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Gurgaon shows the way: Car-free Tuesdays to control manic traffic -Sharad Kohli
-The Times of India

GURGAON: On Tuesday, Gurgaon put the brakes on cars, and accelerated into the future. It was the first instalment of the Car Free Day that the city will now observe every Tuesday starting next month.

On day one itself, there were 10,000 fewer cars on the city's roads. The air, too, was much more breathable. Levels of PM 2.5 - fine pollutants emitted by vehicles - were 21 per cent lower in the congested Cyber City area.

This was a novel idea of the city police and a clutch of MNCs to get the city's car-loving people to ditch their private vehicles and take to public transport. Four stretches were identified for this experiment, and the city administration and police went the extra mile to ensure there were more autos, shuttle buses and Rapid Metro trains.

It helped that all important players threw their weight behind the plan. From the city administration, traffic police and MCG, to corporate houses, schools and RWAs, there was no lack of effort to make the crusade a success. Commissioner of police Navdeep Singh Virk and joint commissioner of police (traffic) Bharti Arora both cycled to work. Some 95 per cent of the students of Scottish International too pedalled to school.

Nagarro, a software concern, led by brilliant example in following a zero-car day, their employees either cycling or taking buses to office. It earned the firm Gurgaon police's best corporate award.

Shuttl, a private bus service, revealed a ridership of 3,198 on all car-free routes, which was one and a half times more than their daily average. In Cyber City, a fair number of office goers followed the advice of their companies. One building had 222 less cars parked, another had 115 fewer. And there was 'zero' parking in the area, one which sees 1,500 cars parked daily.

Rapid Metro didn't reveal any figures, but said there was a 10 per cent increase in ridership. Incidentally, the city mass transit system had increased its frequency by 41 trains on the day. "Real benefits will accrue only when the campaign is sustained over a period of time. We hope that in the coming weeks more people will participate and join the campaign for a better Gurgaon," a Rapid Metro spokesperson said.

Of course, while some tried their best to follow Car Free Day in letter and spirit, others didn't - or weren't aware of it. Gurgaon Traffic Police challaned over 2,000 vehicles, while 60 cars were impounded on the roads.

Although Tuesday was about motivating people to focus on public transport, traffic snarls were still reported in various parts of the city. Faced with the teething troubles, what was expected to be a weekly drive, starting Tuesday, will now become a regular affair every week only from next month.

"We need to strengthen the movement by adding more stakeholders and roads which require more background work. We also need to improve on the shortcomings which we noticed on Tuesday. As a result, we will do it again after four weeks," said police commissioner Virk.

Support for the initiative, even if unequivocal, came with a rider: that Gurgaon lacks a public transport system worth its name. Garima, a resident of Sector 15 who commutes regularly from the city to Sohna, spoke for all when she said, "Car Free Day is a great initiative. However, I feel that the city needs a robust public transport system - especially buses - to make it a reality."

An employee at Cyber Park spoke of how refreshing it was to see the road in front of his office free of parked cars. "Normally the stretch is full of cars parked by the side of the road, so this was a welcome change," said Gaurav Chatwal.

Meanwhile, Traffic Tau, the traffic police mascot, was doing his avuncular bit, travelling to each of the four stretches and exhorting commuters to leave their cars at home and bat for alternative transport. "There has been a fantastic response, especially from the private sector. I saw a lot of cycles today," said the genial traffic talisman.
 
The Times of India, 23 September, 2015, please click here to access