On Less Traffic Day, no let-up in vehicle density

The Less Traffic Day organised by the transport department failed to dent the flow of vehicles, as the city traffic remained brisk on Sunday.

Transport minister H M Revanna launched the special day designated to cut down the number of private vehicles on the roads that would curb air pollution, traffic congestion and encourage people to use public transport.

Revanna flagged off a cycle jatha from Vidhana Soudha to mark the event, organised jointly by the city traffic police, the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board and the Department of Forest, Ecology and Environment.

"We want to promote the use of public transport and electric vehicles and bicycles," Revanna told the media.

But more than citizens, the organisers of the event failed to uphold its spirit by arriving in their personal vehicles.

"This is just a beginning," Revanna said. "I'm sure the public would take Less Traffic Day seriously in the future. We'll also instruct officials to use public transport."

As a means of promoting the day, the BMTC and the BMRCL gave discounted rides.Besides operating additional buses, the BMTC offered Rs 5 discount on its daily pass, costing Rs 70, while metro smart cards were 25% cheaper. Metro ridership until 4 pm was 1,38,501.

Prashantha Kumar was among many who had taken out their private vehicles on Sunday. "While it's all fine for the government to ask us to use public transport, they need to ply extra buses, too. Merely issuing a discounted daily pass will not do," he said.

A success, says cop  

Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) R Hithendra called the initiative a success.

Cab aggregators came out in support of the initiative. Vishnu Bommareddy, general manager, Ola Bengaluru, said: "This would go a long way in encouraging people to take public transport."

In a statement, the Uber spokesperson said: "Congestion is more than an annoyance, it is a drain on our cities, our economies, our health and our planet."

Dampening the spirits further was the conspicuous absence of the event's brand ambassadors and special invitees, actors Puneeth Rajkumar and Yash.