With frequent traffic congestion problems plaguing Hinjewadi,companies operating from the area have resorted to staggered timings and car pool services to avoid jams. The companies are running pick-and-drop bus service between home and office,along with shuttle cab services between different office locations in the city. They have also worked out a plan with different timings for morning office shifts to avoid congestion. Nitin Kulkarni,Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer (COO),Persistent Systems,said the traffic situation in Hinjewadi has improved to a large extent after many companies started car pooling and dedicated bus service systems for employees. Abhay Patil,vice-president,Talent Management,Harbinger Group,said,The company is scaling up its operations at Hinjewadi and to help improve the traffic system,we found it necessary to introduce a car pooling system. Traffic congestion has become a regular affair which is tiring and frustrating, said Patil. He added that employees will be asked to notify their routes on the internal intranet system so that those from nearby areas can use the same car. Patil added that the pooling system will be applicable for not only four-wheelers but also for two-wheelers. He said the company has also fixed the fare which the employee,who is offering the ride,can collect from the colleagues joining him. If the person does not take the money from his colleagues,it will be deposited in the corporate social responsibility (CSR) fund. After contributing the matching share,the company will use the money for various CSR activities, said Patil. He said since the company has offices in different parts of the city,employees have also been allowed to work from different locations. A spokesperson of Cognizant said mails have been sent out to employees asking them to use car pooling system on priroity. Car-pooling stoppages have been designated at different places within the campus where people can join their colleagues for the ride, he said. Mritunjay Kumar Singh of Infosys,Pune,said staggered timing has helped in easing the traffic congestion in a big way. He said the employees who use the car pooling system are given the facility of priority parking. Infosys employees work from 8.30 am to 6 pm,Harbinger from 9.30 am to 6.30 pm,Cognizant and Persistent from 9 am to 6 pm. Companies also say that employees have been given flexi-timing facility but have to put in minimum hours per day and bulk of the IT staff uses the option of flexible timings.
