JUMP INTO CAR POOLS

JUMP INTO CAR POOLS
Traffic police want parents who drop and pick up kids to keep their cars home, and warn that they could get towed away
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bangalore: Waiting to welcome the kids with a wide smile, hand them an ice-cream and whisk them away in a long, shiny car is not going to make the traffic policeman happy
anymore. Or dropping them to school in the morning. Your vehicle is at risk of being towed away.
Instead, car pooling is what they want to popularize, and only such cars will be welcome before schools.
To avoid congestion and piling up of vehicles in front of school gates, the traffic police, in colloboration with schools, introduced the safe-to-school programme where students were encouraged to use public transport or school buses. Though car pooling was one of the suggestions given to parents, it didn’t take off effectively, with many parents preferring to drop their child in their individual cars.
But this year, in more ways than one, the traffic police are encouraging car pooling. “We may not tow away the car immediately, if parents decide to go in for car pooling. This will ease traffic congestion during school opening and closing hours,’’ said additional commissioner of police (traffic) Praveen Sood.
Many schools have devised their own ways to ease congestion. “It’s possible to have car pooling but it has to be done effectively. Instead of having five cars for five children, it would be better to have two or three children in each car,” says Bishop Cotton Girls’ School principal Princess Franklyn.
She says the school has taken measures to address traffic problems. To begin with, parents are allowed to drop their children inside the school, however, they will not be permitted to park inside the school campus.
“Sometimes, we have parents coming early to pick up children, we advise them to go for a round and then pick up the child, else vehicles just keep piling up. We also have 14 buses for different routes. Yet, some prefer to drop their children in their own vehicles,” adds Franklyn.
Ditto with Bishop Cotton Boys’ School. The school has allowed parents to drop their child inside the campus but not to park inside. “We have school buses which are packed, operating to 14 different routes. Car pooling is better concept. In fact, some parents have already started it. It’s not only with parents, even the staff have adopted car pooling,” says transport supervisor Jacob Chamberline.
At Baldwin Boys’ School, car pooling was always emphasised. “Some parents, especially those with children studying in Class 4, 5 and 6, have okayed car pooling. But their percentage is low. We couldn’t opt for BMTC buses as there were few takers. We don’t allow autos or vans inside campus,” says Dinakar Wilson, principal.
PARENTSPEAK
I drop my daughter to school in a car or two-wheeler. Till last year, I’d send her in a school van. This year, the school hiked the van fee. I cannot afford to send her by that anymore as I took a pay cut recently. So, I’ve decided to drop her myself. One advantage is that we leave 15 minutes before school starts. When she took the van, she’d leave home an hour earlier. When I take the car, I take along the neighbourhood children studying in the same school and drop them.
Vishnu (name changed) | EMPLOYEE, PRIVATE FIRM
I send my daughter by the school bus. Since my wife and I work, we have different timings which is not in sync with my child’s school timing. The school bus is always safer. If there’s a problem with it, then the school arranges for alternative transport. Giridhar Sharma | BUSINESSMAN