I think Kolkata is probably the only metro city where I don't have to look at both the sides in a one way before crossing the road.
I've lived and spent time travelling in all the metro cities and now I've been living in the city for the past few months at a stretch so this is my observation as a daily commuter and not as a tourist that Kolkata has the most disciplined two wheeler riders and four wheeler drivers when it comes to following traffic rules and regulations compared to other equally big cities.
Having lived in other such cities for so long, it has become a habit for me as a pedestrian to look both the sides of the road in a one way before crossing because of unruly two and four wheelers who don't follow rules, always stay wary while walking on footpaths because some unruly two wheeler is going to keep honking and use the footpath to dash away to avoid traffic on the road, cross the road with a lot of caution because even when the signal turns red, autos, cars and busses will keep going and not let pedestrians cross using the zebra crossing and as someone who loves walking, it pisses me off how most of these cities are not at all pedestrian friendly.
However, I am facing no such thing while travelling across Kolkata which is such a relief. Like I said, two wheelers are not unruly, they don't ride on footpaths, they don't dash off even when the signal is red including swiggy/zomato guys, almost everybody wears a helmet, doesn't matter how fast the traffic is, EVERYBODY stops immediately as the signal turns red before the zebra crossing so that pedestrians can cross the road. And I feel a lot of this is because of the immaculate traffic system in this city. I know a lot of people here complain about the traffic but trust me when I say this the traffic management and police here are hundred times better than other cities.
While there always are a few bad fish in the pond like some of the ghushkhor sergeants but overall I still feel the Kolkata Traffic Police does an amazing job managing traffic in the city and it is very organized, especially for someone who has grown up in this city in the 90s and can see the complete change in the traffic management. We used to literally cry as kids while passing through Shyambazar 5 point crossing as it meant waiting in the traffic for atleast 20 minutes but now it has completely changed. The police has also made a seperate baricaded space for pedestrians so that they can walk without any worry of incoming traffic including the unruly busses and the traffic there also stops unruly pedestrians from crossing when it's not their turn to cross the road.
And while a lot may crib about it, I feel a big part of this efficienct management is turning a lot of streets into dedicated one way routes that immediately cuts down on jampacked roads and is a smart move to decongest old cities like Kolkata where many roads where clearly not built for so much traffic. Same with most of the flyovers here, there's hardly any bottleneck happening at the exit of these flyovers due to efficient management unlike a city like Mumbai where half of the flyovers are unplanned and cause huge bottlenecks.
And finally the on ground presence of traffic police which is again a stark contrast to other cities where the presence of traffic police or even volunteers is negligible. Half of the traffic police just hide near signals to fine people and hardly manage traffic. I'm not saying here they don't do that but they also are present everywhere on the streets managing traffic in real time. I was surprised to see the number of traffic police on roads, especially in areas prone to congestion and that too in huge numbers. I mean there's literally two traffic police present in the middle of Maa Flyover as well since it's an accident prone area. 🤯 And such presence of traffic police always ensures that roads decongest quicky, people keep following rules from the fear of being fined and roads stay pedestrian friendly. I was so taken aback while walking on Park Street and seeing that there's literally a
I've lived and spent time travelling in all the metro cities and now I've been living in the city for the past few months at a stretch so this is my observation as a daily commuter and not as a tourist that Kolkata has the most disciplined two wheeler riders and four wheeler drivers when it comes to following traffic rules and regulations compared to other equally big cities.
Having lived in other such cities for so long, it has become a habit for me as a pedestrian to look both the sides of the road in a one way before crossing because of unruly two and four wheelers who don't follow rules, always stay wary while walking on footpaths because some unruly two wheeler is going to keep honking and use the footpath to dash away to avoid traffic on the road, cross the road with a lot of caution because even when the signal turns red, autos, cars and busses will keep going and not let pedestrians cross using the zebra crossing and as someone who loves walking, it pisses me off how most of these cities are not at all pedestrian friendly.
However, I am facing no such thing while travelling across Kolkata which is such a relief. Like I said, two wheelers are not unruly, they don't ride on footpaths, they don't dash off even when the signal is red including swiggy/zomato guys, almost everybody wears a helmet, doesn't matter how fast the traffic is, EVERYBODY stops immediately as the signal turns red before the zebra crossing so that pedestrians can cross the road. And I feel a lot of this is because of the immaculate traffic system in this city. I know a lot of people here complain about the traffic but trust me when I say this the traffic management and police here are hundred times better than other cities.
While there always are a few bad fish in the pond like some of the ghushkhor sergeants but overall I still feel the Kolkata Traffic Police does an amazing job managing traffic in the city and it is very organized, especially for someone who has grown up in this city in the 90s and can see the complete change in the traffic management. We used to literally cry as kids while passing through Shyambazar 5 point crossing as it meant waiting in the traffic for atleast 20 minutes but now it has completely changed. The police has also made a seperate baricaded space for pedestrians so that they can walk without any worry of incoming traffic including the unruly busses and the traffic there also stops unruly pedestrians from crossing when it's not their turn to cross the road.
And while a lot may crib about it, I feel a big part of this efficienct management is turning a lot of streets into dedicated one way routes that immediately cuts down on jampacked roads and is a smart move to decongest old cities like Kolkata where many roads where clearly not built for so much traffic. Same with most of the flyovers here, there's hardly any bottleneck happening at the exit of these flyovers due to efficient management unlike a city like Mumbai where half of the flyovers are unplanned and cause huge bottlenecks.
And finally the on ground presence of traffic police which is again a stark contrast to other cities where the presence of traffic police or even volunteers is negligible. Half of the traffic police just hide near signals to fine people and hardly manage traffic. I'm not saying here they don't do that but they also are present everywhere on the streets managing traffic in real time. I was surprised to see the number of traffic police on roads, especially in areas prone to congestion and that too in huge numbers. I mean there's literally two traffic police present in the middle of Maa Flyover as well since it's an accident prone area. 🤯 And such presence of traffic police always ensures that roads decongest quicky, people keep following rules from the fear of being fined and roads stay pedestrian friendly. I was so taken aback while walking on Park Street and seeing that there's literally a
lifting barrier controlled by traffic volunteers at the crossing that opens up and helps pedestrians cross the road only when it's safe to do without any incoming traffic. And since it takes two to tango, I'm glad that most of the pedestrians in the city too are not unruly and follow traffic rules instead of straight up jaywalking (which one can hardly do these days anyway due to the consistent barricading of roads for jaywalkers by the traffic police 🫡).
Now only if something can be done to the unruly bus and auto drivers that is a menace for other riders and pedestrians...
https://redd.it/1khjt7q
@rkolc
Now only if something can be done to the unruly bus and auto drivers that is a menace for other riders and pedestrians...
https://redd.it/1khjt7q
@rkolc
Reddit
From the kolkata community on Reddit
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Spotted an old photo envelope from u/excellent_driver_674 and went down a rabbit hole on Choong Shun Studio. (Open Fullscreen. Full Story in Description)
https://redd.it/1khldbn
@rkolc
https://redd.it/1khldbn
@rkolc
Reddit
From the kolkata community on Reddit: Spotted an old photo envelope from u/excellent_driver_674 and went down a rabbit hole on…
Explore this post and more from the kolkata community