Start 10 minutes early... no tension, no pressure: Bengaluru Traffic Special Commissioner

Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MA Saleem was handpicked by the government to change the image of Bengaluru, which was choking with heavy traffic. Within a few weeks of taking charge, the senior IPS officer of the 1993 batch has brought in visible improvements on major roads. He has a mantra for motorists to avoid any traffic-related problems, which he shared with editors and staff of The New Sunday Express: “Leave ten minutes earlier!” Excerpts from the interview:

How would you rank Bengaluru traffic compared to other cities?
Well, Delhi and Bengaluru are similar as both are circular cities unlike Mumbai, which is a linear city. Traffic management is much easier in Mumbai. Also, the share of public transport is 82 per cent in Mumbai, whereas it is only 45 per cent in Bengaluru, with personal transport making up 43 per cent and autorickshaws and cabs filling up 12 per cent. In another 2-3 years when we have a robust public transport system, we can reduce the use of personal vehicles to 20 per cent.

For the first time, an ADGP-rank officer has been managing traffic. Is there any mandate from the CM or the government for you?
Traffic is priority because it is being talked about, in the sense that Bengaluru is tagged with the word ‘traffic’. We should completely remove that tag now. Traffic in Bengaluru is like in any other city today, but since many people travel to Bengaluru, they compare it with Western cities. But now we have to ensure that Bengaluru is talked about only for its great climate.

What is your message to motorists in Bengaluru?
Just start the journey 10 minutes early. No tension, no pressure, no problem at all. You will follow all traffic rules.

As a special commissioner, are there any dedicated plans or visions for Bengaluru?
As far as traffic police are concerned, all our plans and measures are short-term. That is because traffic engineering is the long-term solution and we do not have much role in that. Civic agencies have to plan traffic management. Traffic police are there only to regulate and enforce smooth traffic, along with road safety, investigations and prevention of road traffic accidents. Bengaluru has around one crore vehicles now. By 2030, we might have 1.6 crore vehicles and we do not have any plan for that. This is where the role of civic agencies comes in.

What are the challenges in coordinating with multiple civic agencies?
Coordination is good now compared to earlier times as traffic management is a priority for the government and all agencies are on board now. Whatever the traffic police suggest is happening and what other agencies are suggesting is also happening. But it is not possible to prevent certain things related to utilities in old parts of the city. By and large, coordination is good as there is a system of being kept informed. For example, for any digging, we are informed in advance and we give permission depending upon the (traffic) flow. We also take action if somebody digs without information.

This is your third stint in handling Bengaluru traffic and you are known as a traffic expert. What are the key initiatives you are taking?
There are some major problems with Bengaluru traffic, and one is that we don’t have adequate public transport, which is seeing a slow growth. Construction works of mass transit facilities like Metro and suburban rail are taking time. Hence, people use more private vehicles. The city has 1.07 crore vehicles. Every day, 2,000-2,500 new vehicles are being registered. At any given point, we have about 20-22 lakh vehicles on the roads. The major challenge is to ensure free movement of traffic during peak hours. The first thing we did was to shift our priority from enforcement to regulation and put all our resources to regulate traffic during peak hours. It helped as the presence of police on roads generally helps to a large extent, taking decisions quickly and mitigating the situation.

Secondly, we focused on reducing the traffic volume itself and implemented the ban on heavy and medium goods vehicles strictly. In the CBD area, we don’t have much traffic problems because of one-ways, but the entry points to the CBD area, like Hebbal Flyover, Goraguntepalya Junction, Mysuru Road, Silk Board Junction and Tin Factory Junction are a problem. These are our choke points, where people lose almost 20-25 minutes just to cross the bottleneck points. So, we came up with different strategies for different areas. For example, at the Hebbal flyover, we removed all goods vehicles, including light commercial vehicles and gave alternate routes for them. This resulted in the waiting time at the flyover reducing from 25 to 7-10 minutes. At Hope Farm, we reduced the 3-cycle wait to one. A synchronised signal system was introduced on many stretches. These are helping in achieving a smooth flow of vehicles. But we are facing challenges in the evening peak hours and we are working on completely removing goods vehicles during evenings too … Also, now the focus is on regulation, which is the key. Technology is so good now that even a common man can see where the traffic congestion is. Earlier, this luxury was not there.

