South division of BTP launches innovative campaign to tackle Bengaluru’s traffic woes

Bengaluru: In a bid to introduce concerted efforts to tackle traffic challenges experienced by Bengaluru commuters, the south division of the Bengaluru Traffic Police launched a 'Join the Commute' campaign on Monday.

The campaign will aim to bridge the gap between the police and the public to identify common chokepoints, infrastructural challenges, issues with various modes of transport, and road safety concerns.

Citizens can sign up as volunteers through the website (https://jointhecommutebstp.in) to share their daily routes and modes of transport and a few commuters who will be selected will be joined by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, South) Shiva Prakash Devaraju in their commute to experience their challenges first-hand.

The campaign aims to collect insights into traffic patterns, challenges, and safety issues and will be used to develop actionable solutions to improve the traffic flow in the city.

Devaraju wrote in a statement: "I am stepping onto the streets to walk, drive, and ride alongside the people of Bengaluru. Their insights and experiences will guide us in making our roads smoother and safer for everyone".

He aims to cover at least 10 to 12 unique routes, one every few days starting from Tuesday.

"We are thinking of doing this for one month to see how many registrations come in and map out routes that do not overlap. As soon as registrations start coming in, we will start contacting the commuters and plan our trips from the origin point between 9 am and 10.30 am," Devaraju told DH.

He is also planning to make short videos of the trips and post them on the Bengaluru Traffic Police's social media accounts to raise public awareness and enable more people to pitch in with their ideas for potential solutions.

"We will also try to highlight the issues we experienced along the way and list out what we attended to. If the solutions require other agencies to work, we will write to them accordingly," he added.

Campaign highlights

- Commuters scan the QR code or register online and share details of their daily routes and preferred mode of transport such as a two-wheeler, car, bus or auto-rickshaw, for example.

- A small number of commuters will be accompanied by the DCP on their morning commute.

- The DCP will observe challenges such as traffic congestion, delays, and safety issues on the way and discuss potential solutions with the commuters.

- Insights from the campaign will be used to develop and implement pointed strategies for traffic and road safety in Bengaluru.