Howz traffic in your area?

It was known to be orderly many years before, but now it is quite chaotic. Too much rush, we have all manner of vehicles that CAN ply over even in this most popular shopping area of the city! It thought this shot sums up part of the picture I try to present. Speed is no limit! As much as the type of the vehicle! We have bullock carts, tricycles, bicycles, three-wheelers, two-wheelers, four-wheelers, six-wheelers (you can see one here - the big bus!), pedestrians, cows, all on the road. The Traffic Police tries to bring in some order by his whistle, but nay, none would listen.

Same scene, a while later.

Walking on the middle of the road is part of our 'birth-right'! Where are the pavements? Trams are known to use rails embedded in the roads without obstructing road traffic. So doing this is not far from comparison??

In the background is the 120+ year old Market building.

This message was edited Apr 3, 2007 6:35 AM

Oops, missed pic again. I forgot to mention that this was one of the better shots that came off... again another clandestine shot as I told in another thread.

Push carts, autorickshaws, horse-carts, bikes... what have you...

It's a young boy (probably assisting his dad) at the whip (cart). But the horse knows where to go. Look at the people there in the background..... of course, on the road.

Parking of two-wheelers is a problem. Some order here, though.

That is why a policeman is posted at every signal!! People don't care for the signal lights (the problem here is that many from villages pour in and they are the ones that need to be educated about following pedestrian rules). It is such a heterogenous lot that use the roads and pavements that it becomes hard both to control, educate or even punish the offenders. Look here how people are eager to cross, despite the light being red and the policeman showing a "these people will never understand" posture! The lights are seen just on the edge of the picture (not clear).

Great pictures as usual, Dinu. And thanks for the narrative.

As for no speed limits, it appears the the mix of traffic has it's own way of limiting speed. Animals or people would be injured or killed if some went faster.

There is a saying in Mexico - Poco a poco - little by little. Maybe if we all slowed down we would enjoy life more.

Thanks again.

Bill

Very rightly said, Bill. We have to learn to slow down and realize the importance. While we bought tomatoes yesterday, the vendor commented on me while filling them to my bag "you are a slow person". I replied "yes". He suggested me to be fast, but I declined it and went on to say that it is the speed that is killing people!

The heterogenity (spelling??) of the traffic automatically leads to its own speed. Where there is space to move, you move. When there is a slow moving vehicle in front, you slow down... but this honking business is quite atrocious here. They play 'music' with their horns!

Dinu, was just reading your thread...with travelling from Victoria Harbour to Toronto you take your life in your hands...the 400 can barely handle the traffic..coming home for about the 1st - 10 miles it's bumper to pumper..they put mega home development in that area and I would venture to say in 3 exits in the past year there must be about 10,000 homes, close to city, lot would have 2 cars and all going to work about the same time..so you can imagine the congestion..now once we pass Aurora it opens up...now we do about 120 kl...and cars are just wizzing by..they were talking about increasing speed limits but don't know if that would be such a good idea...legal speed on 400 is 100kl..don't know too many who follow it..and believe police have made it known that up to 120 - no ticket...did over the past week though see police cars out in great numbers..guess everyone starting to head north to cottages so they want to make a presence...it becomes routine and a way of life so you travel it..put radio on and enjoy..at least some do others become very aggressive drivers...

I was in the city of Bangalore last month for an eating errand - see my other thread on "breakfast". This is a picture of a crowded road there. It has become one of the most hated cities - traffic wise - in the country. And fast developing. This is just a glimpse, but there are more crowded streets.

Traffic here is actually pretty light compared to many cities. We do have an occasional slowdown for farm equiptment or tractors traveling along the highway to reach their various fields and have to be careful of bicyclists commuting along the side of the freeway where there are no alternate routes available to them but they stay on the shoulders and traffic whizzes past them without incident for the most part.

I had to smile at the thought that it is considered to be the right of pedestrians to walk down the middle of the road as the ladies in your picture are seen doing. Here they would be cited for such behavior. But then we do not have pedicabs or oxcarts on the streets either ;~). I admit that to my eyes the scenes portrayed in you pictures are exotic and delightful but then I am not there trying to make haste to get about my business.

