More women pedal to work along city’s IT corridor

Girija Palani, a senior development manager at an IT firm in Ramanujan IT City at Taramani, enjoys her 37-minute commute to work from her home in Velachery. Instead of a cab or a two-wheeler, she hops on to her bicycle and pedals to her workplace. 

“I started cycling in January 2015 while training for a 100-km event by a cycling club and I managed to finish it. From then, I started cycling the 23-km commute to and from work. It takes me around 37 minutes, depending on traffic,” she said, adding that her experience on the road has been mostly positive. “Cyclists face similar issues as those who use two-wheelers. Often, I get respect from other vehicles, who give way when they see me,” she added. 

40-year-old Meenakshi A, who works in an IT firm near Marina Beach, regularly uses her bicycle for the daily commute. “I am really fond of cycling and often pedal to my office. It helps alleviate my mental pressure, when I ride from my home in Anna Nagar to the office,” she said. During the 30-km commute, Meenakshi often uses the cycle lane. 

Some, like Swathi Priyadarshini, who lives in Triplicane, cycle around 33-km to her college in Kelambakkam. “I mix it up — if I commute to the college by cycle in the morning, I take another mode of transport to return home. While the mornings are pleasant to ride, the evenings, especially on Old Mahabalipuram Road, become tedious. I think a separate cycle lane will get more people to use this method of conveyance,” said Swathi, a 31-year-old who is pursuing her PhD in Developmental Anatomy. 

But not every cyclist has a happy tale to narrate. Sharmishta Narayan, a customer care lead working in the Ascendas IT Park at Taramani, cycled to work for the last three years. 

But a change in shift and hassle during peak hours forced her to give it up. “Until last year, I cycled to work from my home in Adyar, because my shift was from 6 am to 2 pm. But my shift changed, and I found myself negotiating the 3.5-km stretch to office during peak hours. The bottleneck at Tidel Park, which took 20 minutes to clear, added to my troubles. This took the joy out of cycling. So I gave up the practice and now cycle only early in the morning,” she said, stressing on the need for a separate lane for cyclists.