Where have all the cars gone?

Where have all the cars gone?
By: Chetan R Date: 2009-06-24 Place:Bangalore



Driving down the Sarjapur-ORR stretch is suddenly a pleasure, thanks to techies switching to public transport

If you're suddenly enjoying a hassle-free drive on the Sarjapur-Outer Ring Road, you have Wipro employees to thank. Around 70 per cent of them have given up their vehicles for public buses.


Freeway: The number of vehicles have reduced from 4,000 to half on the Sarjarpur-ORR as compared to last year file pic

A study on traffic impact and assessment carried out between January-May 2009 by city-based Consortia of Infrastructure Engineers (CIE) has found that over 70 per cent of Wiproites, who used private vehicles last year, have switched to buses to commute to work.

Next on the list are Infoscions about 40 per cent followed by companies including AOL, Oracle and IBM.

"There is a remarkable change on the ORR-Sarjapur Road stretch, especially during peak hours, and the credit goes to Wipro," said Professor M N Srihari, chairman, CIE. "This has reduced traffic jams during peak hours."

Last year, around 3,000-4,000 vehicles plied the stretch every day from 7.30 am to 8.30 am and between 5 pm to 6pm.

The number has come down to 2,000 this year.

The change

The change is in place even before the state's transport policy for IT companies, drafted by CIE, has been implemented. It recommends that 25-40 per cent of staff use public transport.

CIE, an independent organisation of city-based engineers, surveyed over 28 IT companies to see how many employees used private vehicles along the corridor.

Proactive methods by the companies including initiatives like Go Green and incentives for public service users resulted in the change, say experts.

"IT companies volunteering for change have showed positive results," said Ramya G, project engineer, who led the team carrying out the study.

Apart from proactive measures, Seetharam Vishwanath, manager, AOL, also attributes the change to recession.