Work in progress, Apologise for the delay

Today I got a mail from Transport for London (TFL) informing about bus route diversion on 14^th August due to a cycling test event for London Olympics. Such communication is highly unimaginable for a Mumbai citizen used to unexplained road digging and facing daily traffic snarls. And I realised I am getting used to London’s way of communication and liking it.

One chilly November morning I was late for a morning lecture because of some traffic near the campus. I was fortunate enough to have been allowed to enter the classroom, but the lecturer reminded the late comers about the ongoing gas pipeline work near the campus. This meant we were supposed to factor in that delay and plan our journey accordingly. This was one of the first lessons of travel planning in London as opposed to the assumptions and presumptions of Mumbai travel.

Later I started noticing digital sign boards along the roads at least a week in advance informing about planned engineering works. Importantly the boards apologised to commuters for delay and causing inconvenience. London tube stations have a ‘good service’ sign flashing against a tube line. Once my friend wondered what is ‘good service’. In Mumbai terminology it meant Western / Central / Harbour trains are running on time. Here the tube driver apologises for delay if the tube stops between stations, which was amusing for us in the beginning. Today’s TFL mail mentioned specific bus routes in my area that will be affected and provided a link for further information on those routes. Couple of days back my friend noticed our internet connection was down and we remembered receiving the pamphlet from our internet service provider about possible connection failure from 9am – 1 pm. Aptly our net connection was back at 1.30 pm.

This is in stark contrast to seeing Work in Progress signs on Mumbai roads for infinity. Worse the same road is again dug for some other reason disregarding logic and commuter’s convenience. If engineering works were actually planned a Mumbai commuter will not suffer the annual saga of pot-holed roads during the monsoons. Many will save money spent on doctor’s consultancy for backaches, sprains, maintenance costs for private vehicles and most importantly time and energy to face the same ordeal again and again.