We 20Mn+ Delhites, please allow me the luxury to extend the definition to lesser mortals of NCR too, are proud owners of 8.9Mn vehicles. Vehicles, that ply on roads clogged by traffic. Traffic, that belongs to it and some that doesn’t: Pedestrians, Strays, Hawkers, Pavement houses, Construction, Dumpsters, Unammned check posts, Broken down trucks, Trees for shrines. Traffic powered by machine, humans and animals.
Oh, am otherwise in awe of the wide, and the very rare experience of, uninterrupted roads of Delhi. To chance upon the later, is a fairy tale. We are often blamed for Indian Stretchable Time. Truth be told, it’s not of volition. Waddling through traffic and the harrowing task to find a parking is no small feat. I recollect leaving my car to be towed for lack of both a parking spot & time to reach the interview with Microsoft at Cyber City, Gurgaon. An ocean of offices swamped with an ever increasing school of employees and of course, negligible parking. The other time I did find parking in the bylanes, my patrician stilettoes gave up on the cobbled dusty track. Then there is, carpeting, to save you from the embarrassment of grating heels.
Life goes on, at the rate of 4 hours of daily commute to and fro work, since. Am no exception. Those who live in spitting distance are not better off either. Well, I say that because they spend inordinate time covering a short distance. This regular life of mine is often interrupted, by the likes of wedding season. 20,000 weddings on a single day! While it might tell you the obvious, about the exploding traffic and potential mating population, I am perplexed to know that there are so many eligible men out there! Who are these people? Where are their watering holes? How come ‘I’ have not spotted these unicorns! Then we have festivals, VIPs, maintenance, construction stalemate and religion. Be warned Kanvarias and Chhat puja can dent you! Speaking of dents, virgin cars in Delhi are a myth.
In my ranting thus far I have not spoken about anything you did not know. Although, I may have been able to evoke empathy, by stating the obvious. Doing so was not the intention but admittedly is quite charming of me.
This write-up could have well been about air pollution due to traffic but then healthy lungs, chirping birds and green earth move few to action. Selfishness, can and does. Let us pivot this around us; our comfort, time, money & life. Now we should be better prepared to lend an ear and a thought.
It is also easier & natural to expect, after all we pay taxes; we elect. We have paid for infrastructure development, salaries of cops and waivers for violations. We should have better roads, faster construction, improved connectivity, flawless enforcement of traffic rules, pavements for cyclists, overhead bridges, shelters for the homeless, sheds for the stray and Santa Claus.
There are things “they” , the other partridges, can do. Lane driving, abide by signal, respect distance & your vehicle, be less ear-splitting, get that black hose of hell fixed, give way to the emergency siren, to start with. I am sure you have your asks.
Then there are some things we can do. Of course we do them already; not give into road rage & profanity, acknowledge our mistake, time our travel- but then again there are no off-peak hours I know of anymore.
Also, there are real solutions that do not require investments or infrastructure. Some solutions dangle the carrot, some whip the stick, others, do neither.
Here are the 15 Ideas that I can think of to reduce traffic and save you some money, time & life:
A Case for Car Pooling
Car Pool
This can be done informally at an individual level, formally by large organizations and monetized by 3rd part technology solution providers via apps. Carpooling, Letsride & Pool Circle
Shared Taxi Service
Why can’t the radio taxis not add a feature of multiple pick-ups and drops on the same route. Some will take it, few every day, others will cringe. Here is how UberPool works.
Single Passenger Hours
Disallow single passenger vehicles to ply during certain hours. If not disallow, make it prohibitively expensive.
Cap cars/person
Increase tax liability, charge higher registration, higher loan rates for second car. And the whip cracks!
Dangle the Public Transport carrot
Income Tax relief. Student concession. Loyalty cards. Reward points for Metro kms.
Meter the Autos!
Create an economical option for people to use. If autos charge this steeply & arbitrarily, I might as well buy my Nano.
Technology at help: Automated real time heat map
Spot the congestion, avoid it like plague. No need for twitter and radio updates, most of which are awfully incorrect.
Shared transfers
Hotspots like offices, marketplaces, theatres, parks can have shared transfers at standardized rates that ply frequently. Metro being the hub, hotspots the spokes.
Promote Work from Anywhere
Why incent individuals alone when you can influence the culture they work in. Reward companies where employees enjoy a work from home.
Do telemarketers need to be in office?
Use collaborative workspaces to plug and well, play.
Flexible work hours
Let the cogs decide the hours that work for them. The company and the manager should care for the output.
Company transport
Facilitate busses and cabs. Charge them if required, but nominally.
Car Pooling Alliance
If there can be coopetition why can’t offices in the same zone or building come together. This serves as company transport with centralized security and logistics. Small businesses benefit! Win-Win.
Preferred housing
Allocate preferred societies for employees to stay at. Give them a reason to live there; benefits. Membership to gym, compensation component, schooling for children, doctor on call, Life balance. High density of employees in an area = economical and efficient shuttle service.
Be Draconian:
Allocate days when odd and even registration number plates cannot ply.
Don’t turn right on the green light.
A lot amongst these ideas may need organizational or policy level support. A few are fledgling, others growing wings. Then, there are those you can excuse as a thing of my late evening, hyperactive imagination. What I hope though is that it leaves you with food for thought and me with a comment on how you think we can solve for traffic congestion.
Curio-Cities by Dilpreeta Vasudeva 