Aman Chawla, a resident of Sector 92, and four others have started a carpool initiative via WhatsApp to commute to their office, as a solution to inadequate public transport in new sectors.
Ask any office-goer in Gurugram to list the key problems they encounter on a daily basis while commuting and they will quickly list pollution, congestion on roads, lack of parking space and inadequate public transport.
But not many of them are willing to find a solution to any of these issues and almost all of them are happy using their private cars for office commute.
In a welcome initiative, Aman Chawla, a resident of Sector 92, along with four friends has started a carpool via WhatsApp to commute to office and home in their locality. They had started carpooling service last month and so far have received good response from other residents in the area.
Speaking to City Spidey, Aman Chawla, who is also one of the founders of carpooling service, said, “We had started this initiative taking into concern parking problems faced daily by drivers in the city. Also, this is our way to cut down on pollution levels contributed by every car on the road. This not only saves time but also is very economical.”
He further added that constructing more roads is not the answer to the traffic woes of the city. “We need to reduce the number of cars on roads. This is a vicious cycle – more the number of roads, more the number of cars. Also, given the fact that there is not enough public transport in new sectors of Gurugram, carpool works as a really convenient option.”
The carpooling group.
Talking about their carpool initiative, Chawla said that the service has received a thumbs up from friends and residents of the area because of two reasons – safer than other cab services and more cost effective.
“Right now, we have a WhatsApp carpool group where people share their location and time for travelling. The expenses are shared on per trip basis,” he added.
Recently, Gurugram was listed as the most polluted city in the world and one of the biggest reasons for that is the city’s ever-increasing traffic load. “We as residents of Gurugram also have a responsibility to cut down on these pollution levels. Till the time the authorities wake up and are able to provide us with sustainable public transport, especially in new sectors, we should give carpooling a serious thought,” concludes Chawla.
