KOCHI: Vehicular traffic on the city roads has increased considerably, with snarl-ups becoming a common sight, especially during the rush hours in the morning and evening. Reason: People are preferring their own vehicles to the public mode of transport due to the Covid-19 situation. Besides, illegal parking of vehicles add to the traffic woes in the city.
“Now a days, people don’t feel it safe to use public transport though they are cheaper modes of transportation,” said Mathew S, who used to depend on the private buses to go to office before the pandemic outbreak. According to him, the roads are crowded with cars and two-wheelers, often resulting in traffic congestion.
Kerala Private Bus Owners’ Association president M B Sathyan echoed similar views. “The ridership in private buses has not increased by even one per cent since we were allowed to resume services after the lockdown. People are afraid and they don’t believe that the buses are being operated by taking all precautions,” he said. “Now, the roads are crowded with all sorts of vehicles. However, very few people prefer to travel in buses and this has hit us hard. Recently, a private bus owner called me and said he is submitting the form seeking to excuse him from paying tax,” said Sathyan.
“The bus owner told me that he was getting only `300 to `500 per day. This is not enough to meet the fuel cost, pay staff wages and tax. So, if the ridership doesn’t increase many bus owners will be forced to stop services,” said Sathyan.The Kochi Metro too is facing a similar situation. According to a source, the ridership — which had been on an upward trajectory before the pandemic struck — is yet to pick up. “At present, the average ridership is around 10,000. However, the number plummets during holidays and weekends, which otherwise witnessed the highest passenger traffic,” said the source.
The traffic police personnel too agree that there has been a 50 to 60 per cent increase in the number of private vehicles hitting the city roads. “However, since no business vehicles like tourist buses are operating services, we are able to regulate the traffic,” said a traffic police officer.
The officer, however, said the equilibrium that the department is maintaining on the roads might get skewed if nothing is done about the parking problem. “In many places, illegal parking of vehicles on roadside causes traffic bottlenecks. If designated parking spaces are provided, especially in major thoroughfares, then the traffic jams might become a thing of the past,” said the officer. MG Road, Banerjee Road, High Court Road and the Shanmugham Road, which often witness traffic snarls, are in urgent need of parking facilities.