How Cyberabad police are reaching out to IT employees to try carpooling to avoid gridlock in IT cluster

Hyderabad: Cyberabad police are motivating IT employees to try carpooling to commute to their offices in a bid to combat traffic congestion and vehicular pollution in the IT cluster.

Speaking to the NewsMeter, Cyberabad Joint Commissioner (Traffic) D Joel Davis said during the series of cluster meetings with IT and ITES companies organized by the Society for Cyberabad Security Council (SCSC) in collaboration with the Cyberabad Traffic Police, the team emphasized the importance of carpooling to reduce traffic congestion, lower carbon emissions, and promote sustainable commuting practices.

What is Carpooling?

Carpooling is a group of car owners that take turns driving everyone in the group to work, using just one car at a time. The concept has picked up pace in the fastest-growing metro cities with a reasonably large migrant population. Apart from saving fuel costs, hefty tax fares, and travel time, it allows employees to interact with co-passengers and improve their networking.

“There is an increase in the traffic congestion on the IT cluster after tech companies asked employees to return to the office in January. We are studying all the possibilities to introduce carpooling in the IT cluster soon for young professionals who are looking for cost-efficient and convenient ways to commute to their offices. Apart from that, encouraging carpooling initiatives will also reduce the number of vehicles plying on the roads,” Joel Davis said.

Crisis Management Drill

Informing the other initiative to reduce the volume of vehicular traffic in the IT cluster, the Jt CP said that the SCSC had also highlighted the need for regular crisis management drills to ensure preparedness and effective response during emergencies.

“We are pitching in for crisis management drills during the traffic congestion on the IT cluster. As part of it, the IT employees will be stopped at their office premises and will be allowed gradually to avoid traffic gridlocks on various stretches in the IT cluster. The aim is to provide hassle-free travel for them without much convenience to them,” he said.

Real-time updates on traffic through social media

Elaborating further about the measures being taken to avoid traffic snarls in the IT cluster, Joel Davis said that real-time communication is being provided to the employees through various social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter by posting photos and locations where the volume of traffic is high and also regarding the vehicle breakdowns in the IT cluster. Apart from that “Third Eye Traffic Monitoring Drones” are also being utilized to identify the traffic snarls on various stretches in the IT cluster and divert the traffic on alternate routes, he added.

PTZ cameras to regularly monitor traffic

Asked about the other initiatives being taken by the police to streamline the traffic, the Jt CP said that Pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras are also installed on the high-rise buildings on the IT cluster to regularly monitor the traffic flow and suggest the local police at the ground to handle the vehicular traffic accordingly. Regarding the measures being taken to control traffic violations, he said that as many as 120 cameras would be installed soon in the junctions under the IT cluster to generate automatic challans.

In response to a question about the availability of manpower to handle the traffic in the IT cluster, Joel Davis said that Cyberabad has as many as 1,028 traffic personnel. Steps are being taken to increase the strength of the traffic personnel by including 100 more personnel through a recruitment drive by the department. Moreover, the department is also focusing on taking the assistance of traffic marshals deployed by the IT and ITES companies to support the traffic personnel in the IT cluster, he added.