It’s been a month since schools reopened after the summer vacation, making severe traffic jams in the morning and afternoon a daily affair for commuters. Even though school hours were changed a few years ago to avoid peak hours, the problem seems to have resumed.
The respite of the summer months has been left behind and Bengalureans who hit the major junctions everyday are facing the usual traffic logjams as hundreds of students make their way to and from school everyday. The fact that several schools, especially those in the heart of the city, are hard-pressed for space means that cars, autos and vans line the streets, compounding the traffic mess. The traffic police have been hard at work to beat this problem; they have come out with a number of plans including the Safe Route to School, although none of them have wielded significant results.
Commuters who travel across the major roads where schools happen to be located – Richmond Road, Residency Road, Chalukya Circle, New BEL Road etc, face this problem twice every day. For instance, Chalukya Circle, which connects several parts of the city with the international airport, is so packed that people sometimes take as much as 30 minutes to cover a distance of 500 metres in the morning and evening hours. This is because vehicles are parked on both sides of an already narrow road, waiting to pick up and drop the children studying in the schools nearby. Other important roads of the city including Richmond road, New BEL road, Ramakrishnashrama road, Outer ring road also face similar traffic congestion due to the near by schools.
Read: Guest column – School buses are very expensive, despite tax holidays
Traffic cops, home guard officers and transport department officials working on the issue are at a loss. “Schools operate very few vans, which are the only ones allowed inside the school. Hundreds of vehicles which also make the trip everyday are forced to drop and pick up their children from the side of the road. This has caused a lot of chaos,” said a traffic cop in Richmond Town. “Schools let children go class by class. This results in parents and drivers of private vehicles waiting for about 20 minutes to pick up their kids, especially if they study in different classes. This, naturally, causes a piling up of vehicles in these school zones,” he explained.
Traffic problem in and around the schools is not a new problem. We are holding talks with the private schools over improving the traffic situation. Several initiatives have been launched in this regard. Traffic police are coordinating with the school managements over regulating and easing the traffic congestions
— R. Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Traffic, Bengaluru
Logistics expert Mr Surendra Ganiga says the only solution to the problem is having the schools provide affordable transport to all children. “Schools are given various tax exemptions. School vehicles are not taxed. The managements should allow parents to feel the benefit of this as well,” he said.
Using private vehicles to take kids to and from school is a common phenomenon here in Bengaluru. According to the transport department officials, using private vehicles to ferry kids is not permitted.
Issue related to the traffic congestion in and around the schools comes under the purview of the traffic police
— Ramegowda, Commissioner, state transport department
Speaking to this newspaper, Transport Commissioner Mr. Ramegowda said that the department guidelines make it amply clear. All school vehicles follow the rules and guidelines, which are very few. “School heads insist that parents prefer private transport because of the added expense,” he said. Unfortunately, those drivers don’t follow any rules or safety measures.”
Mr. R Hitendra, additional commissioner of traffic, Bengaluru observed that this trend should be analysed from different perspectives. “Many parents opt for the private vehicles as they are cost effective,’ he said. He also said that traffic police has started several initiatives to discourage parents from using private vehicles. “We are holding discussions with school managements, BMTC etc. BMTC has made it clear that it is ready to provide any number of buses to ferry students from home to schools,” he said.
A holistic approach is need of the hour
Congestion around school zones is a longstanding problem and blame has been passed to every quarter. Experts, school heads and parents are all at logger heads with each other over the issue. Many feel that it can be dealt with at a policy level, the absence of a clause relating to school transport, when licenses are issued to new schools, has exacerbated the situation.
Schools are using the transportation facility to make money, leaving parents with their hands tied. Because of this, they choose to drop their kids or hire private vans. This is increasing traffic volume around the schools every day
— Latha SK, a parent
School heads claim that private transport is the root of the problem. Many managements who spoke to this papers said it is impossible to allow all the parents to pick up and drop their kids from inside the campus.
"Most parents prefer using their own vehicles, most of them four-wheelers. We need several acres of extra land to accommodate all of them on campus, which can also pose security risks," said the principal of a private CBSE school in Bengaluru.
He added that the transportation fee is based on the cost per student. "We need to hire drivers with atleast five years' experience, who demand about Rs15,000 per month. As per the conditions put forth by the Department of Public Instruction, we need to depute female crew in every vehicle. It's easy to make allegations against us, but these things have not been taken into account," he said.
However, experts feel that parents are forced to resort to private transport because school buses are a ripe money-making opportunity for managements.
Traffic expert Shantanu Hegde said a holistic approach is the need of the hour. "The transport department and the cops are to blame for this fiasco, which has been carrying on for decades. They still haven't come out with a workable action plan. We all know that private vehicles are causing the congestion. Why then, don't we have a wider discussion around it," he asked. According to Mr. R Hitendra, Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Bengaluru has several initiatives including fining vehicle drivers, to solve the problem.
