The existence of several private inter-city bus operators means more choice for travellers, and while this may be a good thing, the lack of terminals or designated parking spaces for the large bus fleet means they end up parking along the roadside causing huge inconvenience to city commuters.
Inter-city buses owned by private operators parked along the narrow road near the BDA complex in Indiranagar, on the Old Madras Road and new Thippasandra Main Road, not only congest the area but destroy the peace of the neighbourhood as they operate at night. After 8.30 in the evening it is almost impossible to travel on the road because of the traffic congestion caused by these private buses.
The road leading to the BDA complex in Indiranagar is one of the very busy junctions in the East zone. Despite this, some private travel operators have taken over the road for parking. The pick and drop spot has shrunk the road so much so that even two-wheelers find it extremely difficult to negotiate it. Conditions are chaotic at night when buses halt here and after 7 pm there is no traffic policeman posted here.
The problem is that there are many tour and travel offices in the area, all of whom use the lanes and by-lanes as their personal parking lots, illegally it hardly needs to be said. Residents or customers who visit shops in the area have nowhere to park their vehicles.
The travel companies' defence is that the buses halt just for a few minutes to pick up and drop customers. “We do not allow drivers to park the buses for a long duration. Within minutes, as soon our customer gets in, we move immediately. So there is no question of blocking the traffic and making the situation chaotic”, claims Mr Jeevan, owner of a private travel company in New Thippasandra.
Traffic police say that though they have issued a letter to the transport department not to allow private buses to park on the roads, no action has been taken. M. A. Saleem Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security) told Deccan Chronicle, “Most private buses are parked on the roads. We have asked the transport department to provide a separate private bus terminal, but nothing has been done so far. We cannot deploy traffic cops at every junction except in peak hours”.
Private bus operators should buy and develop their own depots for parking and shouldn't expect funding by government for the purpose. But as long as they are allowed to park anywhere and everywhere, they will continue to misuse public spaces and inconvenience the public.