Accidents and slow policy implementations: Cycling tracks in Bengaluru still stuck in a limbo

Cyclist in Bengaluru riding alongside a motorcycle

From HSR Layout in South-Eastern Bengaluru, a cycle track emerges on the service road and heads towards the busy Silk Board junction. Some parts of the track are littered with plastic bottles and mud. And, after a few kilometres, the track suddenly disappears before reaching the Silk Board junction.

Contrary to this, the cycle track on the opposite foot of the road runs through its entire length. However, every 10 minutes a motorcycle can be seen zooming inside the track, and somewhere in the middle of the stretch several vehicles, including a delivery truck, can be seen parked on the track.

Several cyclists and activists in Bengaluru have criticised the state government for the slow construction of cycle tracks across the city and poor maintenance of existing tracks.

State of cycling track near HSR Layout, Bengaluru (Credit: Souptik)

According to the Comprehensive Mobility Plan 2020 (CMP) drafted by the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT), the government is supposed to build 600 km of cycle tracks by 2035.

A senior official at Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said BBMP has achieved 70 percent or 35 km of the 50-km target for Phase 1, 2020-2022. Officials at Smart City Bengaluru said they have managed to complete 2.5 km of cycle tracks.

At the current pace, government bodies are constructing 0.7 km of cycle tracks every month since the CMP draft came into effect in 2020.

And by 2035, they will only be able to build 109 kilometres of cycle tracks, which is 18 percent of their target.

And at the current pace, it will take 71 years for the government bodies to construct the entire stretch of cycle tracks they have promised.

To achieve the target, the government bodies need to build 3.6 km of cycle tracks every month until 2035.

Cars and vehicles parked on cycle tracks in Bengaluru (Credit: Sathya)

Apart from slow implementation, Sathya Sankaran, Bicycle Mayor Bengaluru, said the network map of the cycle track is still missing. “Connecting the cycle tracks across the city is necessary to make an impact. The CMP 2020 does not provide us with any planning in terms of network mapping. We do not know how the government is planning to implement the CMP draft,” he added.

However, Venkatesh Shivarama, a former professional cyclist and a former Indian team manager, believes that connecting the entire city with cycle tracks will be extremely challenging. “I rode across Taiwan, covering 1,000 km in 10 days. They have a completely separate bicycle path. But in congested Bengaluru streets, it is difficult to build the cycle tracks on the narrow roads in certain parts of the city.”

According to a survey conducted by RITES, an engineering consultancy corporation, despite several government-undertaken road-widening projects, "only 20 percent of the road network has four lanes or more. However, when the effective width available is considered, the length is very less”.

Officials of Smart City Bengaluru said they had concerns about creating several tracks on pavements that were narrower than the required width. “About 1.5 m is required for installing cycling tracks on the sidewalks. However, more than 30 roads in the city have less than 1.5 m width,” a senior engineer said.

Aswathy Dilip, Managing Director, ITDP India, said the city needs clear short-term deliverables to achieve the set target. “We need robust ambitious action plans for the next three-year timeline and with clarity of roles for the different government bodies to achieve the stated outcome. We need to focus on neighbourhoods, and aim at transforming them into walking- and cycling-friendly (spaces) within shorter timelines.”

For a well-connected cycling track across the city, Aswathy believes a safe segregated cycling track, well-organised intersections and slow neighbourhood streets with traffic of less than 25 kmph speed are crucial to include inside the action plan.

Pooja and her friends cycling across Bengaluru, before her accident (Credits: Pooja)

On March 24, Neel S., a professional cyclist left early morning for his scheduled cycle rides. In front of Trinity Circle, at the intersection, a motorbike approached from behind and knocked him down. “Despite having a yellow-coloured blinker on my cycle, I was knocked down in broad daylight.”

Neel said the damage cost him his cycle worth Rs 11 lakh and motor vehicle insurances do not cover such instances. “I have a right femur fracture, a muscle tear and hairline crack on the left ribs,” he added. Today, Neel is on bed rest for two months.

Pooja Bijlani said the potholes inside the cycling lanes on service roads make it difficult to ride. Last year, early one morning, while cycling near Hosur Road, Pooja was hit by an approaching truck from behind. "It happened in front of an intersection. While I was riding at 15 kmph, the truck came in about 50 kmph and touched me from behind," she said. Despite wearing a reflective jacket and helmet, the truck ran over her.

Pooja was hospitalised for 45 days. Following this, she was on six months of bed rest. After spending over Rs 30 lakh on hospital bills, today she is still undergoing physiotherapy. " I cannot cycle anymore and my life has transformed entirely," she added.

Neel's Rs 11 lakh cycle completely shattered after the accident (Credit: Neel)

Ashish Puri, who was riding inside a cycling lane near Iblur junction, was almost run over by a bus last year. "It was a traumatic accident, and my forearm is still numb from the accident," he added.

In the last three years, over 110 cyclists have been injured, including 28 deaths, just in Bengaluru. The number of fatal cycling accidents jumped 43 percent from 2019 to 2020, from 51 to 73, according to data from Karnataka Police Department.

Ashish decided to ride outside the city limits of Bengaluru one month ago. Today, most cyclists in the city choose to cycle in the city outskirts rather than ride inside the lanes.

Ankush, another cyclist in the city, believes that cycling inside the city is like a ticking time bomb. "You are practically a sitting duck for autos and buses. You have to keep looking around, including rearward," he said. "The factor of risks has gone up inside the city, and it's not worth it," Ashish added.

Aswathy said pop-up cycle tracks were means to check if the design is working in the neighbourhood. Typically, a pop-up cycle track is an example of a temporary bicycle lane that can be used to test new bicycle traffic techniques and track designs. Once the designs have been checked, they should be made permanent, she said. "And whether it's permanent or a pop-up cycle track, maintenance is critical. Enforcement is also a crucial part of making cycling tracks safer in the city," she added.

B. S. Prahalad, Chief Engineer, Road and Infrastructure, BBMP, said the municipal body is planning on putting up CCTV and traffic cameras to ensure the safety of cyclists within the cycling lanes. The plan should be fully implemented within six months, he added.

More cyclists today prefer to cycle on the outskirts of Bengaluru (Credit: Ankush)

As a cyclist who has undertaken awareness campaigns for more than a decade, Sathya believes more and more people are cycling for recreation or medical reasons.

The number of recreational cyclists has grown more than six-fold — from 6,392 in January 2017 to 50,427 in February 2021, according to data from Sathya’s Cycle to Work campaign.

"Making people aware of cycling, including the non-cyclists, is crucial to make city spaces safer," he said.

Aswathy believes continuous behavioural change campaigns followed by stringent enforcement will make Bengaluru a game-changer in developing cycling infrastructure in India. “We have to encourage more people to use cycles, and prevent others from misusing the cycling lanes,” she added.