Madam Chief Minister,

Your concern about the rising number of private vehicles and people’s disinterest in opting for public conveyance is praiseworthy. You say that there are very few takers of public transport despite the introduction of battery-operated cars and bikes. Your insistence on going green by curbing consumption of petroleum-based fuel at the Delhi sustainable development summit hit all the right notes. Arnie (Hollywood star and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger who was present at the summit) must have been as much enamoured of you as you were of him.

Madam, I have travelled in jam-packed Metro coaches. Getting on or off a train has now become life-threatening. So, I can understand your concern. Why not battery-operated cars and bikes? The Governantor is known to be fond of fuel-guzzling superbikes and monster cars like the Hummer. But, I guess, battery-operated cars and bikes don’t come cheap. Secondly, on a personal level, I tell you this charging thing is obnoxious. What if it discharges in the middle of the Delhi roads! Have you considered charging switches on the pavement, quite like the fine world cities you wish Delhi to emulate?

I have lived in Delhi for almost a decade now and have been a witness to the changing modes of commuting. DTC buses were a lifeline for most commoners until a few years ago, with occasions when we decided to break free from the banal and splurge on auto-rickshaws. The jam-packed buses would not have been our first choice but in the absence of a choice. Metro changed it all — we became much more civilized. I, like thousand other Delhites, switched over to this new public transport. That man-crushing, death causing but somewhat regular Blueline was called off the roads. But lo, Metro coaches today are as crowded as were those rogue buses. So, I fear the days are not far when the isolated sensor failures causing passengers to be stuck between the doors or be dragged for yards become regular.

When I see a sea of private vehicles on roads during the peak hours with impatient people honking their brains out, I wonder why everyone wants to own a car. I have one, too. Then, I realise that most on the roads own cars because of the same reasons as mine to have one. But,  I would gladly take your public conveyance only if:

* During the peak hours, the frequency of DTC buses was good (they either don’t come or four buses come together).

There are a whole other set of problems also:

* Once the DTC buses don’t come, my other resort is private buses where drivers are foul-mouthed and there is no standing room even on the foot-board. Moreover, they do not halt on stands, but whimsically. I wish somebody taught them some traffic rules and some etiquette.

* Those long AC luxury buses you started are good. I get to ride on them once in a year. They are that scarce.

* Metro takes us to a destination but the ordeal for another transport begins there. Feeder buses, if any, are in a sorry state.

* Better bus services should be in place between Delhi and the NCR. Try sometime taking an auto from Delhi to Ghaziabad or for that matter from Delhi to Noida.

* The battery-operated cars you waxed eloquent about can be put to a better use if they replaced autos where one has to brave both the chill and heatwave while travelling.

Given that you shared the podium with Arnie, I promise this if you take care of these problems of public conveyance: I’LL BE BACK!

Sincerely,

A Metro-riding, DTC bus-chasing, car-owning Delhiite