Safe Route To School to continue

Safe Route To School to continue
Sangeetha BK, Bangalore, DH News Service:
Tuesday, May 26, 2009, 12:00 [IST]

The Safe Route To School (SRTS) programme will be retained this academic year too. The ambitious project of the Bangalore Traffic Police has become a huge hit with the parents and schools.


The advancement of school timings and the coordination of providing Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses to schools has proven effective in terms of traffic management.

Started in 2005, the SRTS programme relieved traffic congestion in central business district areas where most schools are situated. As many as 50 schools have enrolled in the Safe Route To School programme with nearly 250 BMTC buses plying to schools.

On the SRTS programme, Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner, Traffic and Security said, “The policy of the programme is very clear. Schools cannot create choas on the roads, around the premises. We will be willing to facilitate more number of BMTC buses based on the request of schools. The early timings coupled with the facility to drop and pick up students from the school premises has relieved traffic congestion in the vulnerable zones.”
Sood explained that a single bus is equal to 40 cars and deploying the buses has paved way to better movement of traffic.“Eight buses plying is equal to 300 cars on roads. The safe route programme has ensured that there are no hassles for schools, parents and children,” the Additional Commissioner said. “If schools are found erring, strict action will be taken against them,” Sood added.

Geetha Sharma, home maker, whose eight-year-old daughter, is studying in one of the top schools in the city said, “My daughter has been commuting in the BMTC buses as per the SRTS programme, for two years now. I feel it is safe for my child to travel in the SRTS bus than sending her in two or four wheeler. The programme is good and students will be safe and will not become targets of traffic congestion in the peak hours.”