103 Bengaluru bus stops to be relocated to decongest city

Chinnaswamy, M.G. Road, Silk Board Junction, and Gangammana Gudi bus stops are among 103 shelters in Bengaluru set to be relocated to ease chronic traffic congestion caused by their unscientific placement, according to the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP).

The list of “traffic-causing” bus shelters has been sent to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which will direct the five new municipal corporations to oversee the relocation of bus stops within their jurisdictions.

Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), told The Hindu that the BTP, in collaboration with BMTC, conducted an audit of bus stands across the city and identified 103 shelters contributing significantly to traffic congestion. The initiative follows BTP’s efforts to pinpoint traffic bottlenecks and implement measures to decongest Bengaluru.

“The list has been sent to the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), which will initiate works to move the bus stands to more convenient locations,” Mr. Reddy said.

According to the BTP, the shelters on the list were either too close to traffic signals, causing vehicles to queue behind buses, or located on curves along main carriageways.

“When a bus stops at a shelter near a signal, it cannot move until passengers have boarded or alighted. This essentially paralyses the vehicles behind it, creating long queues and adding to congestion,” Mr. Reddy explained.

The BTP studied such patterns across the city and their impact on traffic, strategically planning the relocation of problematic shelters to areas where bus stops would have minimal effect on traffic flow.

The new locations have been identified to remain within 100 m of the original points for public convenience. In exceptional cases, the distance may extend up to 200 m, as in the case of the Ittamadu bus stop.

Other relocations involve bus stops positioned on road curves, such as the Thirumala bus stop near Akshay Nagar in Yelahanka. Being at a point where a double road curves and a U-turn junction exists, buses stationed here cause traffic queues of 50 to 100 m during peak hours.

Some of the major bus stands included in the list are Sulibele in Devanahalli, ISKCON Entry Gate, T.C. Palya Junction, and Richmond Junction, among others.

A senior police officer noted that while autorickshaws and taxis can also cause traffic delays, they can be asked to move quickly or fined. Buses, however, are harder to regulate. The officer said this relocation initiative would help streamline traffic and ease the burden on personnel managing junctions.

Although the BTP has identified 103 bus stops for relocation, several others, such as Ejipura, are located on narrow lanes, causing micro-level congestion, which the police are yet to address.

A GBA official told The Hindu that many of the identified bus stops are maintained under public-private partnership arrangements, and relocation works will be undertaken by the respective agencies. He added that the GBA has already issued instructions to the new corporations to oversee the relocation process and complete it at the earliest.