The Sound of Thunder
I travel a long distance to work... I am thinking a LOT of random thoughts on the way...
I ride a 500cc Enfield Machismo to work.. and though this machine is muted compared to other (earlier) bikes from the same stable... it is pretty loud compared to a lot of the plastic stuff out there... Advantage One...
Standing in a traffic light... eveyone has their vehicles on idiling... and are driving/riding to work almost on auto-pilot... I doscovered one thing... the collective energy levels of the crowd at the signal is a function of the noise levels... the more the noise... the more the activity (energy)..
so... I tried a small activity... everyone is on Idle... and suddenly... out of nowhere... I raise my machine and let her roar a litte... almost immediately... bikes and cars rush into action... bikes budge forward to fill up spaces... cars inch ahead trying to get ahead... I just stand there watching... then they realise it was a false alarm and get back to they sedentary poses....
I tried this at various junctions and at all times of the day/night... it works EVERYTIME... Without fail...
What could this mean? why this collective behaviour? Why does this happen?
I have a few thoughts...
One... people dont really want to drive (or drive in bangalore) and are looking to disengage at every chance they can get... traffic signals create that oppurtunity... what does this mean? people are not alert at signals... and immeditely when they start off from signals... they are liable to not be completly aware...
Two... as a UX (User Experience)... traffic signals are tedious... they dont meet unsaid needs of the users... they are bad design... Traffic Signals were originally meant to be short stop solutions to clearing traffic... they were never intended to be an experince like this... We should look at redesigning the traffic signal experience... and immediately...
Three...vehicles were initially designed to move... they were designed to be be means of transport... they were designed to be in motion... then somewhere down the line.. they were also designed to look good standing... but look at it this way... who designed them to be at traffic lights? NO ONE!... they are just NOT designed to be running (engine) and standing at a signal with riders/drivers on/in them...! I think automotive designers need to rethink this as a paradim in automotive design... any takers?
Lastly... entertainment systems need to be deigned to fill this gap... I think design has become feature oriented and not purpose oriented... rethink this peoples!!! design should ALWAYS be purpose oriented...
Cheers!!!
-A
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6 comments:
Very nice and thought oriented as it is always ... ;)Actually makes a lot of sense and I totally agree on reworking on traffic lights.
May be u shd post it on a govt. website so that people concerned can have a look at it and think..Keep thinking stuff like this and cheers Begum who is the one responsible for this.
Haha thats a good one... good thought about it. Check out my post on traffic in Hyd http://reveries-of-garfield.blogspot.com/2008/07/traffikkiiiiiiiiii.html
I am Vasanth Dharmaraj. I live in New Jersey, USA. I work for Wyeth as an Architect.
There have been a lot of posts about how bad the Bangalore traffic is and how the bad and deteriorating road infrastructure is responsible for this. But one major factor is seldom mentioned. It is the human touch.
Here is the problem. Most drivers/riders in Bangalore do not have a traffic sense, do not know the traffic rules and do not give a damn about others. They think they are the king of the road. They are also highly impatient and arrogant with a huge ego. :-)
Now the above statement may sound very harsh but I can find no other explanation for the way people behave on the roads. Here is a small subset of things that you can see on Bangalore roads:
• People change lanes at will. They do not bother who is behind or alongside them. It is the other person’s responsibility to take evasive action.
• In two lane roads people drive with their vehicles occupying half of either lane. This way they can prevent anyone from overtaking them on either lanes or switch to which ever lane is faster easily.
• No one seems to stop after the green light turns red at signals. If you want to stop when the light turns read, do so at your own risk. There is a high possibility that the vehicle behind you will ram right into you!
• People can turn to any direction at will. I have seen a lot of vehicles especially busses turn left from the right most lanes or vice versa.
• Turn indicators are just an unnecessary accessory. People use if for fun. They turn on the right indicator to turn left and are amused at the reaction of others.
• People do not respect the one way signs on roads. They travel in either direction.
• Normally vehicles should keep left in India. But this does not apply to Bangalore. People travel on the right too especially if there is a median on the road and they join the road in the opposite direction. There will not be bothered to move in the right direction and take a U turn.
• Nobody knows what “Give way” or “Stop and Go” means. Nobody cares who has the right of way in an intersection. It is the meanest or one with the biggest who gets the right of way.
• People can not move is a straight line and at a constant speed. They like to keep moving sideways and accelerate and decelerate constantly.
Like I said this is just a small set of crazy things you can see on Bangalore roads. And it is not that a small portion of the drivers/riders are behaved this way. It is the majority! And I see these things happen daily in my commute to office.
I do not know how the other places in India are, but Bangalore and Chennai are two cities I have lived in. Both are just as bad. I do not see this changing even if the road infrastructure improves drastically.
Why are people like this? I do not have a definitive answer. But maybe it is because you can get a license in India very easily. In most places you do not have to write the mandatory written test or do the practical test. For a small bribe you can get a license even without being in the country! The problem is you can not get a license even if you pass both the tests without the bribe. People always choose the easier way and as a result never know or bother about the traffic rules.
Neither am I a good writer, nor am I an avid traveler (for IM standards). Oh yes, when I say traveler, I meant up the mountains and rivers and across the continents. But yes, I use my car and travel the roads of Bangalore every day.
I moved in recently from Hyderabad and I have at least 10 notes on my send off card wishing me luck with Bangalore traffic. Come to think of it, I was straight out scared to come back home. I was told that I will end up driving up and down to office all day long, I was told I will rot in my car, I was told I will die of hunger if I dont eat before I started to home/office. Well, there is an element of truth in it. Bangalore traffic is bad.. BUT (the big BUT here), I am absolutely OK with the traffic and I love the city the way it is. Let's leave my emotion out (I am a number guy) and talk about some objective measures..
Distance from office to home (Hyderabad) - 13 kms
Time taken to reach office - 45 mins
Time of travel - between 10 AM - 12 noon
Distance from office to home (Bangalore) - 17 kms
Time taken to reach office - 60 mins
Time of travel - between 10 AM - 12 noon
Now, come to think about it.. whats written above are averages (time) and there is no statistical evidence that I am traveling faster in one city compared to another. Ah yes, I travel in the roads that most Bangalore people travel to office.
Well, the point I am trying to make is (if i am capable of making one) -
Yes, Bangalore traffic is bad, BUT its not good in any other city that has similar challenges
Bangalore is not what it is 10 years ago, neither is my salary
Given the infrastructure available, the system has done a decent job to take me to office in 60 mins. Can it be better, yes. But does it deserve an unnecessary kick in the butt everytime someone talks about Traffic in Bangalore, the answer is NO.
And finally, this post is not about Hyderabad Vs Bangalore.. its about any city and its traffic. Since I lived in Hyderabad, it was easier to compare. I have been to other cities, but did not drive enough to get my averages right
Traffic or no traffic.. I love this city. Life goes on...
Bangalore's roads are simply "miserable" and bad roads are now
the bane.
Bangalore's traffic is chaotic...spending more than an hour at NGEF and tin factory traffic jams...horrible!!!!
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