Bengaluru: Hang on! There's a ropeway to beat traffic

Bengaluru: The city may be banking on the Metro Rail and the long promised suburban rail to decongest it , but Home Minister, Dr G Parameshwar has a more innovative solution for its traffic troubles: Elevated ropeway wagons.

"In some European countries elevated ropeway wagons allow 25 people to travel at a time. You find one wagon operating every minute in these cities. If we adopted a  similar system in Bengaluru, it could help take  the traffic off its roads,” he told reporters here on Thursday.

Noting  that Bengaluru with 56 lakh vehicles had double the number of Mumbai’s 27 lakh vehicles, he said the Metro’s first phase, - set to be completed by April-end - would allow five lakh people to use it and the second phase, once completed, would cater to over 50 lakh people. “But   still the government should start thinking about more innovative projects like the elevated ropeway  to decongest the city,” he added.

In reply to query, he said JD(S) members ,who called on Chief Minister Siddaramaiah after the Assembly session, were hoping to join the Congress.