[mayankk]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

My vote is for option 1. Based on my observations the air is cleaner, the winter fog notwithstanding. The reduced congestion = faster driving = less engine time x thousands of vehicles = less pollution.

The scheme has enjoyed huge support from the young in my company. At our workplace HR got folks organized into car pools. At home (all our cars are odd numbers!!) we have got ourselves organized on daily trips into or through Delhi's municipal boundaries with a mix of pooling with my brother-in-law, using the taxi service and the metro (especially for the below 25's in the family). To the elders in the clan I've simply said travel on odd dates - plan in advance. It has worked well thus far. I firmly believe the scheme should become permanent. In that case we will invest in a Reva e20, sell our Skoda Superb and get on with life.

Forgive my saying this but in our country we want things done but don't want to be the ones asked to sacrifice or contribute or effect change. It is all very well to theorize about building superior public transport and easier to forget how long it will take to do it given Govt administration's inefficiency and Delhi Govt's limited budgets. The Delhi-NCR area has a population of over 2.17 crore people (2011 census) which is more than the population of countries like Sweden, Finland, Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Portugal, Zambia, Sri Lanka etc. I wonder if the antagonists even comprehend the complexity and magnitude of the challenges that Delhi-NCR faces. Let's take what steps we can, while it is not too late and simultaneously build the public transport system and last mile connectivity. And in the meantime if it means that the upper middle classes and the rich have to make some sacrifices I am happy to be counted in for the ride.

BTW the Mumbai Metropolitan area is just a whisker behind in population at 2.07 crores in 2011.

I'm sorry, but what makes you think the "antagonists" here have done nothing?
Am I taxed?
What for?
Did the population just burst overnight?
Has the metro not been running at capacity within 2 years of coming into being?
Have the buses not been incoherent since forever? Gypping/refusing autos have not been always a mainstay of Delhi?
Is this all new information for all governments?

So who has not been working?

It's all very well to be eloquent and point fingers when it's possible for you to adapt . Do not expect that if someone is protesting, he's doing it just because he's not willing to be even slightly inconvenienced.
Heck, I voted for these guys, so you can't even say that my politics probably don't agree. I support this government over the others who are just corrupt, but not this.
I don't expect magic, but neither do I want draconia.

[extreme_torque]

Guys I am no longer in Delhi but some of the responses from people on this thread are heart warming. I was sure that Delhi would not follow given that we are the power centre, the capital and we try and abuse the power whenever we can but how wrong was I. Kudos to every citizen of Delhi to make this a success. What we should do more is also discuss all the other initiatives taken by the Delhi Government. The Odd/Even has hijacked every discussion when other decisions are almost as important, if not more.

[landcruiser123]

Based on statistical data from various studies, the impact of the odd-even policy on the pollution is negligible.
What it does though, is free up the road. I heard from a couple people that their commute time is significantly reduced.
It's not in our hands whether this will be continued or not, but what I hope is that it encourages carpooling.

Wish the media and government will do a survey on reduction in commute times and publish the article in all cities. I would consider a if people volunteer and we reduce 35-40% of cars on the road. This will free up our roads, making life easier for everyone.

[interest]

I would have supported it whole-heartedly if indeed the government had been fair and reasonable in implementing it. By this I mean-

a) Exemptions should not have been given so liberally. By giving exemptions to women is the government recognising that women travelling by car are safer than women travelling by public transport. In that case, I would argue that why shouldn't the government deploy civil defense volunteers and police to make public transport safer for women (and probably senior citizens as well) in the first place. Also, if the real purpose of this exercise was to check pollution then I dont know how giving exemptions to two wheelers is justified.

b) The government has imposed a fine of Rs. 2000 for violating the rule and is citing low violation numbers as a proof of support for this policy. First of all, this is twisted logic. Rs. 2000 is not a small amount of fine. I would have believed that people are supporting it if the fine amount was Rs. 100 and yet people were supporting it. But the more important issue is, if a high fine amount leads to less violations, why isn't the fine for fare refusal/overcharging not as high? vote bank politics I guess.

