People prefer own transport mainly because they can travel directly by the shortest route non-stop to the school/college/workspot and back.To use public transport, one has to walk in the hot sun to the nearest bus stop, wait for the correct bus, somehow manage to get in, get down and walk again.some people have to take more than one bus.Because of the crazy one way maze, one has to walk to a different bus stop for the return journey.
It is certainly possible to provide a facility almost like own transport.Presently, sharing transport is limited to it/bpo computer savvy sector.But there are lots of other people who are not computer savvy, who do not have the time to log on to a computer ,etc (the bottom of the pyramid, to quote management guru c k prahlad) who would gladly join to form a transport pool.There may be so many people in an apartment complex traveling daily to the same place and back at the same time.They would probably be surprised to see familiar faces in the group and think "why didn't WE think of this ?"
Groups of people made up of students,teachers, salaried employees, doctors, lawyers and ALL those who travel from the same place to the same place at the same time every day can charter a small vehicle like the maruti van, swaraj mazda, tempo traveller etc on a monthly basis.(since buses cannot travel/park on small roads). It would almost be like using own transport, without the hassles of driving tension, parking space, fuel, vehicle care, wear and tear, breakdown etc. The system is in fact more reliable since the transport contractor will find a replacement vehicle/driver whenever reqd. This would also be an idea to make friends and share other info like hobbies etc. This will require some effort but after all, the reward is worth the effort.In fact the bmtc itself should act as a focal point anchor to launch this project.
I would be happy to be part of this effort.
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Comments
Vanpool?
Calvin, you are probably talking same thing as vanpool. http://en.wikipedia.org/w...
Airlift would be sort of like the commercial implementation of vanpool (pooling ride to a popular destination).
Shared autos or taxis have also been spoken of a lot. If you think about it, there may not be a need for long distance vanpool services. First and last mile vanpool is all you might need in most cases. If BMTC could run shuttles to connect corridors with deeper residential pockets, that would do it.
Getting back to vanpool thought, encouraging airlift like ideas, but not just to the airport, could do it. BMTC may not allow such services though.