Thanks all for your support (no names here, but you know) and encouragement. All this stuff – talk of infrastructure, positivity, local governance etc – all of which can summarily be rejected as boring, is where my interests are. And I will continue the talking, and as much as possible, some doing at Praja.in.

I am not sure whether to continue this blog as a place for pure ‘personal’ takes on other interests such as Hindi Music, Ancient History and Regionalism of our country, R&D outsourcing/offshoring ), or to just pause all this for a while till I can be sure of finding time to make at least one post every week. Let me think.

So long then. I will be back, very likely here itself in a re-invented way. Or elsewhere. But regardless, I am always around you-know-where. Just google silkboard :)

cheers,

Pranav aka silkboard

In the telecom space, you have TRAI, which is a national level regulatory body. Rightly so, since telecom networks have national footprint through interconnections, it need not be looked at as a state subject. Drawing a parallel for our state, think of extending BMLTA concept to the state – a Karnataka state land transport authority (KSLTA). Why so? Because we want efficient two or three change connectivity from Whitefield to Haradanahalli as well, and not just to Jayanagar or Malleswaram. Just like the primary schools, every region needs good connectivity.

KSLTA can have circles defined for local transportation, just the way telecom world has circles that span 1 or more states. There could be a fixed number of operators in each circle. Some rolling stock operators could be allowed the equivalent of “STD”, meaning they can offer inter circle transportation as well, but there would be separate set of norms for long distance (inter circle) routes. The norms would look like this

• Mandatory direct or indirect connectivity between hubs like Bangalore and remote and potentially non-profitable areas.
• Not mixing the local and long distance loads
• Adhering to price guidelines, there could be two – one for local and another for long haul commutes.
• Guidelines on safety, operating conditions and quality of service (similar stuff as in UP govt’s note about opening up its road transport sector)

“Roaming” should be a strict no no. Meaning, bus registered in one circle must operate in that circle. The inter-circle buses must do only long haul (inter-circle) business. So, a bus going from Bangalore to Kolar can’t stop at HAL to pick up passengers for Marathahalli and Whitefield.

Inter state routes would require some more thinking, as there could be different sets of norms across states. A “reciprocal slot” approach could work here, basically on the lines of how international air routes are worked out. So, for example, there would be equal number of bus trips originating and ending at Bangalore and Chennai (say 60 from Chennai, and 60 from Bangalore). But a Bangalore based operator could “lease” out its route to a Chennai operator (like how Air India does on many international routes today, it can’t afford to operate so gives them out to that country’s carrier).

To summarize all of above:

• In such a world, there wouldn’t be a BMLTA, only a KSLTA. Why? Because you don’t want to enhance public transportation only in Bangalore Metro Region, you need it everywhere. Its a basic, like primary education. Or else, you will be expanding Bangalore’s boundary every 5 years, whereas, ‘equal’ development will create “peer” hubs around Bangalore without requiring special attentions and more B* bodies.
• There would be operating circles. Bangalore Metro region could be one. Mangalore-Udupi region could be another. There will be some study required to carve out these circles. Can’t have too many of them, nor too few.
• Inter-state routes will be regulated as well, so that Karnataka based operators get eqaul share of any KA city’s prosperity. Number of intestate routes could be driven by demand. But there must be some reciprocal arrangement.
• Last, KSRTC, BMTC etc can choose to continue to exist. They can be given the first right to refuse in all KA circles. They could be given a fixed percentage on all interstate routes. And if they get their act together (they certainly can, look, they are so much better than many state’s operators), perhaps KSRTC/BMTC will exist and prosper like BSNL!

How does it sound?

Was driving my F-I-L’s Santro the other day when I was stopped by one of those police parties. 5 of them, settled under a lush thick tree, half of them waiting to stop unsuspecting vehicles, the other half busy ‘punishing’ the ‘successful’ catches. I never get stopped when driving bigger cars, but the 9 year old santro ‘fit’ their criteria.

After an exhaustive round of questions and document-parades, it turned out that Santro’s emission certificate had recently expired. Alright, time to take the ‘punishment’ now, I was kind of excited while being whisked away to the ‘punishing’ side of the road. I was polite, and accepted my ‘crime’. I was shown a xerox-ed sheet that said my fine would be Rs 600. Fine said I, though I recalled not seeing any number higher than Rs 500 on the BTP website. Next, I showed them my wallet, which was empty and told them that the purpose of my short drive was to fill it at the nearby ATM. I asked to be pardoned, my good luck that I was obliged, though the parting shot was, “if you have any love (preeti) for us, please do return and (waapas barowaaga) share something”.

Well, I do love them. But I have no love for this stand and deliver stuff. Teasing deserving-or-not bikers and old-car owners for vehicle documents – what exactly is its worth and purpose? Uncover vehicle theft? Or is there a theory that says those who are careless with RTO documents are more likely to break traffic rules?

5 of them can do policing wonders if they mingle and move with the traffic and catch those umpteen wrong-siders, or zigzag drivers. I bet you that if one of them sits near the new Marathahalli bridge for 30 minutes everyday, and notes down numbers of vehicles doing more than the posted speed limit of 30 kmph (!), we would save lives of a few soon-to-be-hit pedestrians (just you wait).