I rarely go into Toronto any more, because of the traffic. There used to be congestion only at "rush hour", but now the city is choked with vehicles all the time. When I do go, instead of using the major highways, where huge trucks are speeding along and kamikaze car drivers are weaving in and out of lanes, I take the slow, winding, country roads. It takes me longer to arrive, but I can relax and listen to the radio while I drive.

Where I live, there is hardly any traffic. If you see three cars together, it is an event. My home is on a dirt/gravel road that is very dusty in dry weather, horribly muddy when it rains, and a sheet of ice in winter, but the driving conditions discourage through-traffic and so the neighbourhood is peaceful.

June_Ontario...know I could look it up, sound so familiar...where is Rosemont..is it somewhere between Barrie and Alliston?

Ah yes..traffic. The Dane county area (especially around Madison WI) has exploded with subdivisions and the roads are not meant for such an increase.
Downtown, by the University is awful. Students dodging traffic, while talking on their cell phones has become increasingly dangerous.
I won't even start on my pet peeve, drivers who are on the phone, instead of paying attention to those around them.
I am getting to like mass transit more and more.

Mass transit is being overlooked. So many brands, companies and models of two and four wheelers are on the market and on to the roads by hundreds everyday is what is making the situation worsen so rapidly than one had dreamt! The roads cannot handle such a load at all.

There are mobile, mobile speakers here as well, in spite of the rule not to use it during motion. The youngsters are always a nuisance with their 'hot blood'! They do all manner of circus taking undue risks in traffic, putting others also at risk. Technology has not aided it at all. Good vehicles, silent engines, ease of steering, power.... they all have given rise to reckless driving. Yes, I also take the easier road than the crowded ones even though it is a bit longer.. I don't mind the distance, but I hate noise and pollution.

Dinu

Bettypauze, your guess is close. Rosemont is a few kilometers west of Alliston. If there was some kind of public transport available, Dinu, I would willingly take it. However, there is not enough population density in this area to make it profitable. No buses, no trains, and very few taxis, means every family has two or more vehicles.

dinu, i just love when you post pictures of every day life in your country. there is a certain beauty, even to the traffic. the horse-drawn cart is wonderful and the clothing so interesting and colorful.

Recently I took this short video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxsqRiWUXEg in Bangalore passing through the streets in the "Autorickshaw".

It looks chaotic but it also appears that the flow is paced slow enough that overall safety is not disregarded. Are there many accidents or is the pace slow enough that they do not occur frequently?

It is slow enough alright, but those teenaged rascals are people's worst fears. They know only one thing: cover distance at great speed irrespective of others' presence on the road! They do it on the modern powerful two-wheelers. Accidents happen in most cases due to speeding -- imagine speeding in similar busy areas -- when reaction time is minimized to the lowest. At slower paces like the one in the video, everybody knows to "time" their pace and there is enough reaction time to make finer adjustments not to cause an accident. Yet, confusions do occur when someone crosses the road suddenly or some driver changes direction all of a sudden. Minor bruises to both man and machine do occur. If one is constantly careful, one can just move along. There are other areas, where there is bumper-to-bumper traffic when pace is slowest due to narrow roads and bottlenecks. The problem is that an old city is unable to take the load of traffic on its original roads which were planned when only bicycles existed and an occasional scooter or a car or public transport buses plied. It has reached a level now that is beyond one's comprehension and imagination. Short distances take longer time.

Dinu I always enjoy your threads. I'm sure my nerves would be fried if I had to deal with such crowds for every little outing. I'm guessing you have major problems with finding parking spaces too. I'd probably just give up driving and try to walk everywhere. I've never seen anything like the autorickshaw in America but I expect it to happen if gas prices keep rising. Make sense to me.

It gives chills down the spine to those who see for the first time, but to people that grow up in this sort of chaotic conditions, it is *normal*!! But let me tell you, the number of vehicles are increasing too fast for one's comfort. Too fast. A slow development is what one can cope with, not a steep rise.

This is the parking lot near the railway station here. Two wheelers galore. A number of people travel to Bangalore which is 3 hours away and also to other nearer places for work.

Have you seen this number of vehicles in one place?