Bangalore: School autos to be phased out?

Bangalore: As part of its efforts to streamline the way in which schoolchildren are carried to their schools, the Transport Department has issued a draft notification making it mandatory for cabs transporting schoolchildren to register themselves as ‘School Cabs’. Speaking to Express, Transport Commissioner T Shyam Bhat said, “We issued a draft notification on June 16. We will wait for a month before we can start implementing these rules.”

However, the officials raised questions on the risk factors as autorickshaws are being used to transport children to schools. In what seems to be a decision being considered seriously by the department, the officials are thinking of ways in which the use of autorickshaws in transporting children can be phased out entirely.

Autorickshaws are already bound by a rule that a maximum of six schoolchildren can be carried in an auto. However, this rule is being regularly violated as auto drivers state that it is very hard to earn profits by carrying just six students in an auto. Even the parents, who want to pay less for the service, tend to overlook the fact that the drivers carry more than six students in their autos.

It will be mandatory for cabs transporting schoolchildren to register themselves as \'School Cabs\'.

However, with the advent of Omni and other cab services being registered to ferry students, the department officials see an opportunity to do away with the problem of overloaded autos. “We would certainly like to discourage parents from sending their children in autos. It is a dangerous mode of transport when more than six children are packed into the vehicle,” said a Transport Department official.

“If the parents insist on autos, there is nothing we can do. However, the autos will not be permitted to be registered as school cabs. We shall have no choice but to begin implementing the six -child rule strictly across the city.”

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