I am curious as to why is it that they even consider using this inefficient stand-and-deliver method. Not enough budget to pay for petrol/diesel to keep a good number of them mobile? Not enough ‘power’ or authority to catch and fine folks for things that are ‘hard’ to prove (Ex: can’t fine me for over speeding without a radar gun report for proof) ? How are they incentivized, how are they measured for performance? There must be some reasons that I want to understand.

Bangalore Police recently acquired some modern interceptor vehicles, but will just 6-8 of those be enough? What is it that prevents Bangalore Traffic police from using each of their bikes or jeeps as ‘interceptors’?

[PS: this is a curiosity post, and not a rant. I think we don't understand the workings of traffic police that well. Let us develop it via some knowledge sharing here]

[Pics: The blackberry master cop, and the mobile printer they use to print the records]

So it did happen. Naveen, Murali sir, Vasanth, Praveen, myself got 30 minutes of Mr Tripathy’s time in his office. After introducing Praja etc, we were planning to present our (rather, Naveen’s) slides on single dedicated lane based BRTS idea. But Mr Tripathy said he was short on time, and would look at it later at leisure. However, he warned us that he just can’t do BRTS by himself. He is only a bus operator, and owns only the rolling stock. We should go to other bodies (BBMP/BDA/Traffic police to get non-rolling stock infrastructure for BRTS) to push for it. He then updated us on the BRTS-on-ORR project a bit. He seemed well versed with BRTS, its need and advantages, Bogota etc. Though, his take on the key reason for the success of buses at Bogota is – the interesting ways in that city ran campaigns to educate citizens on road discipline.

We came to back to Praja, and asked him on how he can help us establish a working relationship with BMTC. And the first thing he said was this, “if you guys can commit to sitting with us 5-7 day a month, I will give you space right here next to my office”. It was almost like he teased us, “So tell me, can you sign up for that commitment!?”. We said, well. Can’t ensure that same 5 guys can show up 5 days a month. But a constant number will show up, and that too without any break in continuity. Plus, we would use technology to include more folks ‘virtually’. He said fine, as long as you tell me some key guys who will stay engaged, let us try see how you can help us.

Our 30 minute slot ended right then. But he asked us to hang around if we had time. Time we did have, except for Vasanth who hadn’t taken the full day off. Minus Vasanth, we watched a presentation by an IIM guy on GPS based bus tracking and information system (like Yelli Idira) they are planning tp use in BIAL services. Past that, Mr Tripathy made us sit with Mr Nusrat Khan, who told us a lot of interesting things about BMTC’s operations/problems etc. Past that, we were asked to stay on for lunch with Mr Tripathy (thanks BMTC), Half an hour of lunch time was spent learning various aspects of BMTC. Mr Tripathy and Murali sir’s friendly digs at each other on the subject of privatization added a good dose of light humor as well.

During the lunch chat, we happened to ask him about “local loop” service (remember our last mile connectivity discussions here), and were told that BMTC is going to launch, in a day or two – hold your breath – a BMTC branded auto service!! This was sort of announced about a month ago (See mention of first mile connection in this Hindu article), but we thought this was only for BIAL services. We dont want to steal BMTC or local newspapers’ thunder, so more details on it later. But here is a short summary:

• about 4500-5000 autos,
• with GPS and some more gadgetry
• single point to point ticketing (bus to auto)
• autos tied to a TTMC,
• will be monitored and incentivized to do short distance trips from bus stand to nearby houses/businesses

GPS based bus tracking with SMS interface, and then this attempt at last mile connectivity, wow said we!! However, Naveen and rest of us told Mr Tripathy that the only thing missing in the picture (to woo the car drivers) is promise of faster travel times. A subtle point made again about BRTS or a variant, isn’t again :)

So anyway. This was not all. There were a lot of things said and discussed, but its hard to type it all in one post here. More as we find relevance.

Here we are then, back after interesting 2 hours at BMTC office with Mr Tripathy and staff. He did throw it back to us, and is testing if we can offer committed time to help BMTC on things we think we can help on. He did say he is short of traffic and transportation expertise in-house. Mention of word “experts” made us put a disclaimer, “Not all of us have stellar and relevant resumes, but collectively, our community has the knowledge, besides the end-user experience and expectations. Our help will be a mix of suggestions, reviews, and constructive criticism”.

Shall we test ourselves then? This sets us up nicely to start our first working group here on Praja. Action time folks, lets see how many of us are game to take the next step. Watch the announcement regarding “working groups”.

With three cornered (four, if you add BSP) contests everywhere, it is safe to assume that winning candidate will at best get 35-40% of the votes polled. 40% (winning percentage) of 44% (voting percentage) = around 18%. So, the winning candidates can realistically claim to have support of only 18% of Bangalore’s citizens.

What a shame. 18% is not even half of what we call majority (50%). They say democracy is the rule of majority and I am wondering how the hell do we call this democracy.

