Indian Constitution guarantees the right to free movement to all citizens. But in Bengaluru, pedestrians are an endangered lot. Of the top eight metros in India, Bengaluru has the third highest number of pedestrian fatalities.
This is not surprising given that about 60 percent of our mobility budget focuses on road construction and expansion. In the absence of safe footpaths, zebra crossings, and accessible skywalks, pedestrians are prone to jaywalking, putting themselves as well as motorists in danger.
If policy makers continue to invest in infrastructure for motorised transport as opposed to that for walking and other non-motorised transport, we are headed for disaster.
Read more:
- Why addressing pedestrian concerns is key to making Bengaluru liveable
- 44% of those who died on Bengaluru’s roads in 2017 were pedestrians
- One pedestrian is killed every two days on Bengaluru’s high-speed arterial roads
- Delhi, Mumbai or Bengaluru, our cities treat pedestrians as second-class citizens
