Coming before Commonwealth Games, Mega carpool for Delhi

For the Indian capital, where two million car owners use 60 percent of road space but meet only 20 percent of commuting demand, here comes a smart decongestion plan - a mega carpool that harnesses the latest in technology.

The Delhi government plans to launch the Pan City Mega Carpool Scheme before the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The ride sharing scheme designed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi (IIT-D), aims to provide a simple way to encourage car owners to share their vehicles with other car owners, thereby resulting in fewer cars on city roads.

"A scheme has been developed to decongest the city roads before the Commonwealth Games. The proposal has been accepted by Lt. Governor of Delhi Tejendra Khanna and some nodal agencies," A.K. Srivastava, assistant director, Delhi transport department, told IANS.

The Delhi government has proposed to enrol thousands of car owners, subject to verification of their credentials, into a single mega carpool and issue the members secure, smart identity cards as well.

"The cars of all members will be fitted with a special hardware device comprising of a card reader, global positioning system (GPS) and General Packet Radio Service (GPRS). The device can read the smart card based photo identity card of a member, sense the location of the car and transmit this data digitally to a central agency," he said.

The rider is only required to tap the smart ID card at the beginning as well as the end of the ride and all the information regarding the driver and the rider would be sent to the central server.

"A member of the carpool scheme may give a ride to any of the enrolled members who have a common or along-the-way travel destination. By giving rides, the member will earn mileage points which can be redeemed as cash or family members can avail of them by using the car pools," said Srivastava.

The scheme plans to reduce traffic congestion and vehicular pollution by 50 percent or more.

In addition, it supplements the public transport system and provides significant diversification benefit against any disruption in public transport due to a terrorist attack or labour unrest.

The Delhi transport department had conducted an online survey in May and June this year inviting motorists to give their suggestions on the issue.

"Nearly 500 motorists have given their opinions and suggestions regarding the scheme and RITES, a consultancy organisation working in the field of transport and infrastructure, has compiled the reports. We are studying the details before they are implemented," said Srivastava.

According to the transport department, almost 50 to 60 percent of the road space is used by an estimated two million car owners in Delhi, although they meet just 20 percent of the commuting demand.

The scheme also ensures safety of the passengers as a central server will keep track of all shared rides, including vehicle number and owner and the time a particular rider boards the car.

"A web programme and call centre will also be made available to help members find suitable travel matches on a day-to-day basis. A central agency registers and matches members' travel plans and sets up various members with one another through phone, SMS and internet on a dynamic basis with the help of computer software," Srivastava said.

A Delhi and national capital region resident commuting to work in his car usually drives about 60-100 km per day or 2,000 km a month and can reasonably save at least 50 percent of his driving by the scheme.

"Private cars cause traffic congestion by inefficiently using the limited road space - the cars are typically carrying only one to two commuters against a capacity of five or more. The present scheme, however, treats the available spare capacity in cars as an opportunity to provide a transport solution, whereby three to four motorists, instead of travelling in separate cars, accommodate themselves in one car, especially during peak hours," Srivastava said.