[sustran] Re: Perceived railmarket in Asia + BRT in Europe

[Lee Schipper]

I think some are saying that Poor countries are being lured into
building very expensiv systems no one can afford. Some of that
cost comes from poor countries, some comes from wealthy donor
countries. If Delhi and its riders want a metro and that is the most
cost effective way of moving the people, fine.

 Some middle income countries (notoriously, Peru, Lima), have been
lured -- the Lima metro
stands still because no one can afford to run it. Other metros in
middle income countries have simply gone bankrupt, as many of our
friends
have pointed out, and the government has stepped in. Where does that
money come from? Some of it comes from what would have helped the poor.

My own country builds horrendously expensive metros (Washington,
Atlanta, etc) but we have money to burn. Mexico City, with 11 metro and
rail lines,
wanted to build an additional metro line. They didn't have the money.
And they could not build in the soils in the corridor that most neede
service. 

They  chose BRT, and 250 000 people a day, almost the same as use the
Delhi metro, are pretty happy.  For less than one tenth the cost of the
Delhi metro (about 40-50 million USD)!

Its really your choice, and it has nothing to do with elitism or poor
or rich. It's  a question of each of us wants to spend our money. 

It is a bit complicated when the money comes from somewhere else, of
course. Maybe that's the problem.

You choose!

>>> ajain at kcrc.com 2/8/2006 9:44:04 PM >>>
" The problem is that the DMRC and its various domestic and foreign
corporate backers are actually killing politically much more cost
effective BRT proposals.  Per capita incomes in India remain under
$500
a year, annual per passenger capital and operating subsidies are
several
times the per capita income(it is impossible to know for sure as the
books of the DMRC are a state secret it seems) is hard to justify in
this economic context.  "
 
I'm afraid this argument for justifying BRT for Delhi is elitist at
the
least. Are we trying to say that relatively poorer countries should
build BRT whereas the richer countries can have Metro? I think any
operating mode, as Eric points out, has its own merit and should be
planned accordingly. In my opinion, Delhi should have both BRT and
Metro
depending on the corridor.
 
Alok Jain
 
 



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