: Delhiites seem to have found ways to beat the odd-even scheme, as per a survey carried out by the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA).
The survey, by the SPA’s Department of Transport Planning on April 18, shows that the number of cars on roads in odd-even 2.0 have gone up compared to the first odd-even in January.
Dr. Sewa Ram, associate professor at SPA and the team leader of the survey, believes that people have bought new or used cars, or retrofitted their cars with CNG kits to beat the scheme. Also, there has been a substantial increase in the number of two wheelers, which are exempt, this time compared to the first odd-even 1.
“It appears that many people have shifted from cars to two wheelers,” Dr. Sewaram said. “There was increase in percentage of two wheelers in all eight locations surveyed. The largest increase was on Ring Road, from 25 per cent to 45 per cent,” Dr. Sewaram said.
On the brighter side, the survey revealed that the number of buses have also gone up this time. Even though it is not clear if the number of people using the public transport has gone up.
“The government prepared itself to put buses in peak hours,” Dr. Sewaram said. “However, just providing buses doesn’t mean you are providing public transport. People also need a feeder system and if that was provided, the change could have been seen in people shifting to Metro and buses,” he said.
The survey was carried out at Punjabi Bagh, Anand Vihar, Indraprastha, Ring Road (near Bhikaji Kama place), Maharani Bagh, Mandir Marg, Gurgaon Expressway and Lodhi road. The stretches were videographed for two hours during morning peak hour and the feed was analysed.
On Friday, when odd-even 2.0 completed a week, 491 motorists were challaned for violating the rule.
