A year ago, when a group of urban planning experts mooted the idea of a Car Free Thursday in the IT area of Hyderabad, called Cyberabad, it was mocked at. People thought the idea won’t work, and even if it did, would die within a few Thursdays. Despite the negative vibes, volunteers stood outside gates of IT companies every Wednesday holding placards that said, `Don’t bring your car tomorrow’, `Cycle to work tomorrow’. And on Thursdays, for those taking public transport, there would be a `Thankyou’ waiting.
So it is quite a feat when at least one hundred cars have stayed off the road every Thursday for an entire 52 weeks now. And to mark the occasion, one lakh school children wrote to the software professionals working in Cyberabad to persuade them to leave their car behind once a week.
In 2012, a survey revealed that there were 391 registered motor vehicles for every 1000 people in Hyderabad, a number higher than even Delhi. In the IT hub, which includes the areas of Hitec City, Raidurgam and Nanakramguda, 3.5 lakh people commute to work everyday.
And therein lies the challenge. The peak hour vehicular travel speed is only 7-13 km/hour, slower than cycles that incidentally now on Car Free Thursday, travel at 19 km/hour. One lakh man hours are wasted everyday in traffic congestion, with 40,000 litres of fuel wasted everyday apart from emitting 96 tons of CO2.
Even though a lot more could have been done, there have been significant positives. A startup company called Commut, inspired by Car Free Thursday, is doing 1000 plus bus rides every Thursday. This is an app-based shuttle service from home to office.
Carpooling and cycling were thought of as the big ideas. Ramesh Loganathan of Progress Software, is one of the many software professionals who makes it a point to cycle to office on Thursdays. According to Deloitte and many other IT companies, one in every five employee is into informal carpooling. According to Zify, a carpool app, downloads have gone up 200 per cent more due to the awareness. This has led to less pressure on parking space at office complexes, and even better, strong bonding between employees.
Visha Reddy, one of the brains behind Car Free Thursday, says, “Initially, we ran dedicated buses for the first three months. But we could not sustain it. We have suggested route rationalisation and the bus network to be improved towards Cyberabad.”
The big challenge is in the awareness and the nudge needed to encourage more employees to discard the car for a day. Administrative officers at some firms are not enthusiastic about the idea possibly because it means losing commission from cab companies. For the scheme to be taken to the next level, the government has to step in by improving footpaths, cycle tracks and frequency of public transport.
Cyberabad showed the way and Gurgaon borrowed the idea to implement a car free day once in a month. Delhi went for the odd-even scheme. Having sustained the concept for a year, all eyes are on how the idea shift gears now and keeps Thursdays car free.
