[sustran] BangaloRe: an access-controlled city

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/bangalore-an-accesscontrolled-city/article6453280.ece

Bangalore: an access-controlled cityK. V. Aditya Bharadwaj
    TOPICS
 crime, law and justice
<http://www.thehindu.com/topics/?categoryId=600>  economy,
business and finance <http://www.thehindu.com/topics/?categoryId=684>

Paying a heavy toll to exit, enter or commute within the IT city seems to
be the norm. Toll plazas virtually control access roads into the city and
in an ever-expanding capital, even a ride from your home to office could
burn a hole in your pocket.

Mysore Road – one of the few last surviving un-tolled roads leading out of
the city – will also be tolled soon as it is being converted into a
six-lane national highway. The project, estimated to cost Rs. 3,000 crore,
is being taken up under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model.

Proposals to take up the development of Kanakapura Road and Doddaballapur
Road, two other entry-exit routes of the city, under the BOT model, is
pending and the day it materialises, Magadi Road will be the only road
without toll booths.

All major entry-exit routes of the city, that include National Highway 7
(Bellary Road, which leads to the International Airport), National Highway
4 (Tumkur Road), Hosur Road, and Old Madras Road, are tolled. Add to this
is the peripheral ring road built by Nandi Infrastructure Corridor
Enterprises (NICE), where commuters are tolled at seven locations.

The highest toll is being collected on the elevated expressway on Hosur
Road, where a single one-way journey for a car costs Rs. 45 for a tollable
road of 9.2 km, with a toll rate of Rs. 4.86 per kilometre, followed by
Sadahalli gate on National Highway 7 with a toll rate of Rs. 3.4 per
kilometre. The toll rates were recently revised amidst virulent protests.
NICE Road is the only road that tolls two-wheelers as well.

This has meant that for those moving into the city’s outskirts a separate
kitty needs to be reserved for paying tolls, which could even be thousands
of rupees in a month, depending on the distance.

Urban experts argue that all entry and exit points of the city being access
controlled will have a negative effect“The city with its large migrant
population across the socio-economic spectrum of the society, would do
better to not send out an elitist message,” said V. Ravichander, an urban
expert.

Trade and commerce are adversely affected by the phenomenon, said S.
Sampath Raman, president, Federation of Karnataka Chamber of Commerce and
Industry. He said the cost of labour and of transporting materials has shot
up considerably in the last few years.

Farmer leader Kodihalli Chandrashekar said that though they had been
demanding that vehicles ferrying farm produce be excused from tolls, it had
not materialised. Even farmers who gave up land for these roads were
suffering. He said that this may lead to inflation in vegetable and fruit
prices in the city.