Traffic Tips For 6-7 Metros or Big Cities.

[IndicaDLS2002]

I am not sure there is such a thread but I was looking for a thread on which we can share information about traffic & tips in 6/7 major cities of Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkatta, Delhi & Ahmedabad?

I guess we can have tier two cities on another thread as the traffic problem is not as much severe as in the above major cities.

It could be things which are as simple as avoid certain roads/areas on certain days due to certain reasons kind of information.

Let me start with my first tip for Bangalore:

1. Avoid taking your car on the road to drive around within the city on Saturdays.

Lot of reasons for above:
Most private companies & esp IT folks have saturdays off & will be free for driving around.
Saturday evening/night is a hot favorite for partying!
Govt offices have half day off which is as good as a holiday frankly and those people are also on the road almost the whole day.
Businessmen, laborers, contractors, suppliers everybody is very busy since the next day is sunday & they need to get their stuff completed for the week & get payments etc.
Banks are mostly closed sundays so if you are a working professional & have business in the bank then saturday is the only day without taking time OFF from work.
Floating population & professionals with families in neighboring towns/cities tend to leave the city on Saturday afternoon evening & come back on monday morning.
Plenty of folks have religious beliefs of visiting deities & temples on saturdays all around the city!
Saturday is also a favorite day for sports events, school meets/events, marathons & even shopping etc as people want to relax sundays to start the work week from monday.

All the above reasons guarantee that roads are clogged on Saturdays!

Probably same in other cities but this seems true for Bangalore although people would say its the same on pretty much every day of the week, but its definitely much more crazier on saturdays!

Sundays the roads are much better & emptier when everybody wants to stay at home & relax!


Admins, If this does not deserve a new thread, please feel free to merge with any other thread which is already around for such traffic related tip sharing!

 

[IndicaDLS2002]

Experienced the saturday phenomenon again today in the traffic choked city of Namma Bengaluru. It was some unavoidable work due to which I needed to take my car in the city. It wasn't too bad though.

 

[dharmesh]

Hmm. Nice thread.
I used to always avoid peak hours. I used to leave from home at 7.15 AM for office and leave office at 5.00 PM just to avoid peak hours traffic. At peak hours all IT companies buses are on road so lot of jams.

It is always good to drive on US Independent day, many companies with US clients have that OFF.

 

[raj_5004]

Mumbai :

1) Traffic is busiest on Monday and is easier on Saturdays... empty on Sundays.
2) Beware of BEST buses and rickshaws.
3) Think about parking space before you take your car out for any place.

 

[patkar_a]

=>Saturday and Sunday is a day when all learners and novice will try their hand on Highways,so learn to keep space on inclines,avoid tailgating by anyone.(no offence)

=>Stop on amber signal,or else pandu will catch you for signal jumping,(will tell you amber means stop,will post sometimes later)

=>In traffic try to keep safe speed,avoid zigzag driving,stick to right lane,plan your turn in advance,provide signals if necessary

=>Avoid driving parellel to any car,move on.
Primarily quickly overtake trucks and heavy vehicles,don't try to stay beside them for long.(had an incident,missed by inches)

>Avoid peak hours,plan your journey.

 

[IndicaDLS2002]

One other tip I can think of is "finding alternate routes" & this I am sure is applicable for all cities. I mean for every main wide road connecting any two locations in any city there are always at least one or more alternate routes which are through residential/other areas, sometimes these are shorter too but avoided by people in the fear of getting stuck/lost, but more often than not I have found it useful exploring these newer routes & end up finding even other useful stuff like a supermarket or even autodecor & electronics shops in convenient locations with ample parking space! So the tip here is if your usual route is too clogged then try to explore an alternate route because its all about spreading out?

 

[raj_5004]

=>In traffic try to keep safe speed,avoid zigzag driving,stick to right lane,plan your turn in advance,provide signals if necessary

No No No!

• Stick to right lane only if you are the fastest, else give way to others and move to the middle lane
• ALWAYS give turn indicators, even if you are just changing lanes

 

[patkar_a]

No No No!

• Stick to right lane only if you are the fastest, else give way to others and move to the middle lane
• ALWAYS give turn indicators, even if you are just changing lanes

I have mentioned the point,don't drive parallel,how fast i could be 80-100 kmph on right lane.

Rest you have mentioned buddy.
Always plan and execute your maneuvers in advance,no sudden lane changes and maneuvers allowed.

Avoid last moment braking,be a sedate driver.

 

[IndicaDLS2002]

Back to the Saturday peak problem, someone should figure out a business around this.

Maximum schools schedule their PTMs on saturdays! Possibly to facilitate for maximum parents to attend but definitely adds to the chaos on the roads. I think I already added this in my first post but anyways.

 

[Arijitb]

No No No!

• Stick to right lane only if you are the fastest, else give way to others and move to the middle lane
• ALWAYS give turn indicators, even if you are just changing lanes

Here in Kolkata - if the driver is novice or not so expert, Rule to be followed those road with Divider.

Stick to right most part alongside with divider, that is safest;

Mostly there are three traffic flows in one flank (one direction)

1. Left flow mostly used by Bus, Bike & Autos - if a novice try to settle extreme left they literally blocking Bike Route - resulting broken left ORVM, Scratch in the Body & abused wordings. Plus it also block Bus/Auto passenger pickup routine.

2. Middle flow dedicated for Experts drivers - Dodging experts - Zigzag specialist - Horn Lovers.

3. Extreme Right corner alongside with divider are used by Trucks and they are the most civilised one in and around city - No honking - No speeding - No fear of rear ending they kept sufficient space in between them , A new driver can keep his car this lane and live peacefully.

Once user learned everything and confident enough, he/she can use the middle flow.