Mobility experts said the firm had not looked beyond, even though there is a need to create infrastructure that moves people, rather than simply making personal vehicle use more attractive.

The suggestions of a private consulting firm, hired by Bengaluru’s municipal corporation to propose traffic decongestion plans along 190 km of high-density roads, were made public. This immediately sparked criticism from mobility experts, who called the approach vehicle centric.

The 628-page feasibility report, prepared by New Delhi-based Altinok Consulting Engineering Inc, proposes almost a dozen elevated corridors, eight short flyovers, two double-decker (metro-rail) corridors, and two tunnel roads. Barring the tunnel roads, the elevated roads — whether short or long — will cover a total length of 124 km. And, if one included the tunnel roads, it would be for almost 170 km of roads.

What’s more, the BBMP’s report, for which it spent Rs 450 million, appears shallow compared to the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) of 2020, which provided a broad range of solutions to address commuting issues, including pedestrian infrastructure, junction improvements, and bus fleet augmentation.