School buses must make way for other vehicles by 8.30 am: Saleem

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: In line with the new regulations being implemented to reduce travel time and ease traffic congestion in the city, under Traffic Commissioner MA Saleem, the cops have now turned their eye to address one of the issues that often gets complained about. That of schools buses in the central business district and neighbouring areas.

A “dedicated carriageway” will be effectively enforced and a “safe passage way” will be reintroduced to allow parents to drop their children safely into the school’s playground, the police said. The underlying thought is to segregate office goers from school traffic during the peak hours.

School buses are now supposed to drop their students before 8.15 am. School authorities have been informed about the same and those that start a little late in the morning have been instructed to start their classes early. Post 8.30, school buses will not be allowed to stop near schools and violators will be fined. Safe passageways that were once in force are being reintroduced.

While the model has been tried before, it was not strictly implemented. Here, parents will be given one entry and exit point. They must drive their vehicle through these points to drop their children into the school playground. This measure will draw the parent crowd away from main road traffic, thus not blocking pathways for other motorists by parking roadside, which will help ease congestion.

Along with this, additional traffic police personnel are being deployed to ensure that a dedicated carriage is present in the central business district areas and the surrounding vicinities. Many commuters are stuck in traffic congestion on Residency Road, since school buses and vans tend to occupy a large portion of the road.

They are parked outside while not being operated, causing congestion all through the Richmond Road Flyover to Brigade Road stretch. Now, 30 traffic policemen deployed on the road manage close to 20,000 students who attend St Joseph’s Boys’ High School, Bishop Cotton’s Girls’ and Boys’ School and the Sacred Heart Girls’ High School.

News Trail had earlier highlighted school buses of National Public School being parked on Indiranagar 13th Main Road. It is a narrow stretch and hence on school days, motorists have less room to manoeuvre as school buses and private vehicles are haphazardly parked in the vicinity.

“The buses are parked for at least four hours, from when the school commences each day, during the peak hours. It not only disrupts travel but also causes conflict among motorists. Drivers and parents come together and tell us to take a different road,” Shiv, a citizen activist who has been vocal about the issue, said. Residents are hopeful that the issue will be resolved with the new regulations.