[gshanky]

Social responsibility has nothing to with car pooling. At least I don't know of many who carpool for social responsibility. In many places carpooling has tangible benefits like

1) Less toll in bridges / tunnels
2) Separate lanes for HOV
3) Tax benefits
4) etc.

Also not to forget there is always security issues while carpooling. You would never know how good a driver the other person is and how good the other person's car is, is that person a psycho?, etc. So don't blame anyone who doesn't carpool

If some one thinks that people should carpool for the greater good then

1) Stop talking
2) Try to set an example
3) See how long you can do it
4) Publish your experience

[blackasta]

If its possible - its always good to carpool. 3 people (including me) share an apartment here, and everyone has his own car. However - its kind of an unwritten agreement that only 2 cars are taken out to commute to/from office on a day. Also - while coming back - more often than not we drop a couple of other persons in their apartment. The obvious benefits are lower fuel bills for all and some good karma!
Tried the same thing in India too - almost always got someone or the other (sometimes more than one) to hitch a ride with me to/from office.

As for the question put in front by the OP - I do not know to ride a bike.

Also - I feel the road I used to take for daily commute is not a safe one for bikers.

[silverado]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

so?


What exactly is the purpose of this thread guys? If someone has bought a car to commute to work, why shouldn't one use it? Im confused and amused by this. Are you all turning into Greenpeace?


I used to drive the Scorpio and Bolero alone all the time. And I sure dont feel guilty about ANYTHING!!

Driving in a car with single person/multiple person to areas where public transport is not good is perfectly OK.

But doing the same to areas which has good public transport facilities is adding to traffic.

Single AC bus can easily replace atleast 10-15 such cars.

A very good eg is Hinjewadi where due to poor public transport people prefer commuting by own vehicles.

[shankar.balan]

absolutely. it is really not necessary to even own a car if the public transportation system is properly organized and if there are proper places for pedestrians to walk and the chaos caused by humans and animals is contained.
however this isnt the case in India and hence anyone who can afford it, buys his/ her own personal transport and uses the same! theres really no right and wrong here and some of the excessively moralistic views which have been shared on this thread are merely theoretical and not practical.

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

Precisely. Look at how many people use London's Public Transport service. I LOVE their public transport just because it is Clean, Efficient and it takes you closer to where you want rather than parking your car somewhere and then walking to your workplace. Bombay does have very efficient public transport, however most other cities have to catch up!

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

Precisely. Look at how many people use London's Public Transport service. I LOVE their public transport...

Quoting from the Wikipedia article on London's congestion tax:
"Some vehicles such as buses...motorcycles, very small three-wheelers, alternative fuel vehicles and bicycles are exempt from the charge."

Also mentioned in that article is a proposal to modify the congestion charge by introducing different (higher) congestion pricing for bigger vehicles.

So, while I do still maintain that a car is certainly a personal choice, there's no denying that the size and type of the vehicle does have a huge bearing on the impact that it has on congestion levels. There's certainly no additional law or guilt associated with a large vehicle, but that doesn't mean that there can't be a certain degree of responsible usage associated with one as well. Again, a personal choice.

Even the authorities who provide the excellent London Public Transport service seem to think so.

And, missed saying so in my earlier post, but those of you who actually cycle to work in our cities, hats-off to you guys! And thank you!

[sethuv]

I drive a car to office and my office is around 12kms from my home. I feel much safer in a car and I would always prefer to commute instead of a bike. I would love to travel by public transport if it were similar to Singapore but I guess those days are pretty far away. (I would sure save a huge amount of money)

[noopster]

I got so caught up in this thread that I quite forgot what the OP had posted. SO went back and here it is:

Originally Posted by Sportygellar

As i stood outside a Techpark waiting for my friend I noticed that 95% of the Cars which are entering the Park is commuted by a single person. is it a Real need to commute in a car daily or do people also have an alternative which is called as BIKE ?
people should also try Car Pooling which will reduce the traffic and also the travelling expenses.
Time to think and action.

Sorry but your anecdotal observation outside "a Techpark" is not data. And "BIKE" is not an alternative, at least for me, since (a). I don't own one; (b). it would be suicidal for me to attempt to ride one on my daily commute.

