70% ready to dump cars for Metro: survey

70% ready to dump cars for Metro: survey
Comfort Is The Key Factor
Swati Anand & Debojyoti Ghosh | TNN

Bangalore: Cribbing about the inconvenience caused by the Metro Rail notwithstanding, Bangaloreans can’t wait to get off their cars and board the Metro. In a survey by Biodiversity Conservation India (BCIL), a real estate firm focusing on ecology, 70% of those interviewed said they would use the Metro once it starts. Over 300 people who owned cars, in the 21-50 age group with income levels of above Rs 20,000, were interviewed for the survey. Some 51% travel more than 30 km per day to their workplace, with 48% spending upwards of Rs 3,000 per month on fuel and 11% spending over Rs 5,000. Almost 75% of the respondents possess a twowheeler in addition to their car, while only 4% own a bicycle. The survey revealed that individual comfort scores over fuel conservation and climate change. And Metro Rail is the preferred choice. “A distance of 7 km, which now takes 40 minutes, will take just 14 minutes by Metro Rail. We’re optimistic that car usage, fuel consumption, road maintenance and pollution will reduce once the Metro is introduced — in fact, in monetary terms, this can be quantified as an overall saving of Rs 1,155 crore per year,” said a spokesperson of Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation. However, the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation doesn’t seem to enjoy the same popularity, with 52% saying they do not consider using buses for their commute.
While 80% complained that buses were always overcrowded, 62% faulted the routes and 44% cited poor frequency as reasons for not using BMTC services. “Given the rising fuel costs, pollution levels and traffic congestion, this is certainly cause for concern,” said Chandrashekar Hariharan, CEO of BCIL on Tuesday. Car owners not for taking buses TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Bangalore: Metro Rail yes, BMTC buses no-no. This is the finding of a survey by Biodiversity Conservation India, a real estate firm focusing on ecology that interviewed car owners on their preferred choice of commuting.
“Almost 43% of those we spoke to are not willing to try public transport even if service standards improve,” says BCIL CEO Chandrashekar Hariharan.
The BMTC promised to incorporate the findings in their future plan. “We’re looking at ramping up our fleet by 500-1,000 every year. And with that, the frequency on existing routes and introduction of new routes will become easier,” said BMTC MD Syed Zameer Pasha.
Only 22% of those polled have practised car pooling. “Pooling demands a certain level of discipline which cannot be compromised on, which is possibly why only such a small percentage have opted for it. But the benefits of pooling outnumber the disadvantages — not just does it help decongest traffic and reduce pollution, it’s also more cost-effective,” said Vipul Kasera, who runs an online car-pooling forum, www.commute easy.com, that has around 5,000 users.
He says that when fuel prices went up, the activity on the site went up drastically. They have introduced a flexi-pooling concept to ease out the rigidity of carpooling and are also planning to introduce ‘event-pooling’.