Showing posts with label Public Transport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Public Transport. Show all posts
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Sheena Iyengar, the woman who gave us the wonderful The Art of Choosing, mentions a study conducted by Daniel Kahneman:
Commuting is by far the most unpleasant part of the average person's day, and spending even an extra 20 minutes in transit is one fifth as harmful to your well being as losing your job.
And this is the single most important truth of my life today.
I travel almost 21 kms (one way), everyday, to work.
When I told people I had said yes to my current job because the head office was shifting closer to my area, most of them laughed it off.
Yes, I had a very good profile and it was a good professional leap - quite frankly, I was happier because I would be traveling less within a few months time.
Having mazed through Powai and Saki Naka for close to 4 years, I cannot underline my absolute abhorrence for traffic jams and long distance travel in Mumbai.
When I told people I had said yes to my current job because the head office was shifting closer to my area, most of them laughed it off.
Yes, I had a very good profile and it was a good professional leap - quite frankly, I was happier because I would be traveling less within a few months time.
Having mazed through Powai and Saki Naka for close to 4 years, I cannot underline my absolute abhorrence for traffic jams and long distance travel in Mumbai.
You may point out to people who travel from Dombivli and Thane to VT/Churchgate. I even had professors who travelled from Pune to Mumbai, every single day.
I am sorry for them.
I hope we move towards better planned cities - places where people do not have to travel more than 5-8 kms. for work.
Time is money after all, and who would know it better than a Sindhi?
Ahem.
Monday, August 9, 2010
I look forward to jamming meters on the 12th.
The way Mumbai auto and taxi drivers treat commuters is extremely irritating - refusal to accept fares, improper functioning of meters, et al.
In fact, I have been involved in several run ins myself, and the only way to beat them at their game of cheating is to threaten with a police complaint (if you are lucky to have a station nearby).
Recently, my house maid came down with malaria and had to be admitted to a hospital.
It amazed us when the taxi driver refused to take us within the hospital campus. He thought driving all the way was not a good idea and was perfectly fine with a Malaria infected, drowsy, sickly female walking all the way (~500 metres) in the rain.
I am not sure how successful this campaign will be, or, if there will be even a minuscule dent in the Union's earnings.
Yet, it's high time we made our annoyance clear.
*****
My friends in Delhi and Bengaluru ask me to thank my stars. They have been in fist fights with auto drivers and feel Mumbaikars have it easy.
Yes, I am glad we have a meter system and some semblance of sanity as far as public transportation is concerned.
Yet, that does not confer rights on auto and cab drivers to ill-treat us.
As far as I know, like doctors, these drivers have their own version of a Hippocratic Oath which they need to be reminded about.
You can find more info here.
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