c) Overcrowding of buses and metro- The government says that the buses and metro is not more crowded than usual. Well, weren't our buses and metro already overcrowded? The government attitude merely tries to avoid taking any responsibility for making the life of the commuter easy.

d) All the ministers and judges stay quite close to their offices and work during fixed hours in a day. For them, carpooling is quite easy unlike folks working in private sector who don't work for fixed hours in a day and don't necessarily stay close to the workplace.

e) shutting down schools, naming and shaming schools for not providing buses are just tactics to shift the blame for the government's failure in ensuring adequate buses on to the shoulders of the schools. I remember reading somewhere that the courts had asked the Delhi government to scale up the bus fleet to 10,000 buses but the current bus fleet stands at 5,000 (lower than 6,200 five years ago). Recently the Delhi government told court that buses are not being purchased because of lack of parking space. This is preposterous. When hundreds of acres of government land is under encroachment why doesnt the'government reclaim it and use it for parking buses.Vote bank politics again I guess

Yes the car owning community is relatively well off and likes the convinience that a private car offers. Yes, the car owning community is less likely to organise a strike or protest against the government like auto/taxi unions will. However, this does not mean that the government can keep abusing them. Sooner or later they will start buying two cars, start converting their cars into CNG (congestion again comes back), buy (more polluting) old two wheelers and four wheelers, shift travel time (many people had started to reach before 8am in my office) ensuring that the hare-brained scheme of the government falls flat.

[bluevolt]

The purpose of the odd-even policy was to reduce pollution. Nothing has been clear on this front. As far as congestion is concerned, I was stuck in traffic jam yesterday for over 3 hours while travelling from cp to kgate via karol bagh/sadar bazaar road. May be the route is meant for jam only, but I was in shock and literally was praying to reach outer ring road.

Anyways as far as this policy is concerned, No, I would not want it to be continued further.

I have two odd number cars - and it appears to be a pain when you can't drive any of them due to this. Just in case I may receive brickbats over not being environment friendly then please note that I have stopped bursting firecrackers on Diwali, I don't smoke and don't do any similar activity that may cause air pollution. But for commuting purpose, though I can still manage with existing Delhi public transport, same is not the case with my parents.

If they will continue this rule, I had to get a new CNG car, likewise most people will.

[fuelinmyveins]

this what the shrewd politicians do. They just twist the fact, specially the statistics for justifying their tactics.

Even if we go by this survey, 51% of the total respondents are not in favour of the move where as Delhi government will harp about 49% people in favour of it, conveniently ignoring the fact that that every body is expressing the need for better public transport and other innovative initiatives for sizeable reduction in pollution.

Even the pollution reports from monitoring agencies have failed to show a conclusive dip in pollution.

It may have been a breeze for few people living in areas of Delhi with good connectivity but ask those who live or work in not very well connected areas of Noida/greater Noida, Manesar, Neemrana, Bhiwadi, outer edges of Gurgaon, Rohtak, faridabad.

[SS-Traveller]

So I voted for No, nothing changed - I continue to take pills for my allergies/asthama!

But I don't need to take pills for my allergies/asthama! (incidentally, that's spelt ASTHMA - please correct the spelling, moderators.)

Yet, all I am saying is, nothing has changed. I have two cars, a scooter and a bicycle at home. And both the cars bear odd numbers. I don't need to travel regularly on a daily basis, and I work from home. But when I do need to travel, it is at short notice, at odd hours, and without consideration for odd-even rules.

I've managed to avoid taking out my cars on the even days. But I need to travel on at least 2 even days over the next week. Yes, I'll be forced to take a cab, or borrow someone else's car (and pray that he doesn't need to borrow mine - I hate loaning out my cars to drivers who have been trained by primates). No, better still, I'll borrow my cousin's e2o... Nah, my wife went out on the even days to run the essential errands, while I stayed back at home.

