The long crawl home

LONG CRAWL HOME
The workplace is almost second home to many Bangaloreans who stay late in the office to avoid traffic woes
The Times of India

LEAVING early to work to avoid traffic is old hat. Now, some Bangaloreans even stay on at the office for some time after work to avoid the evening rush hour on the way back home. And judging by their stories of woe, no part of the town is free from the traffic crawl, it seems.

Says Rajesh N, graphic designer, who lives in Yelahanka, “I finish work by 7 pm but I do not leave till 9 pm; if I do, I am caught in traffic snarls. At the Raj Bhavan junction, I have to wait for three cycles of signals; at RC College Circle for four cycles, and at the Guttahalli petrol pump signals, I wait for five. After that, there are no hassles, and I reach Yelahanka quickly. But if it rains, I leave at 7 pm, and it doesn’t matter if I’m drenched, because I can zip past all these signals as there is no traffic at all.”

Maya Menon-Raja, education expert, who lives near Jal Vayu Vihar says, “I don’t deliberately leave late to avoid traffic, but I’ve observed that if I leave by 7 pm, I am in the thick of traffic, whereas if I leave later, I reach home faster.” She knows of many who leave early in the morning. “They say if they leave 10 minutes early, they save 20 minutes than if they didn’t.” However, in general, there is not as much stress in reaching home in the evenings as there is in reaching office in the mornings, she adds.

Whether it’s the Kanakapura-Ring Road junction, or Old Madras Road, the situation’s no different, say commuters. “I wait till 8 pm, do my grocery shopping and then leave for home so that it’s a little better,” says Radhika Sunder, whose office is on MG Road.

The way to Koramangala too is as bad as the others. Says Chaya Krishnakumar, a young mother, who’s tried all routes possible, “I’ve been stuck in a traffic jam for two hours on the Hockey Stadium road between Double Road and Hosur Road. At other times, it’s the Viveknagar-Airport junction that’s crawling with traffic.” Such jams mean less time with her little son in the evenings, but she says, “What can I do? I stay at the office, go out for coffee with friends and then leave. It’s better than waiting in a jam, wasting petrol and money on mobile bills, which I resort to when stuck in a snarl.”

Says S Ganeshan who travels from Krishnarajapuram to Kumaraswamy Layout, “I wait at office till 7.30 pm chatting with friends and then leave for home. Otherwise, I could get stuck on Richmond Road or at Corporation Circle.”
Looks like the office has become second home to many Bangaloreans!