School buses to be banned after 8:30am to ease traffic in Bengaluru: Report

Bengaluru's traffic department in order to ease traffic congestion in the city has decided to prohibit plying school buses post 8:30 am before the office-going traffic begins. The initiative led by newly appointed traffic commissioner IPS, M A Saleem, according to Hindustan Times.

The officers will be enforcing the new rule in Bengaluru and will impose fine on school buses that drop students and park near schools after 8.15am, according to report by The Indian Express.

A traffic police said that no school bus will be allowed to stop near schools and violators will have to pay a penalty after 8.30 am, according The Indian Express.

"We have already instructed school management to start classes early,” he said.

The traffic police department will also enforce a 'dedicated carriageway' and a 'safe passage way' to ensure that children get to school safely.

"Parents will be given one entry and one exit point. They can drive their vehicles from the entry point and drop their kids in the playground and drive back to the exit point. This avoids parents stopping by the main roads to drop their kids,” said another traffic cop.

In the past it was noted that school buses park outside their respective schools throughout the day till it is time to drop students home, and thereby block part of the road, causing a major setback to commuters during that time.

Residency Road, the Richmond Road flyover to Brigade Road, HSR Layout, among others have been recognised as problem areas. In this regard, traffic cops have ordered authorities to park the buses inside their campuses.