But my early-morning bicycle rides are no better. In fact, they're worse. In their efforts to beat the 8 am curfew, people already flood the roads at 7 am, on their way to wherever they're going - and the pleasant emptiness of the roads, even without school buses, isn't there any more for me to enjoy.

Delhi drivers are wise. They figure out things quite quickly. Post-lunch, the civil defence volunteers, traffic police, RTO inspectors and sundry others empowered to collect 2000 rupees from errant drivers, are generally busy enjoying the winter sun or catching up on their siesta. No one is active any more at the major intersections. The traffic builds up, and the wrong cars are out on the roads again. By 6 pm, it's quite safe to drive around the city brazenly without the fear of being fined, never mind what the number of your car might be. I'm an idiot, trying to follow the rule in letter and spirit, despite inconvenience to me.

I'm in the market, looking for a used car with an even number. I'm also in the market looking to sell a used car with an odd number to someone like me. Once both the deals happen, I don't need to burden my wife with the task of driving. She drives; she drives safe as well; it's just that she doesn't love driving.

So, what's changed? Wait till the schools reopen, and we'll discover a new meaning for the term 'chaos' if the odd-even rule continues to be implemented.

Oh, and the one time I decided I wanted to save the city and ride a three-wheeler, I faced 3 refusals before one agreed to take me - and his meter showed a charge that was 30% more than the regular fare for that stretch. I didn't pay him the inflated charge, of course, but the story of how I managed not to do that, I am saving for another day.

[XD2]

Voting for 'inconvenienced'. Based out of Gurgaon, my sixty-plus dad drives to Delhi for work. He was open to using the services of the Metro on the 'odd' days. But then there is no end-mile connectivity for the 20kms he has to do in Gurgaon. The public transport is far from convenient, and you still need to walk a km on roads with no supporting provisions for pedestrians. You could drive down to the metro - but the parking falls way short.

At least in Gurgaon - we are way behind in public infrastructure to conceptualize such a shift. I can still recollect my relief when I got my motorcycle way back in college, and my car when I was working. No longer were my days marked with haggling with auto-rickshaws, making my way thru packed buses and walking down non existing sidewalks. Little has changed since. A welcome step would have been a nation wide initiative to iron out the issues with public transport. I know way too many people who would switch without a thought (obviously excluding the ones who 'live to drive').

[Nav-i-gator]

I voted for NO (it should be discontinued). Not because it is not effective in reducing pollution (I'm not sure on this), but because there is serious lack of public transport/road infrastructure to support this, esp for people who commute through Delhi to other suburbs. I live in Gurgaon, and if someone like me have to go to their native place in UP/Uttranchal, or if someone living in NOIDA/Gzb have to go to Punjab/Rajasthan etc, it is a big problem as there are no peripheral roads to allow such commute without passing through Delhi. Some people are saying that traffic has reduced drastically and hence travelling is a breeze now - well, if govt completely ban ANY car to be on road, traffic condition will improve even further, but that is not a solution, is it?

[sourabhzen]

Voted for "Yes, travel is a breeze".

I am spending 50-70 minutes on road (40 km one way) which was minimum 90 minutes on normal days.

Other advantages for me:

• Met a friend after six months because of car pooling.
• Taking Uber pool on other days, reducing my driving fatigue in this process and sometimes meeting strangers. May add few friends now.
• Now I know what all is there in my way to office as it is difficult to notice them while driving.
• Definitely reducing some emissions.

But I am sure that this can not be long term solution. My reasons for the same are as follows:

• People will find alternate means. Buying second hand cars will definitely not help the cause. Giving up cars is very very difficult.
• Roads need to improve big time - potholes, irregular parking, buses stopping anywhere but at bus stops, commercial trucks (specially garbage trucks and cement mixers) plying at peak hours contribute a lot towards jams. They need to be tamed. Trucks freely enter Sabzi Mandi area before 7:00 PM after paying bribes, but police just ignore them.
• HEAVY penalties should be imposed on erring construction sites and the contractors who do not dress up the roads/pavements immediately after digging them up.
• Government must hire good transport planners and look at improving all aspects of traffic no matter how small it is. Without that this rule becomes half baked measure.

