAA.pdf
63 BBMP Budget Speech, 2009-10 http://bbmp.gov.in/budget/ENGLISHBUDGETSPEECH09-10.pdf
sufficient to address the plethora of issues the pedestrians face. Pedestrian matters need
focused attention within BBMP. While BBMP has Standing Committees for various functions, there is none that focuses on pedestrian issues. At the state level also, there is no clear
focus on pedestrian facilities and safety.
Another aspect to be considered in this context is how planning is done and what law
provides for in this regard. Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 196164 lays out
the provisions and procedures that are to be followed by the planning authority before
taking up any works in the city. Notifying the plan to public and seeking and addressing
objections from public, formulating schemes to implement the plan and seeking public
inputs on the scheme are all essential part of the process, before rolling out projects like
road widening or signal free corridors. These procedures are also to be followed by BBMP
when formulating its urban planning projects and schemes. However, none of these procedures have been followed in the case of any of the mega transport and road projects in
Bangalore. This deprives the public of legitimate opportunities to participate in the planning of their city and raise critical issues like pedestrian facilities, pedestrian safety and
healthy and safe neighborhoods.
Another provision to ensure that the projects BBMP takes up do not have an adverse social
impact is the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) of BBMP. It has the mandate to assess
the social impact of projects. However, whether such assessments happen on the ground
is uncertain. For instance, TAC approved the signal free corridors despite its significant
social impact (refer section on signal free corridor), without studying or addressing the
impact it has on pedestrians.
5. PEOPLES RESPONSES
There have been widespread protests in many parts of the city since 2005, against road
widening projects, and later on, opposing signal free corridor projects. Citizens and interest
groups came out to protest the road widening on Avenue Road, Chamrajpet, Sheshadri
Road, Tannery Road, Outer Ring Road, Banaswadi, Jayamahal and Sankey Road.
While the protests have been for a variety of reasons like tree felling, loss of private property, shops and livelihoods, impact on pedestrians has not always been a concern. This can
be seen from the petitions and pamphlets from the various peoples campaigns like in the
case of Tannery Road in 2009 or the convention against road widening organised by Save
Bangalore committee in 2010. It is only in some of the recent protests (eg: against Sankey
Road widening) where this has begun to come up as a serious concern.
A PIL was filed in 2008 by Environment Support Group (ESG) and others against road
widening highlighting the absence of public consultation and planning procedures in the
64 Karnataka Town and Country Planning Act, 1961 http://dpal.kar.nic.in/pdf_files/11%20of%201963%20(E).pdf
48
conception and implementation of such projects. The court ruled in an interim order that
such projects should be taken in strict compliance with the provisions of Karnataka Town
and Country Planning Act and Karnataka Preservation of Trees Act. Public campaigns
by impacted communities and civic groups, along with the legal backing provided by this
order, have been able to largely stall the widening of many roads across the city.
A detailed assessment of the road-widening project is found in the report on a Public

