Take a train and get free bus ride

With traffic snarls driving more and more IT professionals to use local trains, the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) that manages the city's IT hub is proposing to introduce free bus services between the Hitec City railway station and software company offices there.

"We want to promote train commuting by IT professionals further to decongest the peak hour traffic," said D Parthasarathi Rao, chief engineer of APIIC, and also chief executive of the Industrial Local Area Authority (IALA), which looks after the general amenities of the Hitec City spread over 100 acres in Madhapur.

All roads leading to Hitec City become difficult passages during the day as over 2 lakh IT professionals move on these roads daily to reach their offices. Besides, own vehicles, and cabs hired by companies to provide conveyance to their employees have substantially increased.

To escape from traffic jams at office hours many of these young professionals have started using local trains as the nearest railway station is located just a couple of kilometres from their office premises in the Hitec City.

Besides introducing free bus ride, the APIIC management is making efforts to enhance the number of local trains on this route, Rao said. "IALA is prepared to spend a couple of crores on free bus services considering the benefits that we get in terms of easing the traffic on these routes," he told Business Standard.

The corporation is also planning to discuss the free bus service proposal before finalising it with IT companies, which have offices in the Hitec City.

The APIIC has also decided to build a 45-metre wide road to connect the Old Bombay Highway, just 1.2 km from the Hitec City which can provide an alternative route to IT professionals to reach their offices. The new road is expected to be ready by December this year.