I do agree that car pooling is desirable: in fact when I was in Bangalore commuting to Electronic City daily, had a regular car pool with 2-3 other guys and we'd take our vehicles in turns.

I've tried it a couple of times in Pune as well, but it's not my preferred mode of operation. For one, car poolers need to stick rigidly to schedules otherwise the system fails. I was lucky that I'd always pooled with guys I knew or with whom I had a "wavelength match", otherwise the hourney can range anywhere from uncomfortable to excruciating.

Small things matter in a car-pool, like hygiene (am very particular about keeping my car clean), timeliness, taste in music, conversational skills, flexibility (occasionally one needs to leave eaarly/stay late because of one person, or someone may be out of town for a while and it's not fair to expect he will "make up" everything in one shot when he is back) etc.

It's not easy to find the perfect set of car pooling partners: I have been lucky a couple of times.

My company has introduced a concept called "dynamic car pooling" but that usually just serves to provide lifts to people who have missed their bus so it doesn't really get a vehicle off the road which is what a car pool should enable.

I wouldn't mind pooling with a bunch of T-BHPians though. The problem is in Hinjewadi traffic, it has to necessarily be a bunch from teh same company, else it will take too much time and effort to be convenient for everyone.

[viper_711]

Originally Posted by Sportygellar

As i stood outside a Techpark waiting for my friend I noticed that 95% of the Cars which are entering the Park is commuted by a single person. is it a Real need to commute in a car daily or do people also have an alternative which is called as BIKE ?
people should also try Car Pooling which will reduce the traffic and also the travelling expenses.
Time to think and action.

Originally Posted by Sportygellar

EXACTLY !!! Atleast someone understood what exactly i was trying to make people understand with my words

I dont work at a tech park but my work carries me to many of them on a daily basis. Your observation is correct but the questions you raise are flawed!
Commuting is a requirement; not a leisure pursuit. Given options / conditions the average joe out there is smart enough to take the most economical approach. When there is an inconvenience, this would be evaluated versus costs. When there are many inconveniences the evaluation may tilt in favour of convenience versus cost.

Let me elaborate what many others have already written on the forum:
Bangalore and its unpredictable rain. (rest of the country has its own challenges)
Badly lit potholed roads leading to this techparks (mostly on outskirts!) making 2-wheelers unsafe
Odd working hours / opportunity to utilise hours for other personal activities can go against office transport
Your own age and related risk taking appetite keeping in mind personal responsibilities.

Examples of London and Mumbai are important. From personal experience, I can say that public transport here is so good and they are both so congested that it does not make any sense to use personal transport.
I would again repeat the fact that commuting to work is not a leisure activity and individuals if given the conveniences will surely switch over.

Till then, i dont see any real change happening.

P.S. I commute alone to my office which is 6 kms away and then need to commute to techparks on business. In my profession, time is of essence and in absence of reliable public transport, leaves me no choice but to use my car.

[diffsoft]

I think it's a very interesting question. It seems to me to be a debate on maximising individual benefits vs. costs borne by society. The individual per-se may be willing to bear the cost that society hands out to him (road tax, green tax etc etc) to enjoy the benefit. But not all costs can be priced and charged to him fully even as "others" or society will be affected by it. For instance it leaves the non-car commuters less room on the road hence less of the economic resource he desires. They bear more pollution and face increased chances of accident and hence likely to bear more medical costs. That very fact will motivate a 2 wheeler commuter to move to a 4 wheeler. Over time as more and more people start moving to 4 wheelers and enjoy benefits for themselves at uncharged cost to society the available resource keeps shrinking and downsides increasing - for instance you can't build infinite roads from point A to point B. At some point we will realize this can't go on and develop other solutions and maybe improve mass transport! The last I doubt because our rulers do not face this problem

Our forum by its very nature will most likely speak for only 4 wheel commuters so we may not fully have the opportunity to hear the other side - i.e. folks who have to travel but cannot afford a 4 wheeler. And we all know there are always two sides to every story.

