Comments on Life @ MyWorld: Public Transport – I’m sold.

@Shamail: I think you are lucky, cause you drive i...

2011-08-15T12:22:03.976-07:00

@Shamail:
I think you are lucky, cause you drive into Dwarka when everyone is driving out, and vice-versa.

I find the metro map to be very good. The purpose behind the project is to cover maximum area. Public transport should always increase coverage. Metro passes through some of the most congested areas of Delhi.

But I realise that for you the biggest pain point is time of travel. Fair enough. That is where our opinion differs, cause I do not mind that.

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Cut 1. Its definitely utterly boring to drive same...

2011-08-15T12:00:48.325-07:00

Cut 1. Its definitely utterly boring to drive same route, same time. I even meet few vehicles that I see daily on road. Music helps (a lot). You need a very good bluetooth headset for rest of it. ;-) Just select a random number and waste his/her 1Hr ;-) why suffer alone?
Secondly, I am passionate about driving. Just love it. So any distance is cool for me. Can go 300Kms in a stretch ;-)

Cut 2. Yaar I know about 5 different routes to home. I also know at what time, which road is blocked, something I learned with time. e.g If I leave office at/after 7:30, I know outer ring road is safe. Its pretty rare that you stuck in traffic, and even you do, its even rarer that the time you are stuck exceeded usual time to travel in public transport.

Cut 3. Definitely, I had also tried DTC from Nehru Place. It takes 2Hrs. Even more than Metro.

Cut 4. Ya, it could be mindset problem, but I am surely OK with the mindset that I can use an hour that I save somewhere else ;-) (tunesdiary might be). Indeed personal vehicle is pretty costly, but then you set up your mind, this much part of salary is never mine ;-) I also use bike some times, its even better than car, but mom doesn't allow me to go this long on bike :(

Cut 5. Yes, I might be wrong with actual values, But the metro track that I saw once on Google Maps was pretty pathetic. Consider, By the time I would be at IP metro station, I would have crossed Delhi Cantt.

P.S why not enable email notification for the comment followups?

@Shamail: I think Traffic Jam is a valid problem, ...

2011-08-15T08:07:26.213-07:00

@Shamail:
I think Traffic Jam is a valid problem, but it may not effect all areas at all times. Sure there may be a way out in some cases, but you will find those only if you are a regular traveler in the same route. I would say that the Traffic condition in Delhi is pretty bad in spite of being better than other cities in India. Parking is a much bigger problem than jams.

I never said that Public Transport is faster. Personal vehicles would almost always be faster (unless you are travelling on Airport Express Line of the Metro). So if you are in a real hurry, public transport is not suggested. But in many cases, travelling in Public Transport _may not_ be a waste of time. Since you are not driving, there are plenty of ways to utilise your time, eg reading newspaper, doing stuff on your phone, sleeping etc. Many a times it has provided me the best idle time for thinking... etc

Another common mistake people make is to not look beyond metro. I am not certain, but it looks like you are making the same mistake. eg if you have to travel from say Okhla to Dwarka, probably the route should be to reach Nehru Place (By Bus or Metro or RTV/Gramin Sewa) and then take a direct bus to Dwarka. There will be plenty of other alternatives *If you are an explorer, then you’ll surely find out a better way* :p

I do understand your preference for using your own vehicles, and I do admit that after a day’s work travelling on public transport is annoying. But I’d say that it is more of a mindset problem - the same thing that has changed in me over the past few months.

BTW, Don’t you find driving 25-30 Kms up and down everyday utterly monotonous?

PS: You got one of your facts wrong. The entire length of the Blue Line of Metro from Noida till the last Station in Dwarka is under 50 Kms. I don’t think, IP to Janakpuri would be more than 20 Kms.

I definitely has completely different point of vie...

2011-08-15T05:20:15.751-07:00

I definitely has completely different point of view on the public transport thingy!

When I joined industry, my office was at Janakpuri (24Kms).
The nearest metro station was Inderprastha (10Kms).

And the way metro is designed, it was 51 Kms from IP to Janakpuri in its snake like track.

Now, the journey, which otherwise could be completed in 40mins, makes me go 2hrs.
Plus, after working for whole day, you first travel standing from Janakpuri to IP, then ditto in Bus to Maharani Bagh (might be a 30 min waiting time at Bus Stop), then RTV to Okhla, then Rikshaw to Home? Sane? No!
Then you remain aware the whole way, if you are being pick pocketed or not?
Plus you've a 3.2 Kgs laptop on your shoulders.

So I bought a car for myself. From that day, I don't know what metro is.

And believe me, Traffic Jam is just your imagination, if you are an explorer, then you'll always know your alternate way out. And traffic condition is far better than Bengluru/Mumbai/Kolkata any way!

No I travel to Dwarka these days, it takes me 50 minutes using Bike, and 1hr 05 mins in Car, which takes 2hr 30mins if I chose metro. And I am pretty happy with it.

Tx