Consultation organised by ESG, CIVIC and ALF in 200765, titled Public Consultation
on The Road Widening Schemes of Bengaluru: Impacts and Alternatives66. The WP
7107/2008 filed by ESG and others in 2008 also has a detailed critique of the road-widening project.
One of the earliest signal free corridor projects which roused citizens ire is the Rajkumar
Road corridor. This involved widening the roads at the junctions and eliminating the
signals and involved property acquisitions as well. Citizens protested strongly against the
project. Later, in a public meeting where residents raised concerns about it, the BBMP
standing committee (Major Works) Chairman announced that the Rajkumar project is
being dropped. However, there is no confirmation on this as BBMP has again talked about
bringing this corridor back on its signal free map for the city.
65 ESG, 2007, Road widening schemes of Bengaluru: ImpactImpacts and Alternatives http://esgindia.org/campaigns/hasireusiru/press/hasire-usiru-campaign-reclaim-bangalores.html-7
66 http://www.deccanherald.com/content/265709/govt-gives-go-ahead-five.html
Another major controversy on signal free corridors surrounds the Agara-Sirsi Circle
corridor. The work on this corridor was started by BDA. However, residents strongly
opposed the project and even filed a PIL. High court referred the project to a committee
to study and decide. The committee, though sympathetic to public concerns, failed to
conduct a truly democratic and participatory public consultation. However, after some
deliberations, the committee has recommended the plan for signal free corridor be
dropped, while suggesting some underpasses and flyovers at different junctions67.
Many residents from across the city, many communities and resident welfare associations
(RWAs) and traders associations who have been protesting such transport projects in their
localities, and civil society organizations and networks have come together to form an alliance opposing the methods and nature of transport projects in the city, called Bangalore
Transport Project Impacted Communities (BATPIC). BATPIC has issued a statement on
its concerns regarding transport projects in the city and promoting progressive and inclusive solutions68.
67 Citizen Matters, 2012: Citizens win: Drop Koramangala corridor project, says govt panel http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/
articles/view/4567-citizens-win-drop-koramangala-corridor-project-says-govt-panel
68 http://esgindia.org/education/community-outreach/press/bangalore-road-widening-and-other-urban-.html
SECTION IV
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
52
What clearly emerges from the above discussions on the physical, spatial and social experience of pedestrians in Bangalore is that walking is a challenging proposition, fraught
with risk and often ignored in planning and practice. Whether crossing a road or while
using footpaths, pedestrians face a multitude of problems. The number of instances of
pedestrian fatalities on the road is growing, which is intricately linked to both the lack of
pedestrian friendly facilities as well as poor road design. It is not surprising then, that those
who are in a position to choose their mode of transport are turning away from walking
as a mode of transport. This simultaneously leads to an increased dependence on motor
transport often privately owned.
However for a large number of citizens, walking is an unavoidable part of their daily
routines. Most users of public transport are required to incorporate some amount of
walking into their transit to and from bus or auto stops. The urban poor, students, and
others unable to own or drive private vehicles also depend on walking to reach their destinations. Considering the large percentage of Bangalores population walking short and
long distances on a daily basis, the seemingly deliberate de-prioritisation of pedestrians
and of walking in city planning and policy is appalling.
The subsequent sections suggest overarching recommendations for shifting the transport planning in Bangalore towards a mobility agenda through a rights-based approach
towards pedestrians.
PEDESTRIANS NEED TO BE LOCATED IN POLICY

AND PLANNING
It is clear from the findings from the CCTR process that walking does not form an active
part of transport or Infrastructural planning, and is most often introduced as an afterthought. There is no single nodal agency, either at the BBMP level or the state level that
has a clear mandate to look into matters impacting pedestrians.
Moreover, the complete absence of a rights-based approach to walking right from the
national to the state level implies that any designs and plans for pedestrians fall short of
reaching all groups of people. If a persons right to walk is violated, there is no clarity on
where to struggle to uphold it. By and large, no policies (until very recently) even consider
the issues of pedestrians in a holistic and effective manner. They mention walking as a
mode of transport, but do not incorporate aspects of inclusivity, equity, safeguards etc. It
is not a right that is currently justiciable, since Acts like the Karnataka Municipal Corporations Act and the Karnataka Town and County Planning Act do not consider issues of
pedestrians.
When viewed from the rights-based lens, the step-motherly treatment meted out to walking
in favour of motorised transport road users must end. Not doing so violates peoples right
to movement, their right to livelihood and several other interlinked rights. Clearly violations of the right to walk has implications on other rights, particularly for groups like the
urban poor, women, differently abled, children, street vendors, etc.
REVERSAL OF WEAKENING SENSE OF

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
Transportation planning plays a central role in establishing whether there is a potential
for interaction for all communities within a city. Research shows that the right blend of
such planning and corresponding infrastructure can allow for ensuring that community
building, at the local and at the city level, is inclusive of diverse groups of people. For
example, benches or resting areas, street performances, children playing in parks, etc.
allow for greater potential for interaction69, and therefore play a significant role in building
a community.
A city that emphasises walking is considered much safer because of the presence of public
characters such as shop keepers, street vendors, and the elderly who sit on benches. These
individuals are not only available to share information, but they are also able to be the
public eye for any disruption, thereby discouraging various forms of crime70. This form
of safe-keeping can have a rippling effect, in that the more people trust in their communities, the safer they feel, which can lead to a higher sense and responsibility to their community and thus enhancing their sense of well-being. This works conversely as well. When
one does not have any interaction with the local community, and with individuals who
form their community at various levels (including street vendors, shop keepers, sweepers
etc), they also have a greater sense of alienation, and civic duty to the community and to
the city at large diminishes.
Thus, emphasis on walking and a focus on pedestrian issues are not merely the concern
of those who are walking, but also of people from all levels of the socio-economic scale.
Apart from the health benefits of walking, walking can aid in the overall development
of the city, enhancing its livability and sociability71. Despite its benefits, it is neglected
in Bangalores transportation planning. Thus, a reorientation of transportation planning
towards pedestrians will not only help millions who walk, but also help create a more
sustainable, responsible, and safe city.
69 Loren Demerath and David Levinger. 2003. The social qualities of being on foot: A theoretical analysis of pedestrian activity,
community and culture. City and Community, vol. 2., Issue 3, 217-237
70 Loren Demerath and David Levinger. 2003. The social qualities of being on foot: A theoretical analysis of pedestrian activity,
community and culture. City and Community, vol. 2., Issue 3, 217-237.
71 OECD/ITf, 2011, Pedestrian safety, urban space and health. Available at: http://www.internationaltransportforum.org/
Pub/pdf/11PedestrianSum.pdf
54
MOVING BEYOND TECHNOCRATIC APPROACH