[Cross posted from Praja-Bangalore, comments off]

After a few chants of tumba thanks and sorry, I was thinking what if I had actually collided with the fallen bike? What if I had injured that guy? Would insurance proceedings really and effortlessly side with me, and punish only the biker? What if motor vehicle insurance laws and arrangements were ruthless enough – prove that the other party was blatantly breaking a basic rule of driving, no matter what (even if the other party suffered life threatening injuries – sorry), you don’t have to pay and worry a paisa?

Extend this thinking a bit further. What if insurance companies used lane markers to determine the guilty party in vehicle accidents? And what if, in case the markers were missing from the road, the insurance companies are allowed to sue the authority responsible for maintaining the lane markers for compensation?

What if, when I ram into a vehicle parked in no-parking zone, I wont be liable for any damage done to either vehicle?

Can strengthening the hands of motor vehicle insurance firms be an indirect way of helping the enforcement authorities?

PS: There could be misuse (Go ram a vehicle parked on no-parking zone if you want to get your car dents repaired). But can the percentage of misuse can be kept low enough?

[Note: Photos are for representation purposes, not fromthe incident I narrated here]

[Cross posted from Praja-Bangalore, comments off]

Reliance recently announced shutting down all its retail petroleum outlets (pumps). How long before Shell does the same?

Now, while filling at the BP bunk, I can’t help staring at the diesel rates – Rs 36 odd per liter! That is a third less than petrol, again, a bit too much, and calling out to trade in my petrol car with a diesel.

Its all pretty sad though – us, the consumers not paying the real price for petrol, and more so for diesel. The whole sarkaari petroleum machinery is happy siphoning off money from organized adulteration business (I don’t have proof, so this is loose talk by definition). And by subsidizing the cost of fuel, they keep our mouths shut and voters happy. Wonderful arrangement – that subsidy is like a kickback for us to let distribution irregularities pass off under the carpet.

Will the fuel prices be unreasonably high if sarkaari control over distribution and pricing were to go away? Don’t know. May be not, because loss of subsidy may be offset by more efficient and clean distribution process brought in by private enterprise. Or may be yes. But why should government care?

Entrepreneurship around alternate energy will prosper only if we start paying the real high prices for petrol and diesel, isn’t it? We will change our driving and private vehicle usage patterns only if ‘real’ and high fuel prices start pinching our pockets dry, isn’t it? Its sort of like saying water is important so preserve it, but keeping potable water’s cost so low that you don’t take those threats seriously.

So tell me now. Which diesel is better, Swift VDI and Getz Prime?

BCCI or IPL team owners’ argument could be – we are trying to appeal to a global audience. But can’t that be done via some Indian names as well. Bangalore Hoysalas? Sher-e-Punjab? Delhi Pandavas or Mugals or Aryans? Leave it, I don’t want to think of all the controversial possibilities here, but why not?

Its not just the cricket team names you know. Think of recently created big brand names around you. Tell me how many of those are ‘local’ words or names. Why is no local airline willing to use local words (pushpak, garuda, pawan, vaayu etc, keep thinking)? Why did UTI bank go Axis? Why is it called a ‘Nano’, and not ‘sawaari‘, or ‘aam‘, or ‘rathh‘ (branding gurus can think better, pardon my weak attempts).

I see three possible reasons. First would be global appeal of English. Second could be that brand gurus think ‘local’ words are not ‘cool’! Last, would be the absence of pan-India words (or language rather) – if you want majority to get it quickly, you may have to pick from or Sanskrit or Hindi names.

To me, the first reason could be stemming from lack of self confidence. I am tempted to call the second one as foolishness, but you have to concede – the ‘environment’ is such that if you are creating a high end brand, words have to be firangi. However, it is us who have collectively brought our ‘perceptions’ to this state. Okay, the third reason – that one has some dum. But then, what would be wrong in using words or slangs from regional languages as well?

The real social equality movement has to begin at primary education levels. I am glad that us as a society have come to accept that education is that equalizer. Very good. But education doesn’t begin at IITs or IIMs. One has to go through primary and secondary education to get there, and a lot of socially disadvantaged lose their way a lot earlier. Of 100 kids who start at or before class I, 2 get to be qualified enough to apply for IIMs (guessing the numbers right now, had tried a half-educated guess earlier on this blog). Any policy that could prevent even a third of these 98 kids who lost their way midway – that would bring the equality everyone is seeking here.

Not that nobody realizes this. Political compulsions will make regular netas talk more about private sector jobs, IITs and IIMs. Print and written media will cover what appeals more to their audiences – the urban and wannabe-urban middle class. Fine, but why is the left, so called champion of masses not chipping in here? India is waiting for some drastic reforms at primary education level, to convert education there into a real non-profit exercise, to unleash real socialism at the place where its needed most, for that dose of subsidy-driven push that even staunch capitalists will not be able to oppose. The question is when, and who will do it?

PS: Its not a big ask, and folks are at it as well (National Knowledge Commission led by Sam Pitroda ?)

“Rana (the pilot) then told me that it was not my business. I replied he was only a glorified driver and shouldn’t equate himself with a people’s representative.”

God knows what really happened there. But I quite liked the fact that MP chose to go on record with his ‘glorified driver’ talk.