Gurgaon Traffic Brigade: waking up to an idea come alive

I woke up this morning, smiling,  to news in Hindustan Times that Gurgaon police have managed to get over 50 corporate executives as volunteers to help them manage the worsening traffic situation in the sub-city.

They are busy driving up profits of their companies. But they are so tired of the traffic situation in Gurgaon that top executives of several multi-national companies (MNC) have taken it upon themselves to fix it. Several corporate executives have signed up for Gurgaon Traffic Police’s volunteer scheme. They will work as Road Safety Officers managing traffic three to six hours a week at the busy IFFCO Chowk starting Monday.

It is an idea taking root, finally.

Exactly 3 years ago, I had written about ‘The Corporate Traffic Brigade’ first on this blog and then in Mint business daily to seed the simple idea:

A “traffic brigade” is a simple idea — a traffic management intervention at the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway by various companies/organizations, including the multinationals, BPOs and KPOs, many of which have tens of thousands of staff that can contribute as little as an hour per week to generate several man years of volunteer work at the bottleneck point and help ease the situation.

Not all have to man traffic — though that is a prime need at present. Some can contribute by publishing collateral and literature. ­Others can manage pedestrian traffic. Companies can even offer pedestrians free rides to the nearest overbridge/underpass. The possibilities are endless. And accruals from time saved on travel might even make good the time spent on volunteer effort.

The activity is likely to have a viral effect, with more joining in when they see someone start. Some might find it rewarding enough to make this a part of their sustained community engagement programme. An enthusiastic CEO and team, managing the situation hands-on, donning their corporate colours (or a common traffic brigade logo), will make sense as they contribute to the community. Would someone care to actually do this? Let’s hope so. In fact, let’s hope such a traffic brigade doesn’t stop at just the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway or the NCR for that matter and travels far and wide.

While I can’t take even the tiniest credit for the reported initiative, an idea close to my heart, taking root is delightful for sure. May we see this become a bigger movement, including all of us.

Cheers.