Traffic police put drivers on right lane

Thursday, Nov 18, 2010



Living life in the fast lane, literally, is going to be a reality for Delhiites soon. All you have to do is stick to your lane. Taking a cue from the Commonwealth Games, the Delhi Traffic Police has begun implementing lane driving on 10 select stretches in the city. Lane driving is supposed to cut travel time by half on these stretches.

"I see no reason why the stretch from Ashram Chowk to Naraina on the Ring Road, which does not have a single traffic light, be choked with vehicles? We have started this

drive where buses and trucks would ply only on the extreme left lane, autorickshaws and utility vehicles on the middle lane and cars on the right lane, which will also be the fast lane," said BK Gupta, commissioner of police.

The 10 arterial stretches including the outer circle of Connaught Place, Lodhi Road, Aurobindo Marg and Nelson Mandela Marg have been made a part of the pilot project -  the brainchild of the new commissioner of Delhi Police.

Young traffic policemen on Pulsar motorcycles have been deployed to keep Delhiites in line and on their lane. Gupta implemented the project two days after taking over as the new police chief.

"We are going slow on slapping fines on vehicles that stray into a different lane as our main objective is to educate the citizens first. We will start challaning later," said Gupta.

Bollards and policemen holding loud speakers were deployed on these roads to see that lane driving was implemented.

"Buses halt wherever they want to, sometime occupying the adjacent lanes and blocking traffic. This has to stop," said Gupta.

The police have also started cracking down on vehicles parked on this stretch that hamper traffic movement. But enforcing lane driving is an uphill task, as the road would be used both by motorcycles and light good carrier vehicles.

"The motorcyclists can drive on the middle lane as well as the fast lane. No one will be allowed to stop on these lanes," said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

The police said once this becomes a success, they would implement the lane system on other roads as well.

"We have started this as a pilot project and I see no reason why this cannot be implemented across Delhi," said Gupta, who is personally monitoring the project by taking rounds of the select stretches.

"We have received calls from people who said earlier they used to take half an hour to cross SP Marg during peak hours, now that has been reduced to 10 minutes," said Garg.

Original news source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Traffic-police-put-drivers-on-right-lane/Article1-627761.aspx