I took a long break from blogging, I am now back!...
Everyday when I get to work, I pass through about 7-8 stoplights and 3 rail road intersections. Every stop provides an opportunity to look around and catch up on things that I've missed - like an advertisement bill board, an apartment community or a restaurant or a store. In contrast, the stoplights at Bangalore offer a variety of time pass options...most of the busy lights have timers which count down the wait time. A lot of hawkers get on to the roads to sell flowers ( seen this in New York, no where else in US), news papers, auto cleaning products, sun glasses, etc. The "organized begging" goes on too...I have heard off late eunuchs are showing up on the Bangalore stoplights, trying to "beg" or extort money from the motorists. While the car passengers have an option to shut themselves in, the 2 wheeler riders at the mercy of these guys...I had seen eunuchs in Mumbai, where they ask for some money, when not obliged, will snatch from the shirt pocket...
About the technology associated with traffic stoplights, US is far ahead in terms of configuring the lights to support movement of emergency vehicles, red light camera, sensors for low traffic areas where lights change upon arrival of a car at the stoplight. Policemen rarely do traffic management, unless there is an accident, road construction or some special event. In contrast, the Bangalore stoplights are also being upgraded. I heard, some of them have still cameras, video surveillance. In addition, most of the stoplights have 1-2 policemen manning them. The mix of electronic controls and manual intervention work in tandem to support the massive vehicular flow. Hats off to the Indian traffic police, they do a tremendous job in keeping the traffic under "control" inspite of so many dynamic variations every day. When the lights turn green and the vehicles surge forward to criss-cross in the opposite lanes, that sight reminds me of the epic kurkshetra war where the warring enemies rushed to each other in full strength.
