Techies give BMTC a thumbs up

Ninety per cent respondents from city IT companies in recent survey say they prefer public transport to commute to work

Ninety per cent respondents from city IT companies in recent survey say they prefer public transport to commute to work

Call it the Bus Day effect. A survey conducted by Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), a body that represents several IT companies, conducted a random survey among 6,000 IT employees from companies like AOL, Accenture, Intel, NT, ABM, Cisco, Patni and Genpact, that revealed that an overwhelming 90 per cent of professionals surveyed prefer BBMP services to commute to work.

"The questionnaire was designed to gauge the impact of traffic initiatives like Bus Day on professionals," said S Vishwanath, general secretary, ORRCA.

"The results indicate a positive change. Though there are ten per cent, who prefer either private or other modes of transport, 90 per cent of surveyed professionals said they preferred BMTC. This is what we were looking for."

Actress Tara travels in a BMTC bus on occasion of Bus Day.

IT companies, which have been carrying several traffic initiatives including Safe Wheels, Traffic Month, Common Bus System and Bus Day aim to popularise public transport, reduce vehicular traffic and lower pollution and accident rates in the IT corridor.

ORRCA will pass on a detailed report findings of the survey to the BMTC soon. The BMTC is expected in turn to augment its services in the IT corridor in the light of the findings.

Incidentally, the BMTC is not only planning to increase the number of buses from June onwards to service employees of IT companies better, it is also taking non-IT employees into account.
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"The response is overwhelming. Measures to create awareness among citizens are fetching positive results," said Sampangi Ramgowda, Divisional Traffic Officer, BMTC.
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"We have been interacting with several companies. Once the talks come to an end, we will add extra services to serve their needs better."