Railings on footpaths push people on to the margins of roads

Each day, tens of thousands of pedestrians, including those who disembark from public transport – services of both the Hyderabad Metro Rail, and Telangana State Road Transport Corporation buses – use the YMCA Crossroads as a transit point to reach their destinations within and outside Hyderabad. During peak hours, it is commonplace to find pedestrians precariously navigating through high density vehicular traffic comprising a clutter of buses, two-wheelers, and four-wheelers, to reach the footpath, and are left with no choice but to walk on the margins of the carriageway.

Getting quickly onto the footpath, especially after getting off buses at the junction is difficult on account of a railing on the footpath.

“I usually get down at the YMCA junction, and the bus stop is slightly far – Sangeet bus stop – which is opposite St Ann’s School. The problem is that the footpath towards the junction is slightly difficult to get onto with the horrible traffic and the railing,” said Praneeth K, a student.

The YMCA intersection deals with a large volume of pedestrians – including students, office-goers, and travellers primarily moving towards the Jubilee Bus Station, which handles several hundred buses, and an average of 50,000 passengers each day. On the other hand, the JBS Metro station deals with a daily average of 13,000 passengers.

Urban mobility experts say that there has been a conflict over the location of bus stops, for better connectivity near junctions, and those people waiting at such busy intersections. While it is required that people board buses at bus stops, such intersections must be thoroughly studied so as to have better solutions.

“Bus stops should be 75 metres from a busy intersection, according to the Indian Roads Congress. It is impractical to have bus stops very close to the intersection. It would be best if pedestrian movement at the intersection is studied by Hyderabad Metro Rail, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and the Road Transport Corporation, and position it better so that pedestrians find movement more convenient,” an urban mobility expert with an experience of designing intersections in at least two large cities said.