TOWARDS PLANNING FOR PEDESTRIANS
The only road-related organisation that stipulates any guidelines for pedestrians is the
Indian Road Congress (IRC) and they too speak about footpath width. Directorate of
Urban Land Transport (DULT) has come up with their pedestrian policy, but it fails to
use a rights-based lens towards pedestrian issues. All these are design-heavy to the point of
being tipped over due to their over-emphasis on technical solutions to social issues. If planning happens through a pedestrian lens, it will have implications for other means of transportation. Facilities provided for pedestrians often lead to their increased use of public
transportation, and reduces dependency on private means of transportation. This can
solve issues of congestion and traffic much more effectively than short-sighted proposals
that focus solely on motorists. Clearly, if planning is done with the pedestrian in mind,
infrastructural costs reduce dramatically72.
An example of this approach is evident in the move against at-grade crossing towards
skywalks and subways, which have largely failed in their promise. In this context, it is troubling that BBMP continues to see skywalks and subways as appropriate options for helping
people to cross roads in Bangalore. This is happening even as cities like Delhi, Mumbai
and Chennai73 and London74 are moving away from sky-walks to at-grade or surface level
crossing. Surface level crossing is both equitable and convenient. Hence, a task of priority
for the city corporation and traffic police may be to identify, along with the people, roads
and points across the city which need critical attention and provide safe crossing at grade.
WAY FORWARD
This report tentatively suggests some recommendations at the institutional, policy and
action level for moving ahead from where we are. We envisage this as a growing list, and
we intend to detail it in collaboration with other interested groups. Prior to focusing on
design specific issues like adequate crossing time for pedestrian lights, or increased regularity of zebra crossings, we focus on the broader issues that require change before moving
into design, which is a downstream consideration. Overall, we believe a fundamental shift
in mindset is needed for both policymakers and citizens, since no one currently recognises
pedestrian issues as legitimate or as an outcome of a human rights framework. This shift
72 Same as 62
73 Ajai Sreevatsan, 2011, Will skywalks measure upto soaring expectations?, The Hindu. Available at: http://www.thehindu.
com/news/cities/chennai/article2711206.ece
74 Surface Transport Panel, 2009, Transport for London: Subways. Available at: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/
corporate/Item10-Subways.pdf
can happen through:

Dialog amongst different groups of players
Simultaneous work on issues of policy and legislative change at the local, state and
national level
Specifically at the level of BBMP, impacting on local policies, transportation planning
not only in the form of skywalks/foot-over-bridges and underpasses
INSTITUTIONAL LEVEL
Urban Local Body to be responsible for pedestrian rights and safety and for building
and maintaining footpaths, in the same way it is responsible for providing shelters for
the homeless or maintaining city roads. This needs to be legally enforceable. This
could be done by amendments to KMC Act through a process of wide public consultation. Amendments, if any, required in any other act (such as those governing Traffic
Police etc) may be further done to make this implementable.
Constitute NMT cell chaired by mayor/commissioner or such other mechanism
under BBMP to be the responsible body for this. This body should also have the
powers to co-ordinate between BTP, BMTC and all other agencies to address pedestrian rights and safety
NMT cell to set up a committee for formulating a comprehensive policy and action
plan for the city to ensure pedestrian rights and safety, through a process of wide
public consultations. The action plan shall ensure that walking is a safe, convenient
and pleasant experience in Bangalore.
The following sections are further examples of the kind of policy and action that the
committee and NMT cell should look at.
POLICY LEVEL
A pro-public transport pro-pedestrian friendly approach should be the cornerstone to
all traffic planning and infrastructure across the city
Move away from pedestrian unfriendly projects like widening roads, signal free corridors, underpasses and foot-over-bridges
Impact to pedestrians and cyclists should be assessed for all future projects
Adopt at-grade-crossings and pelican lights as preferred solution for crossing roads
across the city
56
Provide crossings every 100-150 meters

Adopt traffic calming measures as the primary approach to pedestrian safety
Declare heavy pedestrian zones as vehicle free zones and actively develop such zones
across city
Create more street side, accessible markets
ACTION LEVEL (FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION)

