For 29-year-old Ritika Arora, a resident of Gurgaon, several lacunae that plague the transport infrastructure across the national capital region (NCR) and the lack of alternatives for commuters are stumbling blocks for the car-free initiative.
According to Ms. Arora, a senior manager at IDFC Mutual Fund in Connaught Place, the programme lacked adequate planning and information about alternate routes for car users over two occasions in Gurgaon. The event, she said, is either best suited solely for weekends and durations considerably shorter than an entire day.
“Given the shortage of public buses and space on the Delhi Metro – which evidently struggle with the daily rush of commuters as it is – things are bound to get more chaotic if car users are added to that number in the name of car-free week days,” Ms. Arora said.
“I have a desk job and can make do with a direct commute from my residence to the office but the issue is that I need to commute within the NCR several times a day; just the thought of contending with the added footfall over consecutive trips – especially during rush hour — is more than discomforting,” she added.
Arguing that the existing plan did not have enough by way of offering incentives to car users willing to give up personal vehicles, Ms. Arora said, promoting car-pooling was, at the moment, a better idea.
“Why don’t governments explore the idea of promoting car pools instead of a strait-jacketed insistence on making the entire road network car-free? Instead of five vehicles for a commuter each, why can’t they allow one car for five of them instead as an incentive?” Ms. Arora asked.
“As far as completely car-free days are concerned, I believe it is a better idea to observe them on weekends and public holidays so that car-pooling can be given an indirect push – families can go out together if required thus ensuring a smaller number of personal vehicles on the roads,” Ms. Arora added.
