Field Notes Place of visit: Geeta Mandir Time: 15 hours Date: 16th August The first place through which I flagged off my field visit was Geeta Mandir (State Transport Bus Station) Ahmedabad’s major hub for transport services across the state. The bus station occupies huge premises and has four entrances to streamline the flow. My entry was through the parking section & the security guard getting glimpse of me along with the camera asked me to seek the permission from the office to photograph the place. Yes, but I had to ask him the way to the office. The office was shabby & crowded! The authority told me to ask for permission from their Central Workshop at Naroada & also informed me that your camera would be taken if I were taking any pictures. I sadly went out to have a stroll through the place. My time of visit being in the afternoon the place dint seem crowded. There were people sleeping in corners, some travellers at food/tea stall and yes many waiting for the bus to arrive or leave. The traveller’s happened to be from various cultural backgrounds and location as there were buses which connect to cities, towns & villages across the state. On the back side of the depot there’s huge space for the buses; that’s where majority of buses that connect to the small towns and villages start off! The displays were shabby but majority relied on the audio operated through two huge speakers around that section. There were two cabins facing the grounds, which were given to a team of bus authorities and the police. The temptation to click pictures had erupted gain & I went and asked to the authorities in the cabin. Unknowingly there was a building where majority of the officers at the depot used to sit; was asked to go and talk to them. On reaching there the cabins were empty infact no luck! The visuals could be improved but I found that information was majorly conveyed through audio in major parts of the depot. The people using the government services for bus transportation were mainly lower-middle class people. Through my discovery, top Singapore firms are going to design Geeta Mandir station as part of development for vision 2022.
The artistic impressions of the bus depots once they’ll be ready.
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Jenil Malavia
But sad part is the negligence over design of on-road bus terminals. They are already in bad shape and the government gives no damn.
The bus terminal just outside Geeta mandir is totally congested and filthy! Seems advertisements have completely taken over the terminal and the basic information is a mystery from the front view. Usually people have identified as a place to take the afternoon nap!
Information about the bus routes and numbers are badly communicated.
Location: Bus stop outside Geeta Mandir
The bus stop has been totally covered by the auto rickshaw walas. Rather than a bus stop it seems more of like autostand. The visual appearance of the bus stop is shabby with information display again problem.
Location: Astodiya Chakla
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Jenil Malavia
Location: Khamasa The bus stop had no benches where one could sit. Apparently one could see more people sitting on the pavement. The bus stop is just metres away from the Ahmedabad Municpal Corporation’s newly designed building.
Information Display Boards
The display boards have information forcibly made to fit in. Moreover at few bus stops the information has been written directly on the terminal itself. The existing status of how information is conveyed about bus routes & numbers is pathetic state. This is really sad!
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Jenil Malavia
Unwanted things @ Bus Stops!
Location: Pritamnagar Akhada, Paldi The tea stall guy told this phone unit is of no use since almost past 2 years and the government does nothing about it. But these corrupted officers make sure about collecting “Hafta” from them regularly.
Location: Shahpur Darwaja A presswala(clothes) who operates next to the bus stop at shahpur uses the bus top to keep clothes. However there’s garbage junction at the back of the bus stop all gathered dirt is brought here. Plastic bag seems lying at the stop with unidentified owner.
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Jenil Malavia
Location: Shahpur Darwaja
With hardly any information and place to sit the purpose of the bus stop is questioned!
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Jenil Malavia
The bus stop has no proper infrastructure when you compare with others in the city. There is no roof to cover and especially during monsoon the water pours from the top and the seating is useless.
Visibility of Information
Location: Prem Darwaja It’s shocking but this is an indication of existence of bus stop; with bus numbers that stops here. However it doesn’t tell you which route it follows. The sad part is that ‘Mahatma Mandir’ signage is given due consideration but the govt. does nothing to design proper information for the bus transport even with the size!
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Jenil Malavia
Location: Delhi Darwaja There’s a huge market (second hand sale of clothes) that set’s up everyday in the morning. In the midst of the colours and hustle people fail to identify there’s a bus stand infact.
Location: Madhupura Covered amidst the leaves it’ impossible for a stranger to locate there’s infact a bus stop until you see people standing till half of the road. Importantly the question that rises is why do some places don’t even have infrastructure set for bus stops; nor are the visual indications strong that they relate to an existence of bus stop. The irony is the places where you have more passengers do not even have a bus stop and on the other hand there are deserted bus stops. Through my retrospection the question that arises is: The Old city is where majority of the people use the government bus transport but the bus terminals in the other part of the city (across the river) things are rather different and better in their comparison. Why is this so biased?
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Jenil Malavia
In the afternoon one could spot people taking a short nap at the bus stop!
One could even spot dogs taking their afternoon nap! Apparently the man is sitting on the front rod.
The bus stop seems completely occupied with dogs sleeping over. One could spot the lady sitting right next to the dog; infact the only place left.
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Jenil Malavia
Through my introspection bus stops that have got shops on their backyards have this kind of design so they do not block the view of the shops behind.
The bus stop is in all tatters the only bench existing for sitting has been occupied by the sleeping dog.
One can’t even easily figure out the number of the bus that’s written on the board from a distant.
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Jenil Malavia
A Bus stop turned into Garbage cum Toiletry
How could we expect that someone would like to sit or even stand to a place like this? People come and urinate behind, lay unwanted things, a garbage collector laying this makes the place filthy and stinking calling for diseases.
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Jenil Malavia
Bus Stops during Night As the sun sets the bus stop glows with the advertising hoardings in the new city
Location: Natraj Cinema Strangely the information display boards have no lighting. So, one finds it difficult to read the information during night time. The advertising block is uselessly shinning at many places in the city with significance.
!
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Jenil Malavia
At Subhash Bridge bus stop there is no light for the board to glow infact there’s no information to be displayed. Also the tubelights have been disappeared and only god knows where.
Gujarat State Transport Bus Service
In absence of light, information & no place to sit the bus stop seems of no use.
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Jenil Malavia
Just outside Vadaj the newly technologically designed bus station for AMTS there are vegetable vendors who set up market late evening. Amidst the hustle to identify there’s a bus stop for the state transport buses with the small signage becomes difficult.
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Jenil Malavia
Bus Rapid Transport System
The distance between the stop and the bus is sufficient to incorporate a passing lane. The size of the shelter is not large enough to hold the number of passengers waiting at the stop. Hence the passengers spill over on to the road. Also, accesses to a majority of the bus stops have been obstructed by large trees, vendors and haphazard parking. Hence curb side locations have to be segregated from the pedestrian pathway and access restricted to either unidirectional or bi-directional with the provision of a railing.
Taking this idea the BRTS was designed with bus stops in the centre of the road.
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Jenil Malavia
Unfortunately, the existing scenario with implementation of BRTS there has given rise to indefinite traffic problems. Huge traffic jams and road blocks during the day and especially during the evening hours have become trademark.
BRTS LANE
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Jenil Malavia
The BRTS was implemented with the idea that there would be reasonable downfall in the numbers; people travelling with two & four wheelers. Infact that has not happened and this has erupted traffic problems across the city. The length of roads has been minimized for general vehicles as BRTS buses are allotted 30% of the road for their purpose. This often leads to traffic problems through the day and especially in the evening hours. If an AMTS bus stops on the way the vehicles at the back have to become stagnant due to the minimised size of the road. The issue has now become of space!
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Jenil Malavia