A week back, when I asked my driver Mr. Yadav Maharaj to drive me at 6 am to the Mumbai Airport from home, he matter of fact said ‘Babu (Sir) – we will take the usual old route via Mahim… there is very less traffic that time’.
I was shell shocked. That’s when it hit me – I think of the Sea Link like a Googleesque tech nirvana – the more you travel on it, the bigger you start to dream and the faster you drive on it, the more you feel like stepping up on your own speed of growth.
Yeah, it just happens to be a bridge over water that also made life so much simpler. Mr. Yadav however thinks of it like an ‘avoidable’ cost that should be entertained only in dire straits!
The Seal Link is in trouble. On my way back from home that night, I noticed that at least 9.5 cars out of 10 were turning towards the old Mahim Road rather than taking the sea link. I am sure 9.5 of them were not residents of that route that had no alternative choice. Most of them had Yadav mindset owners inside– saving 1.5$ and sacrificing 45 minutes of their lives in their bargain. ( If you take the Sea Link, it saves you at least 45 minutes in travel time, beyond the frustration of driving on bumper to bumper traffic etc)
Can you believe the math – burn in hell for 45 minutes, but save 1.5$ ?
There has to be a way to break this mindset and introduce the Sea Link as the new way TO THINK for Indians. Screw who travels where and how. Once our people understand how to appreciate thinking BIG, they will use it in their own lives and demand the same from the companies they work for, and their government !
I think:
- The Sea Link should be free on random and unannounced days – this will surely get more drivers to try their luck – and get addicted in return.
- Happy hours on the Sea Link?
- Loyalty points like an airline program?
- If you are 4 in a car – you go free. So even lesser traffic on the road
- Give me a few advertiser inserts at the toll gate and let me ride almost for free?
As I believe, the Sea Link was never about making money. It was about solving an age old horrible problem using technology, imagination and ambition! Isn’t that the only way to create value?
The more people use it, the more it will inspire them.
We need 10000 ‘Sea Links’ in India – In Politics, in Municipalities, in Hospitals, in Schools and most importantly in the Government itself…Sleepy Mantralaya – you capiche?
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Nice post, Alok! Also, valid suggestions at the end of the post, especially the free pass for encouraging car pooling. However, though the Sea Link was never about making money, the toll is necessary for the maintenance of the link. Yeah, but the government should take a cue from your post and introduce a few schemes that will lead to increased usage of the link.
Forgeting the sealink as such, its the magic of thinking big, is what we miss.
“Once our people understand how to appreciate thinking BIG, they will use it in their own lives and demand the same from the companies they work for, and their government !” And there was the punch.
A good thought and I learnt to rethink the ‘sealink’ and ‘thinking BIG’.
In my opinion, the advertising model would work best.
[Quote] The Sea Link should be free on random and unannounced days – this will surely get more drivers to try their luck – and get addicted in return. [/Quote]
Indian mindset is too smart for these kind of gimmicks, when it comes to saving money (penny wise, pound foolish)
[Quote] Happy hours on the Sea Link? [/Quote]
This will cause sudden burst of traffic during those hours, and people who are paying for it will suffer. Will there be free beer?
[Quote]* Loyalty points like an airline program? [/Quote]
Majority people have realized loyalty programs don’t work for them, unless the loyalty if really worth it. Probably because marketers have made majorly misused the concept. I have personally never bothered to redeem my credit card points despite it being a good amount, I don’t anymore see the point of spending little more for just to redeem my loyalty gift..duh! I would think of it otherwise if the loyalty gift was completely free… even despite the fact that I had spend little more in buying other product from the same place. It’s purely psychological.
[Quote]If you are 4 in a car – you go free. So even lesser traffic on the road[/Quote]
Hmmm, the problem here is if the 4 in the car are actually ‘car pooling’ and not a family -mother, father and two kids.. ideally, they wouldn’t be taking different cards anyway!
[Quote]Give me a few advertiser inserts at the toll gate and let me ride almost for free?[/Quote]
Now, I agree with this concept,
- advertisers inserts at toll gate.
- advertising across the bridge
- Take a club membership and you get free access to sea-link
- Buy a house in x location and you get 5 years free access
etc..