More city schools gear up to hitch a ride on buses

MUMBAI: After Cathedral school at Fort made its students hop on to school buses last June, more city schools are gearing up to adopt the system. Among others, Bombay Scottish high school at Mahim, Bombay International at Babulnath, and St.Anne’s at Colaba are considering a plan to ferry students in on school buses from the new academic year, starting June.
This would ease nasty traffic snarls caused by private cars queuing up outside the schools, bring respite to parents and standardise schoolgoing for students.
Last year, the traffic police identified several schools that posed a problem to the smooth flow of traffic on arterial roads. “Cars lined up outside the Bombay Scottish School on Veer Savarkar Road invariably lead to jams in the mornings and afternoons,’’ a traffic police officer said. Similarly, cars parked outside Bombay International hold up traffic moving to Marine Drive from Babulnath. Madame Cama Road also has its share of jams because of cars waiting to pick up the red-and- whitechecked uniformed girls of St. Anne’s.
“One only has to visit Purshottam Das Thakurdas Marg in Fort where Cathedral School is located during a working day to see the difference a streamlined bus system can make to a neighbourhood,’’ said Indrani Malkani, who was instrumental in getting the bus system introduced at Cathedral.
Before last June, the street was a drivers’ nightmare because of the hordes of Mercedes and Lancers thoughtlessly double-parked on the road as they waited to ferry students back home. Now, nearly 1,480 Cathedral students are transported by 43 buses. According to the school’s calculations, the buses have taken almost 592 cars off the road. The school has taken great care to ensure the safety of students.
Each bus is equipped with a mobile phone and accompanied by a lady supervisor. “The routes were prepared keeping in mind that the time between the first pick up stop and arrival at the school should not exceed 40 minutes,’’ Ms Malkani said.
After the success story at Cathedral, the traffic police shot off letters urging other schools to adopt a similar system. “All schools cannot afford to deploy a big bus fleet. Other schools are looking at other options like sharing buses and organising car pools,’’ the traffic official said.
This makes the participation of Parent Teacher Associations crucial to the project. 43 buses transport 1,480 students of Cathedral school The buses have taken almost 592 cars off the road Private cars cause traffic snarls near schools