Pune Has 359 Cars Per Kilometre- Now, This Is What We Call Traffic!

March 26, 2019

Car Congestion — Image used for representation only.

Data revealed from the Maharashtra transport department on the basis of the statistics from the respective state transport departments revealed that Pune has a staggering 359 cars per kilometre!!

Kolkata has 319 cars per km, Chennai 297 cars per km and Bengaluru interestingly, has only 149 cars per km.

Corroborating this, a recent research study by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) conducted by a team of researchers at the University of California, Berkeley and three other U.S. universities ranked Pune as the seventh most congested city in India.

The city has already attained notoriety for a higher vehicular population over humans.

Pune365 spoke to several informed citizens who shared their views and offered solutions to manage the increasing vehicular population of the city.

Rakesh Shetty, a car dealer says, “Every day, we have a sale of at least 5 cars and cars can be brought easily, The easy EMI’s and down payments are attracting more and more buyers.

Another reason is the poor transport facilities we have in the city. Many buyers buy a car because they are travelling daily for quite a distance. For some others, it is used for business purposes.

The only way to avoid vehicular congestion in the city is to have better public transport. People are ready to use public transport if it functions well, maintained well and it is safe, says Vinita Chaudhari, Senior professional

The only solution that can be considered is by implementing the Singapore government model where they restrict the registrations of vehicles after a certain period of time.

Public transport should be enhanced and carpooling, bike pooling should be promoted extensively. The infrastructure needs to be developed at a faster pace just like the city,

Buses, metro, cycling tracks and restricting the number of vehicles will certainly help reduce the number of cars in the city, Vinita added.

The rise in the number of cars is already leading to huge traffic jams, pollution and unauthorised parking on roads, says Aneesh Yadhav, Journalist.

Proper infrastructure is the only solution to it. Ring roads, grade separators and widening of roads is essential in the city but without compromising on the greenery in Pune.

Enhancing public transport may not reduce the car congestion, because the rich or elite class people may still use cars, though, carpooling will definitely help.

All views expressed in the article are those of the individual respondents and Pune365 does not necessarily subscribe to it.