On the long stretch from Somajiguda to Cyberabad, Meenakshi often finds herself running late for work, stuck in numerous bottlenecks. The traffic jams are never-ending and noise and pollution adds to the stress. The line at each traffic signal stretches on and it feels like the vehicles are moving in slow motion.
Ravi Akella, software professional, shares the same frustration. With over a million cars getting manufactured every year in the country, it's no surprise that it takes almost an hour to cover a short distance of 10 km in the busy parts of the city. On an average, a working professional devotes a big chunk of his time to the road. Francis K., a management graduate, says, “A car meant for four people is occupied by just one person. That naturally affects the space available on the road.”
Abhishek B., an IT professional, adds, “It is high time that carpooling assumes real meaning in the city.” In the US, there are special lanes dedicated to carpooling during the peak traffic hours to encourage the initiative. Mamata, a social worker, feels that carpooling doesn't always work because of the differences in timing as you often end up clocking in to someone else's time-schedule. Rashmi Kumar, a soft-skills trainer, raises a few questions about the safety of such carpooling systems. “While it's an environment-friendly scheme, the idea of travelling with strangers doesn't really work for me. You have to be careful in choosing a route and your co-passengers.” To tackle that problem, a few websites offer employee verification to ensure safety and security.
Websites such as ridemates and commuteeasy organise dedicated routes. M.V. Chowdhary of ridemates.org says that safety is ensured because carpooling options are open to only the existing corporate members in the city and you need a valid corporate id to sign in. The process is simple. All you need to do is log in and register with a route to find yourself a carpool. You can also post details of the trips you hope to take and specific requirements like whether you prefer male or female co-riders. Also, a user can only register with a corporate e-mail address, which helps in keeping the non-serious participants at bay. Commuteeasy estimates an annual saving from two people pooling at Rs. 18,000 for an estimated travelling distance of 20 km. This factor alone is driving many more people to buy into the idea. Shivkiram Imandi, a software engineer who works for OSI systems, recently put up a request on carpooling.in. “I put up a request for a carpool from ECIL to Hi-tech city mainly to save my fuel costs. The difference shows because a day's fuel consumption is split between four people. It is reducing the strain on both my wallet and mind,” he says.
While the timing of this concept seems to be spot on, it also requires people to be punctual . “A lot of cooperation is needed to make carpooling work. Punctuality should be observed by all those concerned, something which Indians are pretty casual about,” says Lavanya Mahesh, who's currently looking to share a ride to Gachibowli from Masab Tank.
According to carpooling.in, Secunderabad has around 58 carpools registered, while Hyderabad has over 228 carpools registered. These services have an e-mail and SMS facility as well. With the growing internet and mobile penetration, carpooling is definitely riding on a smooth road.Share the ride for good
Share the ride for good
Carpooling helps you network, save fuel and money, reduces traffic congestion, noise and pollution and even helps you get to know more people.
According to a car pooling website, Secunderabad has 58 registered car pools and Hyderabad has 228.
An estimate suggests that two people using car pool to travel 20 km per day can save up to Rs.18,000 annually.
Registering with a car pool website using your corporate email id ensures safety.
Popular carpooling websites
www.carpooling.in, www.commuteeasy.com, poolmycar.in andwww.ridemates.org
