Gridlocked in the rush to grow
Newspapers have delighted in reporting a 100km traffic jam outside Beijing could last until mid-September. Road construction is the immediate cause for the gridlock, which stretches as far as Inner Mongolia, Chinese officials have said.
For Indian commuters battling a near-daily gridlock in all the big cities, this is an ominous sign of things to come.
India is adding vehicles at an unprecedented pace, with July clocking the highest car sales on record.
China has already overtaken the United States as the biggest auto market, and Indians are splashing out on cars across segments, from the humble Nano to the uber luxury Jaguar sedan.
But India, despite its stated goal of spending some $500 billion in the five years to March 2012 and double that sum over the next five-year period, has failed to build roads to keep up.
Transport Minister Kamal Nath’s promise to build 20 km of road a day is as full of holes as Mumbai’s roads in the monsoon, and plans for improving public transport have been slow off the ground.
Delhi’s Metro is a success story, but needs to cover a far greater distance before it can take the load off the congested roads.
Mumbai Holiday on a Vespa?
Think Vespa, and images of Audrey Hepburn and rides down cobble-stoned streets immediately come to mind.
How about families of four riding precariously on the choked streets of Mumbai or Delhi?
Piaggio, the Italian vehicle maker that has made the Vespa since just after World War II, has made a big success of its three-wheeler auto rickshaws and commercial vehicles in India, and intends to relaunch the iconic brand here soon.
Why now, when vehicle sales are sluggish, at best? Why now, when the two-wheeler market has moved pretty much decisively to motorbikes? Why now, when a certain low-cost car is close to actually rolling into homes of a lucky 100,000?
But not so long ago, which middle-class Indian family didn’t aspire for — and wait months for — a Bajaj Chetak?
Now, despite gravity-defying motorbikes endorsed by the likes of Hrithik Roshan and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, scooter sales are slowly but surely ticking up.
Sure, many of these are the gentle, gearless variety so popular with the ladies. And yes, they cannot hope to match the numbers of their more macho cousins.
Vespa, it is a nice scooter, and driving it in Mumbai would tempt me, even though it would be considered a bit dangerous 
Indian dilemma — To Nano or not to Nano
I was stuck in a traffic jam on one of New Delhi’s busiest roads, taking in the sights and smells of vehicles idling in all directions, when my cab driver turned to me and asked — “Are you going to buy the Tata Nano?”
It’s a question thrown at me several times over the past few months and each time the answer has been “No”.
Tata Motors is launching the Nano, the world’s cheapest car, on March 23. Bookings open in the second week of April and the 100,000-rupee car is slated to hit Indian roads before July.
As D-day draws near, excitement is palpable among India’s middle-class. Dealers are reporting thousands of enquires daily. After all, buying a car is part of the great Indian dream and the ultimate goal for many a teenager.
With the Nano, it’s now slightly easier to turn that dream into reality. Many of the men and women zipping around on scooters and motorcycles would be eager to upgrade to a four-wheeler.
Those who travel by bus or autorickshaw would also be tempted to go in for a change. And don’t forget the rich — they wouldn’t mind having an extra car just to collect the groceries.
As for me, even my “No” sometimes veers towards a “Maybe”.
Regarding traffic issues /congestion/parking /the millions-of-cars lamenting etc..
The SOLUTION is very simple. Hand over the inefficient infrastructure development to the TATAs.
The inefficient bureaucrats and poor city planners need to be done away with, cause even though its their responsibility to provide and plan for its citizens , they suck at it.
hand over all planning and execution of infrastructure to TATAs engineers. leave them alone for a few months and youd have super cheap highways and probably cute efficient nano-highways that will also make money! Instead of everbody bitching like its Nanos problem, its the govt’s job to provide that for its people.That needs to be overhauled.
Imagine -If the world had to STOP business,inventions, science,competition or envisioning and coming out with creative products due to- shortcomings of GOVTs duties.
We’d be writing on parched paper, no vaccines, and the ride would be a camel not the NANO.
Point being, if 2 lanes of a major highway are at full capacity,
A New highway is built OR the existing one is broadened OR imaginatively planned and creatively enhanced.
People don’t start driving bullock carts to slow down the speed of the highway (read progress).
That’s the way, a modern country and its govt should work, function and do.
Instead of bitching and moaning about space and limitations, pressure and squeeze should be put on politicians to provide
Or be replaced with whoever can do the job.So that India accelerates in its momentum forward.
Taking the red bus home: a joyride in New Delhi
Riding home in the air-conditioned comfort of a gleaming red bus, I find it hard to believe I am travelling in New Delhi.
Squeaky-clean seats, no crowds jostling for room, automatic doors and huge windows offering panoramic views of the bustling streets — it’s a far cry from the torture I have endured in the past.
Buses in India’s capital are not known for being commuter-friendly. The state-owned ones are mostly rickety slowcoaches while the privately operated Blue Line buses zigzag their way through traffic, dangerously negotiating bends and racing each other in a bid to pick up passengers.
Their abysmal safety record led to calls for banning the “killer buses” but with the city dependent on CNG-fuelled public transport to counter the rising number of petrol- and diesel-powered cars, an alternative was needed and fast.
With a state-of-the-art subway already in place and expanding, a revamped public bus transport system could further showcase the city’s potential as it gears up to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
Swanky new low-floor buses were introduced in phases over the past year. Only around 500 of these non-AC (green) and AC (red) buses ply on Delhi’s roads right now — not enough for a population of 14 million. But more will be added in the coming months.
For many of Delhi’s long-suffering commuters who spend precious minutes haggling with autorickshaw drivers, it’s cheaper and convenient to hop on to one of the AC buses, which usually charge double fare compared to the rest of the non-AC fleet.
In the 1970s and 1980s, I used DTU/DTC buses all the time thanks to being constantly broke all the time. I seem to recall the fares increasing from 35 paisa to a maximum of two rupees before I managed to buy a two-wheeler.
Possibly because I went insane thanks to my 20 years in India 1970-90 and have remained crazy, traveling by bus in Delhi remains one of my fondest memories to this day.
There was something about the much slower pace of life in India that the old DTC represented that invites nostalgia. No one seemed to have money, and no one seemed to be in a hurry.
The greatest joy was a long ride in a near empty bus. You felt a real sense of satisfaction ambling along along desolate stretches of road, seemingly going nowhere, with nothing to do except looking outside.
