Separate bus lane in Pune offers little respite to commuters in Hinjewadi - Hindustan Times
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Separate bus lane in Pune offers little respite to commuters in Hinjewadi

Hindustan Times, Pune | ByShrinivas Deshpande
Jul 06, 2017 03:35 PM IST

Hinjewadi Industries Association (HIA) in collaboration with the traffic police on Wednesday, earmarked a separate bus lane with barricades to ensure smoother and faster movement of traffic in the area

A day after the Pune police earmarked a dedicated lane for buses carrying employees working to Hinjewadi Information Technology park, commuters found little respite as they were still stuck in traffic while heading to their workplace. Hinjewadi Industries Association (HIA) in collaboration with the traffic police on Wednesday, earmarked a separate bus lane with barricades to ensure smoother and faster movement of traffic in the area. While the plan was implemented by the police, HIA offered 100 barricades for the dedicated lane service.

To solve the problem of traffic congestion in Hinjewadi, a bus lane has been created with 100 traffic barriers exclusively for use during peak office hours in the morning from 08:00 AM to 11.30 AM.(HT PHOTO)
To solve the problem of traffic congestion in Hinjewadi, a bus lane has been created with 100 traffic barriers exclusively for use during peak office hours in the morning from 08:00 AM to 11.30 AM.(HT PHOTO)

The dedicated bus corridor is for HIA buses during peak hours between 8 am to 11.30 am and 5 pm to 7 pm starting from the Wakad flyover to Hinjewadi square. Police officials said that this will help reduce the congestion on the road and contribute to smoother flow of traffic. 

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“There are around 1.5 lakh employees working in the Hinjewadi IT park while 1.5 lakh supportive staff also work here. All of them face traffic congestion everyday due to heavy traffic,” said Col Yogesh Joshi, chairperson of security, HIA.

Joshi said that to ease traffic congestion, the HIA with help of Pune traffic police decided to create a separate bus lane. The commuters, however, were not enthused by the idea as they found no escape from the traffic congestion on the second day after the new system was put in place. “I thought today will be different because of the new arrangement but there was traffic chaos as many vehicles were stuck up in the route,” said Vaishali Aggrawal, 24-year-old employee working with an IT firm in Hinjewadi.

 According to HIA officials, paver blocks will be installed in the near future for this corridor. “Till then these barricades would be used for this separate lane,” added Joshi. The HIA has also procured traffic cones and link chains which would be utilised to create an additional two-wheeler lane across the road only during the peak traffic hours in the morning. “It is an experimental initiative. If the experiment is accepted by the commuters, the arrangement will be made permanent,” a senior police official said.  

 Though it was a dedicated bus lane, other vehicles were also seen passing through the same route. “We requested the traffic police to place a police constable to avoid such things,” said Joshi. 

All these measures are being taken to make travel smoother for over 3.5 lakh employees travelling daily to RGIP, Hinjewadi. After the inauguration, the DCP (Traffic) and president HIA along with others took a bus ride in the newly created bus lane. 

Comments from commuters (Hinjewadi Pune) 

 I have to travel daily from Kothrud to Hinjewadi and it takes more than 45 minutes normally. If there is traffic, then it takes about an hour. It is a good initiative by the HIA but now it is our responsibility to follow traffic rules.This initiative can turn out to be a good one if implemented properly. There are many vehicles breaching rules of the dedicated lane on the very first day. It needs a lot of improvement.

- Chanderi Bhalerao (Tech Mahindra)

I have been working in Hinjewadi Phase 3 since the last two years and commute from Wakad. It takes me 45 minutes on an average to reach office. It takes me 20 minutes to reach office without traffic.Those driving in wrong lanes and on the opposite road illegally in a bid to save time end up contributing to the traffic jams. If the buses are dedicated to a particular lane, it will surely help in cutting bottleneck and reducing traffic jams to some extent.

-Reeta Saini (TCS Pune)

 It is a very good initiative by the traffic police.Traffic jams are a common sight in Hinjewadi. This new initiative can help ease traffic on the road. It was a successful trial today and I think we can continue it on a regular basis. 

- Biijesh Kumer (TCS IT Engineer) 

Changes are possible only if we cooperate because today many other vehicles were seen passing through the lane which is dedicated for buses.

- Punam Shinde 

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