Taxi drivers cancel rides on Chandigarh-Zirakpur stretch in peak hours

Gaurav Kanthwal
Zirakpur, February 27

Due to frequent traffic jams and long travel time, taxi drivers are cancelling rides on the Chandigarh-Zirkapur highway for the past sometime, say residents.

‘Unviable trip’

Cabbies cancel rides once they are told that the destination is Zirakpur. Snarls increase fuel consumption, making it an unviable trip for them. — Balkrishan Mehta, A commuter

Due to the long travel time in the morning and evening peak hours and traffic hassles, app-based taxi drivers are nowadays avoiding this stretch, making it tougher for people to commute on this stretch.

Zirakpur resident Swati Sachdeva says on Saturdays it is difficult to book a ride in the evening. “I had to return home from office in Sector 32, but no one was ready to go to the Zirakpur side. I tried booking a ride, but once I told the taxi driver, they would immediately cancel the ride after disconnecting. After trying three or four times, I had to take a shared auto.”

Motorists on the NH-5 get stuck in long traffic jams on a daily basis due to the under-construction underpass near the Chandigarh border. Office-goers and residents have to bear the brunt of the crawling traffic on this 2-km stretch. Another Zirakpur resident, Vivek Soni, an employee of the District Courts in Chandigarh, says, “Everybody knows that app-based taxi drivers cancel the rides once they are told that the destination is Zirakpur. Obviously, they do not want to waste their peak earning time in a traffic jam. Snarls increase fuel consumption, making it an unviable trip for them. While the taxi driver avoids the headache, it’s the commuter whose woes keep increasing,” said Balkrishan Mehta, a Chandigarh resident and sales executive in a hyper market, who travels to Zirakpur daily.

Taxi drivers, on their part, say two to three-hour trip in a traffic jam makes no financial sense for a Rs200 ride.

“The fuel prices are rising. We cannot afford to waste three hours on a trip that leaves us with nothing. After a hard day at work, nobody wants to wilfully drive into a traffic jam,” said Gurwinder Singh, an app-based taxi driver.