Do pedestrian audits of all major roads and junctions across the city - covering footpaths, tree cover, crossing infrastructure and facilities a adequate distances, access
to the differently abled, street lights, flooding during rains etc. This can be done in
phases with the 12 arterial roads taken up in the first phase and proceed to other
major and smaller roads in phases
All footpaths which were shrunk as a result of road widening should be restored to
original width immediately
Immediately clear roads and footpaths of construction debris as per the law.
Take up tree planting on a war footing on all roads which dont have trees. Identify
native trees and use well grown saplings to allow them to grow better.
Implement National Disability Law in the context of the citys roads, footpaths, crossings and public places to facilitate pedestrian/NMT access to the differently abled
Take up a city-wide footpath provisioning exercise (providing where they are non-existent, widening where they are too narrow and improving the conditions), taking into
account the varied uses of footpaths as discussed in the sections above.
Dismantle the existing foot-over-bridges and pedestrian underpasses and provide
alternate at-grade solutions at those locations
Encourage pelican lights and install them widely across the city
Increase pedestrian crossing time at automated signals to provide for safe and comfortable crossing for all kinds of users (the differently abled, vendors with push carts,
women and children, people with luggage etc)
Launch public campaign to educate motorists and pedestrians about pedestrian rights
and pedestrian friendly behavior and create awareness about usage of pedestrian
friendly infrastructure such as pelican lights
As part of the process for arriving at a more complete set of recommendations, this report
will be shared with a wide range of people and groups from across the city through workshops, media events and public discussions. The consolidated set of recommendations
collectively arrived at will be included in a future version of this report and will be
submitted to the relevant authorities for carrying forward the advocacy towards pedestrian friendly Bangalore.

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Bangalore | September 2013

ABOUT HASIRU USIRU

Published by HASIRU USIRU

1. Come, Cross the Road

2. Walking as a way of life

3. Who is thinking about pedestrians?

4. Organisation of the report

BEING A PEDESTRIAN IN BANGALORE

2. Infrastructure for Walking

4. Disadvantaged groups as pedestrians

STREETS FOR PEOPLE

1. Pedestrians and the Law

3. Policy and programme critiques: Bangalore

4. Planning and decision making processes

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Pedestrians need to be located in policy and planning

Reversal of weakening sense of community engagement

Moving beyond technocratic approach towards planning for pedestrians

1. COME, CROSS THE ROAD

2. WALKING AS A WAY OF LIFE

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

3. WHO IS THINKING ABOUT PEDESTRIANS?

4. ORGANISATION OF THE REPORT

BEING A PEDESTRIAN IN BANGALORE

1. CROSSING BANGALORES ROADS

SKYWALKS AND SUBWAYS

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

NOT ACCESSIBLE TO PEDESTRIANS

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

6 See reports in: http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/deadly-medians-the-bane-of-motorists/

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

FLYOVERS AND UNDERPASSES

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

2. INFRASTRUCTURE FOR WALKING

POOR QUALITY AND CONDITION OF FOOTPATHS

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

Photo credit Mathew Thomas

FOOTPATHS ROADS BY ANOTHER NAME?

The same plan for the same

Even cars climbed onto footpaths to park or to drive, posing

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

Widening roads by shrinking footpaths in Jayanagar 10th Main March 2012

FOOTPATHS UNDER THREAT FROM DEVELOPMENT WORKS

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

PEDESTRIANS AND THE MISSING TREES

OTHER IMPEDIMENTS TO WALKING

12 See Reports: http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/yet-another-green-canopy-under-threat-1499191.html, http://bangalore.

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

THE LEGAL STANDING OF STREET VENDORS

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

DO STREET VENDORS CAUSE CONGESTION?

STREET VENDORS AS BUILDING BLOCKS OF FOOTPATH ECOSYSTEM

STREET VENDING AND THE PEDESTRIAN IN THE FUTURE

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

street there are also several concerns around the law.

4. DISADVANTAGED GROUPS AS PEDESTRIANS

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

PEDESTRIANS IN BANGALORE WALKING A TIGHTROPE

1. Come, Cross the Road

2. Walking as a way of life

3. Who is thinking about pedestrians?

4. Organisation of the report

BEING A PEDESTRIAN IN BANGALORE

2. Infrastructure for Walking

4. Disadvantaged groups as pedestrians

STREETS FOR PEOPLE

1. Pedestrians and the Law

3. Policy and programme critiques: Bangalore

4. Planning and decision making processes

CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Pedestrians need to be located in policy and planning

Reversal of weakening sense of community engagement

Moving beyond technocratic approach towards planning for pedestrians