Outsource traffic management in cities
Venkatesha Babu -
Thursday, June 12, 2008 1:08 PM
This morning I took an hour to do a 9 km journey from my home to the office. Nothing unique in it. Lakhs of commuters on Indian roads across all cities be it Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad suffer similar fate. Indian cities are increasingly becoming dysfunctional. There is no magic solution as number of vehicles will only keep increasing. Urban planning is an alien word to our politicians and bureaucrats. So instead of the old whine, can we come up with creative solutions ? Scant regard for traffic rules has meant that a difficult problem increasingly becoming impossible to solve.
When I spoke to a top cop in Bangalore about the traffic situation, he had pat answers ready. How there were just 2800 traffic cops for a city with 25 lakh vehicles (and 1000 more being added daily), how Bangalore had the second highest two wheeler population in the country after Delhi etc. His suggestion was to hire more cops. I think the solution should be more radical. Privatize traffic control and management. There will be incentive for the private player to catch and fine traffic violators. Of course the state would fix the fine and what penalty for a violation. Part of the fines can be used to pay the private player. Instead of a traffic cop who would cost the state Rs 15000 a month (not just the salary but also all the attendant paraphernalia), private companies could hire a score of people at lower cost or even better take the help of technology to catch violators. India does not have paucity of laws, it is in its implementation that we are lacking. Right now violators go away scot free and it is law abiding citizen who bears the brunt.
Bangalore and India in general which has led in the outsourcing wave by helping Western companies become more productive and cost efficient should take a leaf out of this experience and outsource traffic control.
Even as I discussed this possibility, the top cop who shall remain unnamed for obvious reasons said "Couple of years ago, we had a shortage of 'Cheetahs.' (so-called vehicle which hauls away say cars or bikes parked in no-parking zones) We decided we would seek the help of private sector as we didn't have resources to buy several vehicles. For every vehicle hauled and brought to the police station, the private Cheetah would get paid a fixed sum. It was a success. Only problem most of the private vehicles were owned by the traffic sub-inspectors and others from the police department themselves. They would fix the tenders we invited for providing this service. They were happy they were making money through bribes plus this new entrepreneurial service they provided." Sigh ! Just when I had thought the solution up for a knotty problem, Indian reality gives a rude wake up call. How do you think that given the resource and space constraints that cops can monitor traffic better ?