With an aim to reduce the usage of personal vehicles, the Bengaluru Political Action Committee (B.PAC), in consortium with World Resources Institute (WRI) launched #Personal2Public (P2P) campaign on Thursday, encouraging office goers to switch to metro rail at least twice a week.
The campaign was launched in the backdrop of metro lines reaching Whitefield and Electronics City, which is expected to be operational in December. The new lines in the bustling tech corridors can only decongest traffic on multiple roads the office goers commute, if they move to public modes of transportation, they said.
Srinivas Alavilli, a Fellow at WRI said, “2023 is a transformative year for Bengaluru’s public transportation system with metro lines reaching Whitefield and Electronics City.”
To analyse the commuters’ travel patterns and identify gaps in metro access, the campaign is also conducting a #P2P Bengaluru Commuter Survey. The survey will focus on origin-destination study, last mile and first mile connectivity and people’s willingness to shift to public transport. The survey will gather comprehensive data for policy formulation to improve metro ridership.
The digital survey is open to all city dwellers and has already been released. It will be open for two weeks and will be shared via citizen activist groups. The survey will specifically be used to solicit participation from residents and commuters in Whitefield, Mahadevpura and Electronics City areas.
Mr. Alavilli further said that using the results of the survey, the P2P team will prepare actionable solutions and share them with government representatives from BMRCL, BMTC, BBMP, and DULT.
In a significant collaboration between citizens, the government, Auto Rickshaw Driver Union and corporates, the P2P team wishes to deploy public transportation services like metro feeder buses and auto rickshaws in previously neglected areas. They wish to personalise commuters’ experience and make public transport accessible to Bengaluru residents. This will help develop Bengaluru’s cityscape in conjunction with the public transportation system, said Revathy Ashoka CEO, B.PAC.
Along with several government organisations, the P2P team is in collaboration with civic society partners such as Greenpeace India, and Reap Benefit to understand and solve issues from all spheres of the city.
Zibi Jamal, a member of Whitefield Rising group expressing her support and enthusiasm for the project said, “Public transport offers more predictability. People from Whitefield can attend meetings in M.G. Road in 20-25 minutes”.
To participate in the survey, log onto personal2public.in
Published - July 13, 2023 06:56 pm IST
