In a survey of 1,00,000 Delhiites, a little over 50,000 feel that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government’s odd-even scheme was rolled out successfully while the rest — though in support of its implementation in the future — said they would buy another car if the experiment is regularised.
According to the findings of the survey, which was conducted by engagement platform LocalCircles via a set of polls and free form discussion, citizens credited the Delhi government and the police for “exceeding expectations on the implementation front” with 58 percent outlining that the odd-even rule has been implemented effectively.
In a late December poll, the statement said, only 31 percent thought that the rule could be implemented effectively. Also, while citizen responses suggest that there’s been a limited impact on air pollution, they are happy with the de-congestion of roads.
During the first 10 days of the scheme’s implementation, a large majority of people indicated that they either used public transportation such as the Metro, bus, autos and taxis or used their second car in response to its provisions; only eight percent, however, used car-pooling while nine percent used a two-wheeler to commute.
Responses generated from 87 percent of the respondents claimed that they were overcharged by auto and taxi services while 13 percent of them found no difference in fares.
On a question about regularising the rule post January 15 and how they planned to manage their commute, approximately 42 percent said they planned to buy a second car while 15 percent already had one, which they would use.
On the last and final question about whether the rule should be extended beyond January 15, 42 percent respondents said they were in support of an extension while 58 percent did not support its continuation.
Based on poll results, it could be interpreted that while Delhi’s citizens believed that the government had surpassed their expectations on the implementation front, the clear impact on reduction in pollution was yet to be determined.
In general, however, the statement posited, citizens were “happy with the reduction in traffic” but also said they were facing inconvenience; as many as 42 percent highlighted that they were considering buying a second car if the rule were to be regularised.
