Bengaluru has hope, citizens take public transport
BENGALURU: Sunday showed there is hope for congested Bengaluru to reduce vehicular traffic on its roads. The first edition of Less Traffic Day, planned by the transport department on the second Sunday of every month, was a fair success.Responding positively to transport minister H Revanna’s initiative of starting ‘Less Traffic Day’, many city motorists took to public transport or the metro to move about the city.
Metro ridership on Sunday increased compared to last Sunday while the number of vehicles on roads dipped. Vasanth Rao, chief public relations officer for Bengaluru Metro, said from 8am to 8pm, a total of 2,34,257 commuters travelled by Metro on Sunday. It was 2,22,983 commuters on February 4.
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited had offered a 25 percent discount on the Varshik card (Metro smart card) — instead of its regular 15 per cent discount —to encourage people to support this initiative.
Cab aggregators Ola and Uber also released statements expressing their support for the initiative, with Ola rolling out a special discount coupon for the day.
BMTC, too, had increased the Sunday fleet to accommodate more number of commuters, who would have otherwise taken their private vehicles to reach various destinations.The movement also found support online. A user ‘Gp Capt Christopher’ tweeted how he had taken a cab instead of his car on Sunday and found traffic sparser than on other Sundays.
Additional Commissioner for Traffic R Hithendra tweeted: “BTP (Bangalore Traffic Police) thanks everyone for supporting the ‘less traffic day’ initiative. Vehicular traffic indeed was less compared to any other Sunday.”
In an attempt to curb air pollution, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) will introduce 200 electric vehicles at Metro stations which can be given on rent, said Mayor Sampath Raj during the launch of the Less Traffic Day event on Sunday. The BBMP has decided to allocate necessary funds in the budget for it, he added. In the initial stage, the vehicles will be given on rent free of cost and once it picks up, “we will fix a price which will be affordable.”
After the inauguration, Transport Minister H M Revanna said the Central government should issue an order on celebrating Less Traffic Day in every city to reduce pollution and traffic congestion for a day. Bengaluru should not become another Delhi, he said.There are more than 72 lakh vehicles in the city and 55 lakh are private vehicles. The officials of Transport Department came to the venue in their official cars. Some people questioned Revanna about this. He admitted that “a few mistakes” unknowingly takes place and said this will be rectified in future.
Less pollution too
The initiative also brought about as much as 26 per cent reduction in air pollution levels compared to the past three Sundays. The Karnataka State Pollution Control Board compiled data from its seven monitoring stations across the city and compared them with average values over 3 days - Jan 21, Jan 28 and Feb 4. The seven stations are at Hebbal, Jayanagar, Kavika (Mysor Road), Nimhans, Silk Board, SG Halli and City Railway Station.