Carpooling catching up among women

Carpooling catching up among women
The Hindu

Women find it a safe option in the present environment in the city


BANGALORE: Depending on public transport in a metro at times is inconvenient and demanding. Taking an autorickshaw may not be safe, especially for women. Driving a four-wheeler on jam-packed roads is annoying and expensive.

With an average earning person affording to have a car, carpooling is fast catching up. The difficulty in knowing each other, even neighbours, is addressed by Internet.

Three women were taking a taxi from Rajarajeshwarinagar, a suburb in Bangalore to reach their office at Electronic City at the same time. Thanks to carpool-bangalore@yahoogroups.com, they acquainted themselves and began to share a single vehicle.

The six-year-old group site, being moderated by Navratan Kataria, an engineer with a software company, has 300 members and 120 pool cars. "Women have found carpooling safe given the present situation of commuting," says Mr. Kataria.

He has adopted two steps for verification — one at the office of the car-pooler and another with the verification of home address through landline telephone for enhanced safety. If anyone intends to play mischief (like dating), he is dissuaded.

The concept is becoming popular in other metros with Delhi leading. A recent survey by www.indimoto.com to understand the profile of car-poolers indicated that a majority of them are gainfully employed in private sector and are aged between 26 and 35. It is not surprising they were from metros given the terrific traffic conditions.

It appears women are yet to embrace the concept in other metros. The website said it was in line with the Internet usage statistics for India where more men used the Internet.

Cost factor

Cost cutting being the main reason, they were equally conscious of pollution and traffic congestion. Reducing driving stress and chances of acquainting new people are the other reasons. As many as 524 persons responded to the objective type questionnaire by email for the survey.

The maximum car-poolers belong to New Delhi and NCR ( 53 per cent) followed by Mumbai (26 per cent), Bangalore (10 per cent) and Hyderabad (3 per cent).

Of them 91 per cent were men, 81 per cent worked in private sector and 44 per cent had a monthly salary of over Rs. 50,000.

Sharing his experience with The Hindu , Sukhvinder from New Delhi said he has just started with carpooling with one person. He daily travels between Janakpuri and Noida Sector 57.