In fact I have been thinking of downshifting from a 4 wheeler because 60% or so of my city driving is single person. When I wait at signals I look at 2 wheelers zip past me and reach their destination earlier. I look at traffic jams before and behind me and feel that if my car can shrink to a bike that will help reduce jams. I am often jittery of taking my car in "patli gallis" because I could unnecessarily create jams, hurt someone or hurt my car. I have trouble finding parking spots easily and have to worry about finding good parking without violating the law or creating problems for others. I am worried that my car may get damaged where ever I park. I frankly do not think too much about how much I pollute - maybe because my windows are closed all the time.

I feel I can eliminate most of the drawbacks of car commuting in a city, especially for short distances - defined as about 20 km or below, while trading off some safety and health and saving some money.

Still working out if it's worth it.

Cheers,

[mb_jg]

I know of a few people in my company who travel all by themselves in their Innova's! That I find, is pushing it a bit.
Agree that's it's their money & fuel they buy with it, but COME ON!!!

[Visaster]

My work place is 10km and my wife's 8km (on my way to work)
Hers starts at 8 and mine at 9, but shes done by 2pm and I am done only by 6pm.
I am not even able to car pool with her.
We did it for a year now before both called it quits.
I was pushing myself harder to get up early and was the only idiot who reached work 1 hr early everyday.
And the toughest part was what my wife had to go through - Chennai heat, all the harassment from chennai auto/ taxi fellows and the amount of money spent.

We were over worked, struggled and spent extra bucks.
Only solution was another car.
Sorry but only this worked for us.

Both are safe (from chennai heat, traffic, dust, auto drivers...) and the extra money got us something which is ours.
I really could'n figure out any better solution with the present Indian public transport in operation.

I tried giving the car to my wife and taking the sub-urban train and then a share auto to reach work for a week and even on the bike i love the most. Boy what a pathetic way i reached work. All sweaty, dirty and exhausted. Definitely not a way for a DOCTOR to be at work.

There are somethings we just gotta do for nothing else works.
If India had a system like in SINGAPORE, i would be the first to take it.

[Gansan]

Car is a personal mode of transportation. We are legally allowed to own and drive one. Even single persons without a family. So the number of occupants does not matter. It is a person's individual choice whether to take the car out or not when he is the only occupant. He may choose to excercise that choice or not, but he definitely can't be faulted for driving alone.

It is desirable, but not mandatory, to save fuel and reduce traffic by car pooling / riding a bike / using public transport under such circumstances. By the same yardstick, should someone riding a bike alone while the pillion seat is vacant feel guilty? Should buses/trains wait they are fully occupied and not stick to any timetable? If tomorrow some social activists demand that single occupant cars compulsorily should give lift to people waiting at bus stops, can we agree? Carrying it further, should a single person / couple feel guilty about living in a large mansion?

If public transport system in a city is well developed, then perhaps single drivers will automatically use it instead of driving their cars.

[Chetan_Rao]

I recently worked in Delhi on temporary basis, and hardly ever used anything other than the Metro. It's fast, clean, efficient and goes almost everywhere I wanted to go.

Back in Bangalore, I take my bike to office on alternate days to avoid using the car. End result: I turn up all dirty and exhausted in office, am at the mercy of the fickle weather and senseless motorists (the number of four-wheeler users on the road oblivious to the plight of 2-wheeler riders in bad weather is simply shocking), endless traffic jams and never ending municipal digging. Karnataka charges the highest road-tax rate in the country, and has probably the worst infrastructure to show for it.

Forget foreign countries. Just give me a well-connected, seamless and functional Metro like the one in Delhi and I'll sell my car tomorrow.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by mb_jg

I know of a few people in my company who travel all by themselves in their Innova's! That I find, is pushing it a bit.
Agree that's it's their money & fuel they buy with it, but COME ON!!!

Similar question/concern has been replied in post#14. It has received maximum number of thanks from the members too.

[asr245]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Similar question/concern has been replied in post#14. It has received maximum number of thanks from the members too.

Probably

Why shouldn't it? This is an auto-forum and anything that projects an image of staying away from cars would be given a thumbs down. But that doesn't make it right (or wrong).