Wheels within wheels
While automobiles in India have moved light years ahead in technology, style and service, traffic in most of our cities remains primitive. Urban transport, on the whole, is polluted, unsafe and expensive. For Mumbai and Delhi, which present a grim picture of bumper-to-bumper congestion, carpooling could be a possible way to reduce overall vehicular use.
On the anvil is Koolpool, designed by Mumbai-based Joshua D'Souza. Koolpool is an innovative business model based on rewarding users, an aspect that has hit a snag as Section 66, Motor Vehicles Act 1988 requires a vehicle to obtain a permit for any hire and reward program. In fact, the scheme has been hanging fire at the transport commissioner's office for over two years.
Slow crawl
Koolpool has done the usual rounds. B I Nagrale, then transport commissioner, Mumbai liked it but didn't give a formal approval. A year later, the file passed to his successor S D Shinde, who says it's the Maharashtra State Road Transportation that will decide the matter. Meanwhile, Omar Ahmed, joint transport commissioner, New Delhi, Delhi says his department will support the project once it's launched.
Leena Mahendale, executive director, Petroleum Conservation Research Association (pcra) says, "The proposal is very well thought out, but lacks legal clearance so far. We advocate carpooling and wish it could be implemented.' She has offered to route D'Souza's proposal through the pcra.
A common need In Mumbai, the scheme can tap a potential 50,000 to 2,00,000 rides on well laid out routes like Western Express Highway, Eastern Express Highway, Swami Vivekanand Road, Link Road and Central Road. Assuming 50,000 vehicles use the system and each of them has even two riders, who also do a return journey