Beating peak hour traffic

Beating the peak hour traffic

The Hindu

BANGALORE: They stay well past 8 p.m. in their offices, but are not workaholics. They just don't want to face the rush hour traffic earlier in the evening.

For many mid-level executives and others who commute by their vehicles, tackling traffic jams at the end of a long day's work is not something they relish. The alternative? Wait till 9 p.m. or even later and, if necessary, take a circuitous route.

This is the case with many who work in offices in the central business district; except for Mahatma Gandhi Road, others in the area are all one-ways and get clogged with traffic around 6 p.m. For those who need to use the Richmond Circle flyover or go beyond Hudson Circle, traffic can seem endless. It is no better for those who need to cross over to Kamaraj Road and drive towards the cantonment area. For those taking Old Madras Road, traffic jams around the Hebbal Flyover can be frightening.

For Dinesh (32), an executive who works on Richmond Road and lives in Koramangala, even 9 p.m. is not too early. "I have tried various routes from the Inner Ring Road to the one through Viveknagar and Games Village and got stuck in traffic everywhere. After 11 or 12 hours at work, I don't have the energy for it."

The office has taken care of such "late workers" like him by providing them with coffee/tea dispensing machines. For others, it may be takeaways from the "darshini" round the corner.

Pratima (29) works in Indiranagar and lives in an apartment complex off Wheeler Road in the cantonment. "I try to leave home by 8 a.m., drop my children at their school near Coles Park and reach my office on Brunton Road an hour later, if I am lucky. It is better than trying to wade through the traffic at 10 a.m."

She too stays on late at work, with her husband picking up the children from school. The new regulations for schools to hire buses for students will be helpful, they both feel.