Thousands of professionals working in Pune's Hinjewadi IT Park have faced escalating traffic congestion and infrastructure issues over the past few years. To provide relief, the Hinjawadi Industries Association (HIA) has launched the 'Metrozip' bus service for techies commuting to and from the IT park from various areas of the city.
This is the second time such an initiative has been undertaken in the last decade, but association members noted that the rapid growth of the IT hub and the city's traffic problems make this venture necessary now. HIA president Krishnan Subramanian emphasized that shared transport is crucial for employees working in the same geographical zone to ensure a safe and punctual commute. 'The goal is to reduce the number of vehicles on the road and improve traffic conditions,' he added.
Service Details
The new service operates on 70 routes with 500 boarding points across Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad. The association has deployed 80 buses, each with 32 seats, charging between Rs100 and Rs200 per trip. Services are scheduled during morning and evening office hours. Launched on May 5, the bus service is already used by 3,000 to 4,000 IT employees daily. 'The number of people using the service will scale up after the app starts working more smoothly,' said SS Salkar, deputy head of operations at HIA.
The 70 routes cover key areas including Nagar Road, Solapur Road, and various Pimpri Chinchwad localities, which have long been major pain points due to long distances and poor road infrastructure.
Background and Future Plans
The bus service was initially started in 2014 with multiple providers, but was discontinued due to the Covid-19 lockdown. This time, the association has partnered with mobility startup Routematic. It expects that around 1.25 lakh employees from 80 companies in the IT park will eventually use the service.
The initiative has received positive feedback. Techie Vivek Kumar noted, 'The Metro service is still nowhere in sight, so we have to explore other options. Users of the bus service will at least be able to work from the vehicle in case they are late to office.' Another IT employee, Yogesh Bhide, highlighted that the stretch between Kharadi bypass, Mundhwa bridge, and Vimannagar junction gets heavily congested during the monsoon. 'Hinjewadi Phase 1 roads also face severe waterlogging every year. Travelling from Wagholi to Hinjewadi can take over three hours on bad days. The shared bus service will at least make the journey comfortable,' he added.
Sriram Kannan, founder and CEO of Routematic, stated, 'Leading technology hubs are at a point where commute infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with workforce growth. The future of corporate mobility lies in high-capacity, shared transport networks that bring predictability and efficiency at scale.'
