Reflections on Driving to & from Agra

On the way to Agra from New Delhi, we shared the state highway with every vehicle possible. Most of them were overloaded.  For passenger vehicles, this rural state highway had tuktuks filled to the brim with school kids on their way home, families, wedding guests. There were scooters, bicycle rickshaws, cars and vans. It was usual to see at least 8 people in a tuktuk, if not more.  One or two sat with the driver, 3-4 sat facing the actual passenger seat, 3-4 in the passenger seat, several facing out back. There were several lorries filled with wedding guests.  We saw at least one wedding ceremony taking place. It was held in a shrine at the side of the highway next to a wheat field.  Receptions are held at "farms," which are sort of garden restaurants with lovely grounds. 

Cargo vehicles included all of the above and also horse carts, ox carts, Brahma bull/cow carts, camel carts, people pulling or pushing wagons.  Cargo bike rickshaws in the and around the vicinity of Agra carried huge loads of shoes for delivery to stores--100-200 boxes strapped  to the back of the bike & wagon.  A single small horse & cart pulled a load of steel bars about 20 feet long and 1000 pounds weight.  Lorries with 6-8 foot trailers were piled 15 feet high with cargo. Keep in mind, this was on a highway, as well as on the business route of the highway in towns.

It is fascinating to see how this dance of space & right of way among this array of vehicles works without choreography on city streets as well as interstate roads.  

On the return, we drove the new Indian  express way.  This was a totally different experience, as there were few vehicles. Speed limit is 100 km, and with the current low levels of daytime traffic, and high-tech cameras along the way, the toll-booth checkers are able to monitor each vehicle's speed. Each vehicle takes a ticket which has a bar code on it. At the checkpoints, the attendant scans the bar code.  At one stop, the attendant told our driver Jagdiesh that he had been traveling at 105 kph!  People still crossed the freeway on foot, but there was less variety of vehicles.  The freeway is a toll road as well, and drivers consider it expensive.