Good public transport is the key, says Volvo chief
The Times of India

Bangalore: The population of all of Sweden is equal to that of a burgeoning Bangalore city. And the Swedes, as the rest of Europe, have public transport mechanisms which the rest of the world has been trying hard to emulate.

On Tuesday, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation recorded transport history by introducing Volvo buses, straight off the assembly line of Sweden. The president of Volvo Bus Corporation, Hakan Karlsson, on his first visit to India, says he is gung-ho about seeing Volvos on city roads, the bad roads notwithstanding.

Excerpts from an interview:

Volvo buses may be hi-tech vehicles, but can Bangalore’s roads take them?

I am absolutely aware of the infrastructure position here. But the most important point is it will attract people. The company will try and make it as effective and comfortable for passengers as possible. If people take to the buses in increasing numbers, we will have fewer private transport vehicles. Which means the roads can get decongested. We have great expectations that these buses in Bangalore will be the cleanest in the country.

How is the transport scenario in Sweden, a country that relies heavily on Volvos, vis-a-vis Bangalore, a city?

In Europe we have an easy task, a good system is already in place and continuing it is what policy-makers focus on. In Bangalore the challenge and need for a good system is much more difficult and therefore important. In Stockholm, 60 to 70 per cent of the entire population use buses or public transport. Several European cities are introducing the system of charging a cess for travelling by private vehicles into restricted commercial areas. Which throws up the possibilities for using buses. The key is to consistently provide high quality public transport else people will go back to using their own vehicles.

Are you looking at expending services in India and offering Volvo’s expertise to other Indian cities as well?

We are in talks with Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, these are the other cities which have evinced interest after learning of Volvo’s Bangalore operations in the public sector. Right now, of course our focus is on managing and supplying good quality buses in Bangalore.