Govt to hold meeting to discuss staggered timing

The State government will hold a meeting with the representatives of the Whitefield Area Commerce and Industries Association (WACIA) to discuss ways to ease traffic snarls in and around Whitefield and Outer Ring Road (ORR).

Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development) T M Vijay Bhaskar will hold talks with WACIA representatives on introducing the staggered timing model. Urban experts V Ravichandran and Reejet Mathews of the World Resource Institute have suggested staggered timings as a short-term measure to address the traffic bottlenecks on the ORR and Whitefield stretch.
The meeting is likely to be held at WACIA office.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Sugunan, General Manager, WACIA, said that the meeting will focus on the staggered timing concept. “We do not know what the outcome of the meeting will be,’’ he said.

The government is of the view that even a slight change in timings will help to ease the traffic problems. According to the International Labour Organisation, a staggered timing of even 15 to 30 minutes will help to ease traffic.

Industry representatives, however, say that several companies are already practicing staggered timing model, especially those with clients in the US, Europe and other countries. “This could be of little use,’’ said one of the IT honchos who didn’t wish to be named. “The government should at least maintain service roads and remove obstacles in service roads,’’ he pointed

“In many developing countries faced with the problems of urban sprawl, traffic jams and inadequate transport facilities, the coordinated staggering of working hours will provide a relief. While the difficulties should not be underestimated, the concept of staggered hours is worth exploring,’’ Ravichandar and Mathews said in their presentation.