How crucial is motorists’ behaviour in reducing congestion on roads?
Driving skills and discipline are the key. Unfortunately, Bengaluru doesn’t have much lane discipline and that leads to congestion. Lane indiscipline has two types — direction-oriented and speed-oriented. Direction-oriented lane indiscipline is if you want to make a right turn, you need to be on the right lane and the swerve should take place about 100 metres from the junction. But people try to swerve at the junction when the signal turns green, slowing down the traffic and leading to congestion as only 70 vehicles pass in place of 100. Speed-oriented lane indiscipline is what you see commonly on highways, where trucks take the right lane, though they’re slow-moving and they decide the speed of other vehicles. Lane indiscipline is one of the major causes of worry as far as traffic and bandwidth are concerned.

How is undesirable motorist behaviour dealt with?
There is undesirable behaviour such as riding and parking on footpaths. We have decided to book such violations not under the Motor Vehicle Act, but section 283 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) as it’s a rash and negligent act which may put lives of others in danger. We have booked more than 2,900 such cases in the last one-and-a-half months. It’s a cognisable, but bailable case. The vehicle is impounded and has to be released through the court, which is a long process and acts as a big deterrent. Earlier, we used to book 10,000 such cases per year. They are mostly plead-guilty cases and fines are levied by the court.

What about autorickshaw drivers? They charge any amount and there is no regulation. Getting them is also very difficult as they refuse passengers...
We are bringing back prepaid auto stands. Before the pandemic, we had 16 stands and we are already starting them in important areas. Autos are a good public transport system, but the service should be good. Earlier, we had a system of auto drivers displaying their details inside vehicles, but it is not in use now. We have held talks with associations concerned to introduce a digital system to know the details of drivers.

Tell us about your doctorate in traffic.
I am a commerce and management student and I have also done a master’s in police management. Subsequently, I was doing a PhD in human resource development. But my guide suggested traffic management as I was working in traffic and introducing one-ways at that time. The main focus of the thesis was the one-way system I had introduced.

How are you leveraging technology for better traffic management?
We are using technology for enforcement, doing away with manual checking, except for drink-and-drive cases. We have 7,500 cameras in the city and are generating 30,000 challans per day using technology. It will be scaled up. Violations will come down once people get notices and realise that cameras are capturing their violations.

Can you say something about the plans of making roads pedestrian-friendly during weekends, like on Church Street and in VV Puram?
Major thing is that we should have adequate public transport. If the road surface is not available for vehicles, then there will be congestion. For instance, Cubbon Park is pedestrian-friendly during weekends and on public holidays. Apart from Church Street and Commercial Street along with very few other roads, I don’t think any other roads qualify.

Has the number of accidents come down?
It has come down compared to what it was a decade earlier. This might be because of congestion and slow traffic movement. Once the cases are fewer, even a few cases look big. In cities like Dubai, the annual deaths are just 6-7. This is because of good driving skills and road discipline. If it goes hand-in-hand with enforcement, all roads will be safe for driving.

Cyclists say the city is not safe for them.
It is not safe right now as there are no dedicated cycle lanes. It requires engineering interventions. Cycling is another mode of transport. Owning a vehicle is related to aspirations here, it is not for travel. Aspirations for bikes or cars are based on income.

What is the speed limit for vehicles that Bengaluru should have?
It should be 50 kmph. A survey on this should be done now to check the speed. The last survey was done almost a decade ago. About speed limits near school zones, we have started working on it as the safety of students is of utmost priority.

