BENGALURU: The Traffic Department’s attempts to reduce traffic congestion by encouraging carpooling has received a good response over the past three months. From 300 rides in late October, the month in which the campaign was launched, more than 3,000 rides are now carpooled every day.
While carpooling largely means people driving in a common car to work, parents who are irked by the traffic density around schools are also now carpooling to drop their children at school. People who travel within the city during weekends opt for such services offered by cab aggregators, as they are cheaper than regular rides.
Even though data on these forms of carpooling in the city are not available, the Bengaluru Traffic Police have been able to track the number of people who carpool using different apps. Police officials concede that they are encouraged by the response to the concept.
According to officials, carpooling services are used most in areas where are a large number of IT professionals commute, such as south and south-east Bengaluru, Whitefield and around Manyata Tech Park.
The Bengaluru Traffic Police’s campaign to promote carpooling was launched on October 21 in coordination with corporate companies and mobile apps. They track rides that are carpooled using apps such as Lets Drive Along, Quick Ride, Ride Ally, Poolcircle and others.
At the end of October, 18,000 people had registered for the services but only 300 rides were taken. However, as on December 18, the number of carpool rides has risen to 3,360. The number of people who have registered for the service has also increased to 35,000.
C K Baba, DCP (East), said: “We are planning to hold talks with IT firms about encouraging employees to carpool,” he said.
The BTP hopes to get at least 50,000 people to carpool every day.