[manver786]

The travel indeed is a breeze but at the same time it is not a long term solution. The authorities need to demagnetize the city to make it livable. However, I would like to mention that there are lots of ifs and buts by the various departments in not doing their duty efficiently in as much as
i) the traffic police/police, do not require to issue any public notice for remvoing the encroachments on the road
ii) the road engineering is to be tweaked on a war footing wherever there are hurdles;
iii) the municipal corporations do not require notice to be given to the public for clearing the footpaths or repairing the roads urgently.
iv) to create fear of law

By the way all these are already known to the concerned authorities yet overlooked.

These are basic things which need to be done and the results will be tremendous and do not require any specialized efforts

[xs2mayank]

For odd-even rule to succeed fully, our public transportation system has to develop leaps and bounds. Last mile connectivity, better frequency of buses is required for people to give up their car.

Most importantly adequate standing/sitting space in public transport is needed so that people who are used to comfort and privacy of car should not be hesitant in using public transport.

Unfortunately in a country like India, where Population far exceeds the available resources, this will not be easy.

I have lived in London for 2 years and never felt need for any type of vehicle (bike/car). Heck, I not even used Taxi more than 2-3 times during these 2 years and that too during airport transits due to heavy luggage. This is the type of public transportation system (Metro/Tube + Buses) foreign countries have developed. Unless that happens in India, it will not be easy for people to give up their cars.

[arch_hornet]

I'm not from Delhi/NCR, so cannot cast my vote. I agree with those who believe that this is a short term solution, and if made permanent then the outcome would be far worse.

Second cars will almost be a norm (if not already). That too it will be decided by the number plate of the car whether it is odd or even (possibly complimenting the car already in the stable so that both odd AND even cars are there at home). Car sellers are gonna take big kickbacks for this, and I guess even the bribe to be paid for a "fancy" number is gonna increase manifold.

I just hope Bengaluru doesn't follow suit - at least not in a hurry.

[Catalyst_delhi]

Travelling is actually fun now, Looking at number plates and the lack of traffic jams or severe jams and empty roads in some areas. I wish this continues but the government should make the metro or bus cheaper. Still the major irritant are the 3 wheelers or bikes, while we cannot remove them , they can come up with a scheme to get them onto service lanes only etc. I still see pollution though..

[i74js]

Just for the sake of experiment, it was good and not many days are left when this will end.

- Technically it has not been established that the pollution has actually gone down (barring 9 Jan - due to wind, which helped in removal of pollutants to some extent) - reasons could be exemptions, increased ridership of cabs compensating the pollution not caused by parked cars, other commercial vehicles overstressed with commuters load resulting in increased pollution, the list goes on and on

- Using public transport at peak hours is a herculean task, TSR and online cabs run at surge pricing (practically one is fleecing off the record, while ola and uber fleecing on record) - no checks by government machinery, because they want to do experiment and also could be hands in glove with law makers

- Traffic situation has improved marginally on trunk routes, earlier the roads were not crowded before 8:00 hours, now all trunk routes connecting satellite town in NCR (essentially the outbound traffic from Delhi) is there during early morning; good that the experiment has been done during school holidays, else dropping kids to school would require a meticulous planning. I would say with this experiment, the peak hours kick in early

- One finds people usually commuting by public transport cursing car owners as they have jumped in and over stressed the system, which was otherwise stressed

Is odd-even a solution, well not really because in NCR, the alternate means of commuting are limited and full to the brim. Metro is increasing its reach which is good, but connecting long distance will only add to increased number of people reaching the city making it over crowded. Metro has to seriously look at the increased frequency of trains on the existing routes to make it easier for people to choose it as an option.

- One of the important things that Metro can look at is to have multiple change over intersections to reduce congestion at say places like Rajiv Chowk etc.