T. Nandakumar
Technopark's IT professionals register with a website, share cars and do their bit for nature.
Thiruvananthapuram: Last October, when Padmakumar, an IT professional and three of his colleagues in the Technopark campus decided to share a car for their daily commute from home to their workplace, they were driven solely by the larger commitment to the environment. Six months later, Mr. Padmakumar, an employee at Sigtech Wireless, feels that the carpool has more merits than cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions. “Apart from reducing our carbon footprint, this initiative also provides us an opportunity to discuss politics and technology trends during the daily commute,” he says.
IT professionals are warming up to the first major car-pool initiative in the State that was launched by the Group of Technopark companies (GTech) last year. All they have to do is log on to the car-pool website and register. “Car-pooling with some of my colleagues has made me environment conscious,” claims Firos Shamsudeen who works for Palnar Transmedia. “We have pledged to do our bit towards reducing the consumption of water and electricity,” he says.
Like Shamsudeen and Padmakumar, several others have discovered that it makes sense to share a vehicle or switch to public transport. Some claim that travelling with colleagues also feels safer at night.
Conceived as a Green Computing initiative, the car-pooling website, www.parkcarpool.in was started in April 2009 by GTech in partnership with Palnar Transmedia, a software development firm. The first such initiative in Kerala, it targeted IT professionals of Technopark and Infopark. The objective was to reduce the carbon footprint of the IT industry in Kerala.
One year after its launch, the initiative has 35 active and regular carpools with over 1,000 registered users, including women. The carpools used by Technopark employees provide connectivity with locations in the city like Vazhuthacaud, Manacaud, Pongumoodu, East Fort, Kesavadasapuram as well as suburban areas and satellite towns like Nedumangad, Balaramapuram and Attingal. During Fridays, another 20 carpools are formed for long trips to Kochi, Kottayam and Kanyakumari.
“We have taken some precautionary measures like registration using the official company e-mail id while using the website for car-pooling. We have advised women to look at car-pooling within the same company and also to meet up with car-poolers within the campus to avoid untoward incidents,” says Binu Shankar, CEO, GTech who is himself a registered user of the facility. “I have had a mindset change ever since I started using this facility. I have become more conscious about the impact of global warming and am also promoting the idea among my friends working in other industries.”
Emissions cut
According to a preliminary assessment by the Energy Management Centre (EMC), the net saving on petrol consumption for 35 active carpools with four passengers per car works out to 1,050 litres per week. This translates into a weekly reduction in carbon dioxide emission of 262.5 kg. The annual reduction in CO2 emission is calculated to be of the order of 14.4 tonnes.
According to Mervin Alexander, CEO, Technopark, the car-pooling initiative will help ease chaotic traffic conditions in front of the campus. It could also help free up parking space on the premises. Mr. Alexander said Technopark would go all out to promote car-pooling and public transport among employees. “Anything that addresses the problems of traffic congestion and parking will be encouraged. We are actively promoting the low floor air conditioned bus services introduced by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation”.
The bus services have enjoyed good patronage by IT professionals. “We are trying to persuade KSRTC to introduce more schedules and at more regular frequencies,” Mr. Alexander said.
Technopark's IT professionals register with a website, share cars and do their bit for nature.
Thiruvananthapuram: Last October, when Padmakumar, an IT professional and three of his colleagues in the Technopark campus decided to share a car for their daily commute from home to their workplace, they were driven solely by the larger commitment to the environment. Six months later, Mr. Padmakumar, an employee at Sigtech Wireless, feels that the carpool has more merits than cutting down on greenhouse gas emissions. “Apart from reducing our carbon footprint, this initiative also provides us an opportunity to discuss politics and technology trends during the daily commute,” he says.
IT professionals are warming up to the first major car-pool initiative in the State that was launched by the Group of Technopark companies (GTech) last year. All they have to do is log on to the car-pool website and register. “Car-pooling with some of my colleagues has made me environment conscious,” claims Firos Shamsudeen who works for Palnar Transmedia. “We have pledged to do our bit towards reducing the consumption of water and electricity,” he says.
Like Shamsudeen and Padmakumar, several others have discovered that it makes sense to share a vehicle or switch to public transport. Some claim that travelling with colleagues also feels safer at night.
Conceived as a Green Computing initiative, the car-pooling website, www.parkcarpool.in was started in April 2009 by GTech in partnership with Palnar Transmedia, a software development firm. The first such initiative in Kerala, it targeted IT professionals of Technopark and Infopark. The objective was to reduce the carbon footprint of the IT industry in Kerala.
One year after its launch, the initiative has 35 active and regular carpools with over 1,000 registered users, including women. The carpools used by Technopark employees provide connectivity with locations in the city like Vazhuthacaud, Manacaud, Pongumoodu, East Fort, Kesavadasapuram as well as suburban areas and satellite towns like Nedumangad, Balaramapuram and Attingal. During Fridays, another 20 carpools are formed for long trips to Kochi, Kottayam and Kanyakumari.
“We have taken some precautionary measures like registration using the official company e-mail id while using the website for car-pooling. We have advised women to look at car-pooling within the same company and also to meet up with car-poolers within the campus to avoid untoward incidents,” says Binu Shankar, CEO, GTech who is himself a registered user of the facility. “I have had a mindset change ever since I started using this facility. I have become more conscious about the impact of global warming and am also promoting the idea among my friends working in other industries.”
Emissions cut
According to a preliminary assessment by the Energy Management Centre (EMC), the net saving on petrol consumption for 35 active carpools with four passengers per car works out to 1,050 litres per week. This translates into a weekly reduction in carbon dioxide emission of 262.5 kg. The annual reduction in CO2 emission is calculated to be of the order of 14.4 tonnes.
According to Mervin Alexander, CEO, Technopark, the car-pooling initiative will help ease chaotic traffic conditions in front of the campus. It could also help free up parking space on the premises. Mr. Alexander said Technopark would go all out to promote car-pooling and public transport among employees. “Anything that addresses the problems of traffic congestion and parking will be encouraged. We are actively promoting the low floor air conditioned bus services introduced by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation”.
The bus services have enjoyed good patronage by IT professionals. “We are trying to persuade KSRTC to introduce more schedules and at more regular frequencies,” Mr. Alexander said.
