Come monsoon and the Queen of the Arabian is set to be lashed by the Monsoon rains, in due time perhaps. Considering the way the weather is going, monsoon is as much as a mystery in its coming as is the Smart City. But I would place a fair bet on the monsoon though. Leaving that aside, we look into the bigger picture. Right now our city is besieged by poor traffic planning, ever increasing car numbers (which doesn’t look dwindling anytime), rash and uncontested driving by the private buses, irritating and confusing traffic rules and those cones that just stick out of nowhere. Chaos in short.

Add rain to that equation, what do we have? Motorists and pedestrians will be having a nightmare soon, the city is yet to enforce a transparent system to overcome the possible traffic lock-downs that could be faced by us. Although with roads being fixed slowly and the gutters gutted, it is but the tip of the iceberg yet to be tackled by the city officials. Considering how well manicured Bangalore has managed to run its traffic system, we surely can take a page out of it.

The motorists aren’t the only people to be considered in the equation, pedestrians have equal share in the chaos, with their wanton crossings while a lane gets the green light. Its like one of the 80’s arcade games, you just chance to not hit the person crossing. Why all this bother when people can wait it out? Its not ignorance I would suppose as we have one of the highest literacy rates. Its just how our people have become and its high time we change our attitudes, the common folk and the city officials.

Kochi is remarkably is breaking even for the KSRTC low-floor buses and the A.C volvos, while the ones at Trivandrum are running at a loss. That proves that a lot of people prefer the KSRTC for city travel over the private buses. By increasing traffic routes and slowly curbing the private buses we can at the least hope to have a more better transitional traffic within the city. One where buses aren’t competing to reach stops as though its a scene straight out of one the popular Hollywood movies centered on street racing. And while we are it, Car Pool anyone?
According to urban dictionary

Carpool
When 2 or more individuals share an automobile during a commute to a destination or location.

Carpools are frequently used for fellow employees, students, and/or parents of school children.

By Carpooling, you can save money on gasoline, minimize your impact on the environment, and meet new people.

We have embraced the mall culture and so on of the west why not such practices too? It may be untold to do such a thing to share rides when people have so many stigmas bases on ego and social standings, but face it we have little choice, i.e if we rather slog it like always and enjoy the 1 hour ride on a 10 km stretch. And on the note of saving fuel and being ecologically responsible, how many of us has bothered to turn off our vehicles while stuck at a red light? Let it for a couple of minutes, collectively, that means a considerable amount. Quite some months ago some activists had stood around intersections with signs asking people to switch their engines off and they easily complied, but as a passing fad it was soon forgotten. Simple things like this can totally turn around things for the city in a good way.

Traffic, ecology, etiquette, its a long list. But being the foremost city in Kerala and a growing one at that, we need to restructure ourselves and our mentality. In years to come with IT businesses coming and shipping terminals and such also shaping up, investors and people from outside our state and our nation will start coming down in droves to this little city. We should certainly have something worth offering otherwise we are bound to end up as a cess-pool of mediocrity while the rest of India just goes ahead with the new decade. We have a very long way to go, infrastructural-wise, practices-wise etc, it is the hard truth we have to face, but we have to face it nonetheless.

I am not going to end this post with some corny tag-line asking everyone to join their hands and make a better Kochi. But we owe it to the city to make it a better Kochi for generations to come and ourselves.

Feel free to add your views and opinions.

Have you ever gotten the rotten end of a traffic jam? Got honked and cursed at for driving slightly slower than the rest of the traffic? ( like it would even make much difference because the traffic isn’t going anywhere with it deadlocked for a couple of city blocks!) Gotten cut of from the left by private buses of some hot-shot driver who think’s they have the right to way since they are in hurry? Having two wheeler’s and autorickshaw’s take a right and left at will? And of course the pedestrians deciding to cross right when you get a green light? Welcome to Kochi and I guess mostly a lot of other cities where traffic rules are poorly enforced or where they may not even exist at all.

Kochi has a lot to improve in terms of introducing efficient rules and regulations and abandoning ones that are too deplorable. It is literally hell for most commuters trying to survive each day’s of traffic. What most people need’s a class on what not to do and what to do. And this does not only concern people who drive but pedestrians. They have a right to way to too, but there are rules or certain factors to consider too. You can’t cross right at a junction when that road has gotten a green signal, wait till it turns red, if automobiles can wait, I guess pedestrians can too. The authorities must really consider revamping the way people can travel within the city. It is not an impossible feat, unless we still want to be in the stone age while the rest India develops.

Sid and me were testimony to a very unrealistic approach by a 4-wheeler to traverse through traffic near the Shenoy’s Junction. A lot of drivers consider honking wildly with their horn’s ( that too the really-loud-able-to-hear-several-block-away kind) will get them to magically open up space in an otherwise jam-packed road. That was what had happened to us while we were traveling on my Bullet. If there was way to give of course I am always happy to oblige, but when any person with common sense can see that there is physically no way that a route can be charted between the sardine-tin tight traffic. But as a lot of people who drive in Kochi they still blared on,to the amusement of other drivers all we could do was smile and wave at them and wonder what they are getting at.

Its due to multitude of incidents like this where we really need some kind of a solution to the chaos that reigns in the streets. I figure with all the botched up projects by the authorities that redemption is a little way off the horizon.

Feel free to add your experiences and suggestions.

Dont get carried away by the title ..! No , this is not an article about the number of Zebras in the zoo..! Its about the missing Zebra crossing lines in the city..!

The awesome driving skills showcased by private bus drivers have left us with no choice : Pray for our lives while on the bus , and yes , while on the road either walking or driving for that matter..! !

Now , is it just the private buses who are to be blamed ?? Hell No..!! Most roads in Kochi  do not even have proper markings.!

Zebra crossings are considered to be  a must for all major roads, but one wouldn’d find them in Kochi , even at the  busiest of the junctions.! Now , enough with allegations..! What is the PWD doing to solve this issue ?? They are looking into the matter..!! . According to the latest reports submitted by the PWD to the district collector , they have come up with a very samrt answer..! Short of funds..!! Seriously , how much would a tin of white paint cost ?? If you don’t have the money to get the paint , ask us Kochiites , we would be more than happy to help ( who am I kidding.. lol.. )

The District Collector said that she would stress on the need for proper markings on the road during the State Road Safety Council meeting which will be held next week.  Thanks to the ever efficeint Police dept , nearly 100 buses were charged for speeding and reckless driving in the last two days. ! Hope that would serve as a guiding  example for all the wannabe Schumachers..!!  lol…

The motto of the  State Road Safety Council meeting will be “Safety of pedestrians comes first”.
The district administration and the traffic police are stressing on the need for zebra crossings on city roads. But are the authorities concerned listening? Well , we should use better sound systems I guess..!!  lol.