Some years back when I came to City Beautiful ‘Chandigarh’ . Like everybody who comes here, I fell in love with the place. For its planned Living,Gardens, Broad roads with trees along sides. There was hardly any traffic problem those days.
There is a duet Punjabi songs which goes like :

“To drive on roads of Chandigarh is like, paper boat sailing on water flow”
“The decorated round abouts are like , The embroidery done by you “

This was true some years back, when traffic was sparse.

Chandigarh is a heaven for students for its academic institutes,entrance coaching centers,training institutes.It has attracted students here like a magnate. Industry has also been set up here in Chandigarh/Panchkula/Mohali tricity. So almost every Punjabi youth comes here looking for a job. Industry also attracts/recruits people from all over India. Although the Industrial growth has not been so steep here relative to other cities.

Accumulation of people here has given rise to traffic chaos in the City Beautiful. To accommodate traffic administration has to cut down the trees along side one of the main roads to broaden it,has changed round abouts into traffic signals,has improved public transportation system. But still it is unable to contain the rising traffic. Driving at 8-9 PM has become like hell.

The workaround to fight traffic chaos which people like us can do is :

• Car Pooling for offices
• Increase Use of bikes and bicycles
• Better public transportation system

Car Pooling

In Western countries a concept of Car Pooling was stated way back Seventies . It has broadened to SMS based / Web Based Carpooling system, and is quite successful also.

In India MyKoolPool is such venture which provides Web/SMS based in Mumbai and Pune. Maybe there such venture like Commute Easy in Bangalore and other cities too .
We have to give push to such ventures in our cities too and In City Beautiful Chandigarh so that it can be kept beautiful.

Using Bikes / Bicycles
The economic rise has thwarted the use of cars, with exponential rate . Which has definitely made the traffic more chaotic than anything else.
Using a bicycle for commuting is rare by people like us. Although it is common for laborers an economically weaker people.
We need to start a bicycle riding campaign, Such that people like us make lesser use of motor vehicles for common commuting , like visiting nearby places or offices.
Yes I know, there is status conscience setup in our psyche, That is the only reason we don’t use bicycles anymore. But It will be great if we can change this status conscienceness.
Use of bicycle has many advantages like :

• Zero Pollution , It has no Carbon emission.
• Lesser traffic , It does not need a Broad Road .
• Better health, Cycling is a good Exercise for body

Yes , Bicycle is non feasible for commuting to longer distances, But use of motor bike is still more traffic friendly , than a car.

Personally i use a mix of Bicycle and Motor Bike for commuting . I go to office on a bicycle and sometimes on the motor bike. In my previous organization which was near to my living place. I always used bicycle for commuting there. And mind you I was not labeled psycho and nor was my status quotient ever questioned. In fact, my friends appreciated my idea and I even inspired another friend of mine to ride a bicycle.

But only 3 or 4 guys in an organization that commute on bicycle is not a significant number. We know the issues that pollution is causing (Global Warming) or the increasing traffic is causing (Congestion, Jams, Accidents). We need to initiate a massive campaign such that It becomes a mainstream trend. Atleast, it can be used to ride to places that are close to you. Cycling is a healthy practice, is prevalent in many developed European nations and just "Come On! - Cycle your way and keep the Doctor Away."

Public Transportation
The public transportation system is quite messy in almost all the North Indian cities. Either the buses/trains are crowded with passengers or the time taken to reach a place is quite much and its unbearable to travel because of the condition of public transport vehicles. I Wish if we could make public transportation system such that it gives one preference over using personal automobiles (cars and motorbikes) to commute.
It would be possible only if the

• buses/trains are made high on comfort.
• Better routes are cut and opened to the common destinations

Moreover for commuting to office locations , Initiative needs to be taken for Public/Private partnership. Although some corporates have there private commuting vehicles. but they are not much effective. People prefer personal vehicles over them. I hope public-private partnership can provide a better alternative. As small enterprises can also afford to tie up with public transportation system.

Happy Commuting, People