Saving Fuel

Rising fuel prices aided by propaganda on World Environment Day distressed me to a large extent. The reason: My daily commute to work and back is a solo travel of about 30km (total) on my bike (a 5-year old TVS Victor) which makes my bike (and thereby me) a silent reason for rapidly diminishing non-renewable resources, increase in traffic, air pollution and global warming. This, despite the bike's above average performance - around 65km per litre of Petrol even after half a decade.

Distress causes frustration and I needed solutions. So I thought of these:

1. Use of public transport:
Pune city's sole public transport system is the govt. run bus service, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd. is famously known to be pathetic. I was a regular user of the bus service and a big fan of theirs till my college days when their services deteriorated. But before I diss them further, I shower plenty of praise on their new website, which has a user-friendly interface to find out bus routes, fare and map connecting any 2 stops in the city. A simple search from home to work says that there is no direct bus.

Ok, so I need to change buses half-way. The further problems as I see it are:
a. Poor frequency: 4 buses, each of which has a frequency of 90 to 180 minutes.
b. Too slow: I actually did try travelling by bus a couple of times. The poor frequency, the routes they take (right through the heart of the city) and their speed in high traffic would make the one-way journey take 2 hours as compared to less than half an hour right now. 4 hours of commuting a day? No thank you.
c. Overcrowding: I've done my share of hanging out of the bus. It was good fun when in school and college, I don't fancy doing that everyday.
d. Loss of independence: Often I'm held up late at work and dependence on buses at these times is disastrous.

2. Car/Bike pool:
a. Unfortunately, not too many people living in the same area as I do with timings similar to mine. Probably I could adjust my timings.
b. Loss of independence: Again, being dependent on someone else for a lift or having the obligation of dropping someone home means forgoing of other plans after work.

3. Shift closer to work:
I've considered this before too. However:
a. My workplace happens to be in a rather plush area of the city with obscenely high rent rates. But if saving fuel is of prime concern, then this price should be paid for. Of course, it is manageable/affordable with flatmates/roommates.
b. Plus points for the freedom of living alone mean handling of new issues of managing own home and work and also giving up certain luxurities enjoyed when at home with family. Manageable, though pros-cons need to be evaluated.

3. Shift jobs and find one closer to home:
Not considering this at the moment.

4. Cycle to work:
a. Cycling 15km is foolhardy, strenuous and might kill me of fatigue by the time I reach my destination. But with practice and gradually increasing cycling distance, it might get easier.
b. Time-consuming, yes. But in some traffic scenarios, it is faster than travelling by bus.
c. Plus points for independent travel, though double seat is a huge problem.
d. Exercise: will burn those extra calories.

Cycling to work is not the best idea and I don't see myself doing it. Yet I plan to get my old bicycle repaired and give this idea a shot once before dismissing it completely.

5. Use an electric / hybrid vehicle:
I've actively started exploring this idea. Unfortunately I can't find any good vehicle in the market that is relatively inexpensive. The ones I've seen are actually electric mopeds that won't go beyond 25kmph. So it is a better bicycle where I won't be physically strained and will be slightly faster. Worth serious consideration.

Above are ideas by which I can help myself. I thought of some where I could be helped by others. Firstly, here is a map indicating my route.

(Upper) Route in red from west to east: on my way to work, which is through the army area where there is less traffic during the day.
(Lower) Route in pink from east to west: on my way back, as the army route is dark and dangerous.
A straight point to point route is not possible as it passes through the forests of the University and restricted military area. So the shortest path is actually the route marked in pink which has heavy traffic throughout the day.

Coming back to my problem, here is what I think 'others', read the government, or other well-wishers could do:

1. Improve the bus system:
a. Bring in more fuel-efficient buses.
b. Increase frequency of buses on popular routes.
c. Allow private bus operators to ply which would charge rates competetive with those of the PMPML.

2. Explore waterways:
I'm not sure about this, but the Mula-Mutha river (which has sufficient water in the monsoons) could be used for boats/kayaks/canoes for smaller distances. I once read about some people commuting to work by kayaks. So worth considering.

3. Underground railway:
If any city needs a Metro the most, it is Pune. We've seen the worst state of roads, the worst traffic and the worst public transport. We deserve better.

4. Promote electric vehicles:
We need policies that would bring in hybrid electric vehicles and make them more popular. I'm not very knowledgeable on this topic, though I know its among the best options we have. The day there is a good electric bike in the market, I'm buying it immediately.

Can anyone help come up with better ideas?