What about reforms within the traffic police department?
Now the strength of the traffic police is better. The government has sanctioned four new traffic police stations for the city along with two sub-divisions where we will get more staff. BBMP has given 200 home guards for the BTP. We are getting good support from industries and also traffic marshalls in regulating traffic. Many people are coming forward to volunteer as traffic wardens … The job of traffic police is extremely difficult. In the police department, the shift system is there only for traffic police where each shift will be for seven hours a day. Everybody is entitled to a weekly off. Compulsory annual health checkup is there for traffic police. The Arogya Bhagya scheme covers the entire family. There are good Police Public Schools and the housing facility too is good. The percentage of housing is about 57 at present and it was around 42 earlier. It is good to have rent-free housing for the police in a city like Bengaluru. Service conditions have largely improved. Even a police constable whose education requirement is just a 12th pass gets a salary of Rs 35,000 which is better than any software engineer’s first salary.

What can be made to encourage people to use public transport?
It is going to happen. Public transport should be economical and faster than personal vehicles. The last-mile connectivity too is happening. Once all the Metro lines are operational, people will use public transport.

What do you say about you being labelled ‘One-way’ Saleem?
People called me names. But the one-ways have stayed. It has been more than a decade. All the one-ways are working very well without any problem. Nobody can change it now. In the western part of the city, some roads have to be made one-ways. All roads cannot be made one-ways. It has to be complementary and the distance should not be more than half-a-kilometre. The classic example is Queen’s Road and Cunningham Road. Both are complementary one-ways, one for going and the other for coming back.

Did you always want to be a police officer?
No. I wanted to be a BTS (now BMTC) bus driver as the bus was very attractive. Only after joining MCom, I saw my classmates preparing for government services and got to know about such exams.

What about your hobbies?
Reading. I have my library and I read mostly fiction. Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins and Jeffrey Archer are my favourite. I have a lot of books in Kannada, English and Urdu. I also read Usha Navarathnaram’s novels in Kannada…

Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MA Saleem was handpicked by the government to change the image of Bengaluru, which was choking with heavy traffic. Within a few weeks of taking charge, the senior IPS officer of the 1993 batch has brought in visible improvements on major roads. He has a mantra for motorists to avoid any traffic-related problems, which he shared with editors and staff of The New Sunday Express: “Leave ten minutes earlier!” Excerpts from the interview: How would you rank Bengaluru traffic compared to other cities? Well, Delhi and Bengaluru are similar as both are circular cities unlike Mumbai, which is a linear city. Traffic management is much easier in Mumbai. Also, the share of public transport is 82 per cent in Mumbai, whereas it is only 45 per cent in Bengaluru, with personal transport making up 43 per cent and autorickshaws and cabs filling up 12 per cent. In another 2-3 years when we have a robust public transport system, we can reduce the use of personal vehicles to 20 per cent. For the first time, an ADGP-rank officer has been managing traffic. Is there any mandate from the CM or the government for you? Traffic is priority because it is being talked about, in the sense that Bengaluru is tagged with the word ‘traffic’. We should completely remove that tag now. Traffic in Bengaluru is like in any other city today, but since many people travel to Bengaluru, they compare it with Western cities. But now we have to ensure that Bengaluru is talked about only for its great climate. What is your message to motorists in Bengaluru? Just start the journey 10 minutes early. No tension, no pressure, no problem at all. You will follow all traffic rules. As a special commissioner, are there any dedicated plans or visions for Bengaluru? As far as traffic police are concerned, all our plans and measures are short-term. That is because traffic engineering is the long-term solution and we do not have much role in that. Civic agencies have to plan traffic management. Traffic police are there only to regulate and enforce smooth traffic, along with road safety, investigations and prevention of road traffic accidents. Bengaluru has around one crore vehicles now. By 2030, we might have 1.6 crore vehicles and we do not have any plan for that. This is where the role of civic agencies comes in. What are the challenges in coordinating with multiple civic agencies? Coordination is good now compared to earlier times as traffic management is a priority for the government and all agencies are on board now. Whatever the traffic police suggest is happening and what other agencies are suggesting is also happening. But it is not possible to prevent certain things related to utilities in old parts of the city. By and large, coordination is good as there is a system of being kept informed. For example, for any digging, we are informed in advance and we give permission depending upon the (traffic) flow. We also take action if somebody digs without information. This is your third stint in handling Bengaluru traffic and you are known as a traffic expert. What are the key initiatives you are taking? There are some major problems with Bengaluru traffic, and one is that we don’t have adequate public transport, which is seeing a slow growth. Construction works of mass transit facilities like Metro and suburban rail are taking time. Hence, people use more private vehicles. The city has 1.07 crore vehicles. Every day, 2,000-2,500 new vehicles are being registered. At any given point, we have about 20-22 lakh vehicles on the roads. The major challenge is to ensure free movement of traffic during peak hours. The first thing we did was to shift our priority from enforcement to regulation and put all our resources to regulate traffic during peak hours. It helped as the presence of police on roads generally helps to a large extent, taking decisions quickly and mitigating the situation. Secondly, we focused on reducing the traffic volume itself and implemented the ban on heavy and medium goods vehicles strictly. In the CBD area, we don’t have much traffic problems because of one-ways, but the entry points to the CBD area, like Hebbal Flyover, Goraguntepalya Junction, Mysuru Road, Silk Board Junction and Tin Factory Junction are a problem. These are our choke points, where people lose almost 20-25 minutes just to cross the bottleneck points. So, we came up with different strategies for different areas. For example, at the Hebbal flyover, we removed all goods vehicles, including light commercial vehicles and gave alternate routes for them. This resulted in the waiting time at the flyover reducing from 25 to 7-10 minutes. At Hope Farm, we reduced the 3-cycle wait to one. A synchronised signal system was introduced on many stretches. These are helping in achieving a smooth flow of vehicles. But we are facing challenges in the evening peak hours and we are working on completely removing goods vehicles during evenings too … Also, now the focus is on regulation, which is the key. Technology is so good now that even a common man can see where the traffic congestion is. Earlier, this luxury was not there. How crucial is motorists’ behaviour in reducing congestion on roads? Driving skills and discipline are the key. Unfortunately, Bengaluru doesn’t have much lane discipline and that leads to congestion. Lane indiscipline has two types — direction-oriented and speed-oriented. Direction-oriented lane indiscipline is if you want to make a right turn, you need to be on the right lane and the swerve should take place about 100 metres from the junction. But people try to swerve at the junction when the signal turns green, slowing down the traffic and leading to congestion as only 70 vehicles pass in place of 100. Speed-oriented lane indiscipline is what you see commonly on highways, where trucks take the right lane, though they’re slow-moving and they decide the speed of other vehicles. Lane indiscipline is one of the major causes of worry as far as traffic and bandwidth are concerned. Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MA Saleem interacts with TNSE editors and journalists at The New Indian Express office in Bengaluru | Vinod Kumar T How is undesirable motorist behaviour dealt with? There is undesirable behaviour such as riding and parking on footpaths. We have decided to book such violations not under the Motor Vehicle Act, but section 283 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code) as it’s a rash and negligent act which may put lives of others in danger. We have booked more than 2,900 such cases in the last one-and-a-half months. It’s a cognisable, but bailable case. The vehicle is impounded and has to be released through the court, which is a long process and acts as a big deterrent. Earlier, we used to book 10,000 such cases per year. They are mostly plead-guilty cases and fines are levied by the court. What about autorickshaw drivers? They charge any amount and there is no regulation. Getting them is also very difficult as they refuse passengers... We are bringing back prepaid auto stands. Before the pandemic, we had 16 stands and we are already starting them in important areas. Autos are a good public transport system, but the service should be good. Earlier, we had a system of auto drivers displaying their details inside vehicles, but it is not in use now. We have held talks with associations concerned to introduce a digital system to know the details of drivers. Tell us about your doctorate in traffic. I am a commerce and management student and I have also done a master’s in police management. Subsequently, I was doing a PhD in human resource development. But my guide suggested traffic management as I was working in traffic and introducing one-ways at that time. The main focus of the thesis was the one-way system I had introduced. How are you leveraging technology for better traffic management? We are using technology for enforcement, doing away with manual checking, except for drink-and-drive cases. We have 7,500 cameras in the city and are generating 30,000 challans per day using technology. It will be scaled up. Violations will come down once people get notices and realise that cameras are capturing their violations. Can you say something about the plans of making roads pedestrian-friendly during weekends, like on Church Street and in VV Puram? Major thing is that we should have adequate public transport. If the road surface is not available for vehicles, then there will be congestion. For instance, Cubbon Park is pedestrian-friendly during weekends and on public holidays. Apart from Church Street and Commercial Street along with very few other roads, I don’t think any other roads qualify. Has the number of accidents come down? It has come down compared to what it was a decade earlier. This might be because of congestion and slow traffic movement. Once the cases are fewer, even a few cases look big. In cities like Dubai, the annual deaths are just 6-7. This is because of good driving skills and road discipline. If it goes hand-in-hand with enforcement, all roads will be safe for driving. Cyclists say the city is not safe for them. It is not safe right now as there are no dedicated cycle lanes. It requires engineering interventions. Cycling is another mode of transport. Owning a vehicle is related to aspirations here, it is not for travel. Aspirations for bikes or cars are based on income. What is the speed limit for vehicles that Bengaluru should have? It should be 50 kmph. A survey on this should be done now to check the speed. The last survey was done almost a decade ago. About speed limits near school zones, we have started working on it as the safety of students is of utmost priority. What about reforms within the traffic police department? Now the strength of the traffic police is better. The government has sanctioned four new traffic police stations for the city along with two sub-divisions where we will get more staff. BBMP has given 200 home guards for the BTP. We are getting good support from industries and also traffic marshalls in regulating traffic. Many people are coming forward to volunteer as traffic wardens … The job of traffic police is extremely difficult. In the police department, the shift system is there only for traffic police where each shift will be for seven hours a day. Everybody is entitled to a weekly off. Compulsory annual health checkup is there for traffic police. The Arogya Bhagya scheme covers the entire family. There are good Police Public Schools and the housing facility too is good. The percentage of housing is about 57 at present and it was around 42 earlier. It is good to have rent-free housing for the police in a city like Bengaluru. Service conditions have largely improved. Even a police constable whose education requirement is just a 12th pass gets a salary of Rs 35,000 which is better than any software engineer’s first salary. What can be made to encourage people to use public transport? It is going to happen. Public transport should be economical and faster than personal vehicles. The last-mile connectivity too is happening. Once all the Metro lines are operational, people will use public transport. What do you say about you being labelled ‘One-way’ Saleem? People called me names. But the one-ways have stayed. It has been more than a decade. All the one-ways are working very well without any problem. Nobody can change it now. In the western part of the city, some roads have to be made one-ways. All roads cannot be made one-ways. It has to be complementary and the distance should not be more than half-a-kilometre. The classic example is Queen’s Road and Cunningham Road. Both are complementary one-ways, one for going and the other for coming back. Did you always want to be a police officer? No. I wanted to be a BTS (now BMTC) bus driver as the bus was very attractive. Only after joining MCom, I saw my classmates preparing for government services and got to know about such exams. What about your hobbies? Reading. I have my library and I read mostly fiction. Sidney Sheldon, Harold Robbins and Jeffrey Archer are my favourite. I have a lot of books in Kannada, English and Urdu. I also read Usha Navarathnaram’s novels in Kannada…