'Have car, will drive' is the motto here

'Have car, will drive' is the motto here
Bangalore, DHNS:
Car-owning Bangaloreans are more concerned about their comfort and convenience rather than environmental or traffic issues, and are unaffected by the rise in fuel prices, revealed a recent sample survey by a City-based firm.
The survey among 315 yuppies who use cars for reaching their workplace, indicated that at least half of them travel more than 30 km daily and spend above Rs 3,000 per month on fuel. On an average, the daily fuel consumption per car owner is three litres and totals up to 50 to 90 litres per month.

The BCIL Eco-Pulse Survey - conducted during during July-August last by the Biodiversity Conservation (India) Limited (BCIL) which is a construction company dealing with urban eco-friendly homes — gave a glimpse into car use patterns of Bangaloreans, mostly with monthly earnings above Rs 20,000.

Releasing the survey report here on Wednesday, BCIL CEO Chandrashekhar Hariharan said that despite increasing urban pollution and rising fuel prices, affluent Bangaloreans preferred sticking to their cars. The respondents were well-heeled and well-educated men and women and included entrepreneurs and salaried professionals. Their monthly expenditure on fuel varied from Rs 500 to more than Rs 5,000. While 80 per cent of the respondents spent between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 per month, 11 per cent spent above Rs 5,000 and 9 per cent spent below Rs 1,000.



While 70 per cent of the respondents drove their cars to office everyday, 14 per cent each took their four-wheelers on alternate days and once/twice a week and only 2 per cent rarely. As much as 51 per cent of the respondents traveled more than 15 km to reach their office, 22 per cent between 10-15 km, 18 per cent between 5-10 km and 9 per cent below 5 km. While 68 per cent respondents owned small cars, 75 per cent of them also owned a two-wheeler and 4 per cent owned bicycles.

About 85 per cent of the respondents used car for shopping, while 10 per cent drove their four-wheelers even to gyms or aerobics/sports centres as well!

Car pooling
Only 22 per cent of the respondents — 70 to be precise — were into car pooling to reach office. The main reasons cited for car-pooling were their convenience (83%), cost factor (27%), reducing pollution (20%), conserving fossil fuels (19%) and reducing road congestion (11%). Of the remaining 245 respondents who were not into car pooling, 45 per cent said they did not do so as none of their colleagues lived in their area and 44 per cent felt comfortable traveling alone. Two per cent of them never thought about it but were open to it.

Waiting for Metro
Fifty-seven per cent of car-owning Bangaloreans surveyed were willing to use BMTC buses if the services improved, and 70 per cent of them looked forward to use Metro Rail.

The factors that drove them to think of using public transport were fuel costs, pollution levels and traffic congestion. Presently, they shunned BMTC buses as they were “always crowded” or the “routes, frequency and quality were not favourable” to them, the survey stated.