BENGALURU: A survey by B.PAC and World Resource Institute (WRI), India, has revealed that about 95 per cent of respondents in Bengaluru wish to shift from personal transport to public transport, specifically Metro Rail.
The representative from B.PAC and WRI organisations also said after the month-long survey, now they want to launch a campaign ' Personal2Public' to educate and motivate the public to switch over to bus and metro transport services.
According to Revathy Ashok, Managing Trustee and CEO of B.PAC, "3,855 people were approached for the survey across Bengaluru city, especially those on Outer Ring Road. It showed that 95% of them wanted to switch to Metro Rail. And, 70 per cent of the respondents want to switch immediately provided there is good connectivity between home to workplace."
Srinivas Alavilli, Fellow, WRI India said, "The only long-term solution to our traffic problems in Bengaluru city is public transport. The year 2023 is going to be a milestone year for Brand Bengaluru, as Metro connects Whitefield to the rest of the city. #Personal2Public is a citizen's movement with active participation from corporates, auto unions and citizen groups. We are working together to improve first and last-mile access by collaborating with government agencies. The responses have made it clear that Bengalureans will shift to public transport if we make their everyday travel reliable and seamless. As ORR has the maximum number of daily commuters, running faster feeder buses from purple line metro stations to tech parks on ORR will make a big difference. Our sincere appeal to commuters is to adopt public transport starting at least two days a week. "
Alavilli further said among the respondents, 60 per cent were car users and explained the stress they face every day due to the time taken to travel to work from home and return. Hence they pitched for the integration of transport systems like common passes for both Metro and Bus.
Vikram Rai from Bengaluru Apartments Federation said the survey team and other stakeholders recently met Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy and sought government support for the campaign and also gave a recommendation with regard to the government urging the public to take a pledge to switch to public transport at least twice a week and also addressing some discouraging factors like street lights, poor roads, better shuttle bus connectivity to the metro to boost Metro ridership."
"There are challenges, however at the same time integration of public transport will address some issues to a large extent. The beginning will be the connectivity of Byapanahalli, KR Puram and Whitefield Corridor.
Auto Rickshaw Drivers' Union (ARDU) and Adarsha Auto Union who are also stakeholders of Personal2Public say they are coming up with their own app Metro Mitra to help metro commuters find autos easily.
"QR Code will give details of the driver, auto number, language he can speak and his experience. The commuters can choose the drivers. This is to avoid overcharge or refusal. The commuters will have to pay only Rs.10 that will go towards maintenance of the app," said Rudramurthy General Secretary, ARDU.