Walking in TK

Upon arriving in Trivandrum and walking around I was struck (almost physically by a passing bus) by the lack of sidewalks. Some combination of walking in the street and along the dirt strip to the side is required to reach you destination. Much attention must be paid as you maneuver drainage ditches, large rocks, construction materials, and you know other people. It is a wild free for all (slight hyperbole) of cars, buses, auto rickshaws, motorcycles, motorscooters, bicyclist and of course the occasional walker. From what I have been told the number of cars in the city has increased significantly in the last ten years and the traffic has become a issue that officials are wanting to address. An article came out in the paper yesterday remarking on new street plans in an effort to deal with the current problems. Issues such as congestion, motorist weaving in and out of their lane into oncoming traffic, the conflicts of differing types of transportation modes, and the need for the all holy side walk. These are large undertakings; ones in which even some cities in the US are slow to deal with. As Trivandrum continues to grow and as all of India continues to grow it should be interesting to see how they begin to manage their transportation needs for their population. I would expect that they may develop strategies that we in small populous countries would never have devised.