Last week Pravin Sood, Add.commissioner of Police( Traffic) was telling that Bangalore's 65 lakhs plus citizens would give 80 lakhs suggestions on how to improve traffic and none practise one bit. That applies to most of us. Most of us drive cars and hardly ride a bus or take cycles like Dasarathi , Director CADEM who rides cycle to his Office in Jayanagar from Sadashiv Nagar and some time takes bus. I believe he uses his car thrice a month. A role model. Yes I do use two wheelers around R.T.Nagar instead of car and use public transport to visit Rama Nagar etc. I do try to use bus once in a way when there is no rush and when the destination is exact to a point. So let us contribute a bit to ease the traffic in Bangalore T.Vidyadhar --- On Mon, 16/3/09, Mathew Thomas <[email protected]> wrote:
From: Mathew Thomas <[email protected]> Subject: CAF3181 Re: Infoscions to observe Bus Day 13th March 09 To: [email protected] Date: Monday, 16 March, 2009, 12:01 AM Yes. Kathyayini's suggestion is one of the many that could be taken up. I was quite serious when I mentioned that instead of these gimmicks, we need a comprehensive traffic plan. I do not know why it is taking so long. There are many simple solutions that would provide considerable relief. Surely, the IT industry bigwigs are not so dumb that they do not know or understand such solutions. I had made a paper for BCIC in October last year giving a number of suggestions. I have attached a copy of the same to this mail. My mail was not a criticism of Infosys. In my first mail on this subject, I had spoken of the need to take a holistic view. Things like total traffic pattern needs to be looked into. Infosys spends huge sums for moving their people to and from their BPO. So do many other such companies. Apart from traffic congestion and cost, the wastage of employee time and the stress on people is immense. Instead of responding to my suggestions, I was sorry that my mail was taken as indicative of my attitude towards Infosys! This is the kind of perverted logic that prevents us from doing anything concrete. In the paper above, I have mentioned how Chennai has achieved a lot in managing traffic. Regards, Mathew On Sun, Mar 15, 2009 at 11:05 PM, Kathyayini Chamaraj <[email protected]> wrote: If they had thought of this bus option earlier and motivated their employees to use it and also provided them with incentives for doing so, we may have saved the city from building the more than Rs. 900 crore or so worth expressway on stilts from silk board to electronic city. The incentives would have cost a pittance compared to this figure. Kathyayini On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 1:22 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: Yes. In the context of the topic - traffic congestion & their current initiative in it. Another company changed the face of India even more - East India Company! Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel From: Muralidhar Rao Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 12:49:14 +0530 To: <[email protected]> Subject: CAF3174 Re: Infoscions to observe Bus Day 13th March 09 How they changed the face of India is not a criterion; but, how many BPO cars they run is a serious one! Muralidhar Rao On Sat, Mar 14, 2009 at 11:37 AM, <[email protected]> wrote: For some these holy cows are like Caesar's wife, beyond suspicion, or in the saying's Indian version, beyond criticism. Hence, no question of even asking how many BPO cars they run. Regds, Mathew Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel From: Muralidhar Rao Date: Sat, 14 Mar 2009 10:49:06 +0530 To: <[email protected]> Subject: CAF3172 Re: Infoscions to observe Bus Day 13th March 09 For some, nothing that Infosys does can ever be right, I guess. Muralidhar Rao On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 10:57 PM, Mathew Thomas <[email protected]> wrote: Hi, I have been wondering for many days about the damage caused to this city by the huge increase in IT businesses located here. Since, many an IT leader, especially from Infosys have been in the forefront of activism on the City's governance and especially traffic management among other issues, I could not help but smile at the irony of it all. How come these gentlemen never thought of what would happen to the City when the influx of all these IT companies was happening? One has written about imagining India.. If a better city could not have been imagined just a few years ago, how could one imagine a better India? All these imaginations would remain pipe dreams! I was told by a very high official of the Infosys BPO that they spend Rs 1 Crore per month on taxi charges. It would be worth checking as to how many taxis ply for all BPOs here and how many times a day they ply, criscrossing the roads across the CBD every day. Instead of this gimmickry of having a day for bus travel, why don't they relocate their BPO businesses to smaller towns? Why not reduce travel by spreading out the BPO in this City itself and having a number of smaller offices, rather than one central office? This is solution suggested by Ashwin of IIM - B. Another solution is to have as many people as possible to work out of home. Regards, Mathew On Fri, Mar 13, 2009 at 7:58 PM, Vinay Baindur <[email protected]> wrote: Did people at Infy have this car free day ? did it actually work there, Was there less traffic or not ? Is it something other biggies in Blr south might like to try out ? I think we could have it once a month and if it is coordinated much better BMTC and other services might benefit? The 10 km flyover is also going to be inaugurated next month Infy people were highly supportive of the Hosur road widening in 1992 from 2-lane to six lanes + service road. THE BEST INAUGURATION FOR THE FLYOVER COULD BE A HUGE NUMBER OF BUSSES FROM END TO END ON BOTH SIDES =========================================================== Date:12/03/2009 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/03/12/stories/2009031250760400.htm Infoscions to observe Bus Day tomorrow ECO-DRIVE IN BANGALORE. Infosys premises in Bangalore. Shamik Paul Bangalore, March 11 Come Friday, and Bangalore could enjoy a quieter drive to work! No, it’s not a bandh or even the slowdown that is going to take the hustle and bustle away from the city’s busy streets, but an initiative by Infosys Technologies Ltd to reduce the number of cars on the road. The company, as part of its green efforts, has decided to encourage all its employees in Bangalore to use the Infosys bus network on the 13th of this month, instead of bringing their personal vehicles to work.Public transport This move, which is a first for the city, could encourage Infosys’ 21,000 employees in Bangalore to use public transport, somewhat giving a breather to its usual heavy traffic. “To encourage more Infoscions to use public transport and decrease our collective carbon footprint, we have planned to observe March 13 as Bus Day at Bangalore,” said Ms Rama NS, Head, Bangalore Development Centre. “The response till now has been positive; we hope to see active participation.” Infosys said the number of buses plying would be marginally higher on the 13th, especially in areas from where a lot of its employees carpool to reach office. The company has a network of 189 buses, most of which are under casual contract from the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation, to whom the company pays a monthly fee. It also has some private buses. By choosing to come to work by bus, the employees will help reduce the number of vehicles on the road, resulting in reduced traffic congestion and better quality of air, the company said. “At night we will have cab services for both BPO and Infosys Technologies Ltd employees,” it added. When asked if it plans to extend the programme, Infosys said it has planned the campaign only for the day. “It’s basically to make more employees experience the bus service, and they might be inclined to use them on a regular basis,” the company said.Incentives to staff Infosys has also been giving incentives to employees who car pool rather than travel in personal vehicles by reserving space at one of its parking lots for a certain period of time. The number of employees who have chosen to car pool has increased by eight per cent and the number of cars in the pool by six per cent, which has translated to a potential reduction of 100 cars off the road, the company said. The Car Pool campaign in Bangalore was launched in April last year. Add more friends to your messenger and enjoy! Go to http://messenger.yahoo.com/invite/ --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Citizens' Action Forum" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/citizens-action-forum?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
