Pune: PMC Invites Proposals For Safe Transport Of Students To Schools, Colleges

Pune, 21st July 2022: Due to the increasing number of vehicles, parents do not dare to send their children to school by bicycle or walking. So they send their children to school on their own bikes or school buses, or vans. As this number increases, traffic congestion also increases, and safe travel is not guaranteed. Therefore, the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has taken steps to arrange and plan transportation for students. 

A plan will be prepared so that students can safely walk, cycle or use public transport while giving priority to students during school entry and exit.

According to the 2018 plan, around ten lakh students go to schools and colleges in Pune every day. 43 per cent of these students go to school by walking, while four per cent of students go to school by bicycle. Although the school is two to four kilometres away from the house, parents go to drop the students at school themselves or send them in private vehicles. 

While the problem of traffic congestion is becoming serious in all areas of Pune, the planning of school transport cannot be ignored, so the PMC has decided to plan school transport improvement through competition.

“43 per cent of students in the city are walking to school, but only four per cent are using bicycles. However, the rate of transportation of students by two-wheeler, taxi, or school bus is 37 per cent. This number is increasing day by day. Planning of safe transport for students will have an impact on the entire transport of the city, so the planning is in progress. A competition has been organized to prepare a plan for the same,” informed Nikhil Mizar, Traffic Planner, PMC.

Areas with most schools and colleges in the city have been selected. A plan will be prepared considering each of those parts. It includes nine parts of the city namely Deccan Gymkhana, Hadapsar, Lohegaon-Dhanori, Kothrud, Vadgaon Budruk, Parvati-Bibvewadi, Pashan, Kondhwa and Kharadi. Educational institutes located in each of these areas, traffic congestion from there, road network, and rush hours will be studied.

Any citizen can participate in making a plan to improve school transportation, but it is mandatory to have a city planner or city designer, and it is mandatory to submit the proposal through them. The Municipal Corporation will select one of the nine sections and submit its comprehensive plan. 

This should be a proposal that will encourage public transport and school students. Three winners will be selected from these proposals. They will be given a reward of Rs five lakhs each. The deadline for submission of these proposals is July 24, detailed information is available on the website www.pmc.gov.in.

Accordingly, only student traffic is given priority on roads within the premises of the educational institution at certain times. Safety facilities will be provided for walking and cycling students. Apart from this, time-wise planning is required to increase the volume of public transport. It is also said that alternative routes will be arranged for other vehicles during the time of school entry and exit

Problems with school transport:

– There is no separate policy for student transport

– Heavy traffic is more in the area of schools and colleges

– Traffic jams during school entry and exit

– There is no planning for parking of vehicles transporting students

-The use of private vehicles is increasing