[sustran] Re: BRTS etc. in Mumbai

[Bina C. Balakrishnan]

  Alan, Brendan,and the rest,

I apologise for the delay in responding to the mails on the BRTS, 
but we've been having long weekends with hard work in between to 
make up, so... priorities being what they are...

Do visit the MTSU web-site: www.visionmumbai.org, and you should 
get a lot of answers to most of the questions you have, Alan. I am 
also going to put up a small presentation that I made a few weeks 
ago at the Pan IIT meeting in Mumbai on what we are doing on the 
transportation side, so that you all get an  idea of how we are 
approaching things. The basic principle is "Resource Optimisation" 
- of the existing road transportation resources. I had not put it 
out on this forum earlier, because I thought it was a bit 
premature, but here goes, anyway...!

Brendan, I appreciate your good wishes, and hope we continue to 
have the benefit of your opinion on our approaches.

I shall let you know when the ppt is up - it will be a link thru 
the Vision Mumbai site.
Best,

Bina


On Fri, 16 Mar 2007 Alan Howes wrote :
>Great minds ...
>
>I've just been reading the organisational bits of Bina's post 
>rather more carefully. I still don't have a feel for how much 
>clout the CWG has - OK the Gov of Maharashtra has accepted the 
>CWG report - but does that guarantee action (not just 
>commissioning consultants, but committing to implementation).  
>And on a matter of detail, Bina says -
>"we at the MTSU have already submitted our report to the 
>Government of Maharashtra- as long back as the 6th of February 
>2007"
>and then
>"The CWG Report was formally presented on the 6th of February, 
>2007, to all the departments ..."
>
>So I assume the consultants have not yet been appointed.  I can't 
>see them taking less than six months to report, and I would guess 
>at least nine months for implementation, even at Western rates of 
>action - what price bus lanes by the end of this year?
>
>Is the MTSU report the same as the CWG report? When was the CWG 
>formed? Sorry to ask so many questions!
>
>Regards, Alan
>
>
>--
>Alan Howes
>Associate Transport Planner
>Colin Buchanan
>4 St Colme Street
>Edinburgh      EH3 6AA
>Scotland
>email:  alan.howes at cbuchanan.co.uk 
><mailto:alan.howes at cbuchanan.co.uk>
>tel:      (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard)
>            (0)7952 464335  (mobile)
>fax:     (0)131 220 0232
>www: http://www.cbuchanan.co.uk/
>
>
>
>________________________________
>
> From: 
>sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk at list.jca.apc.org 
>[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk at list.jca.apc.org] 
>On Behalf Of Brendan Finn
>Sent: 16 March 2007 11:32
>To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport; 
>edelman at greenidea.info
>Subject: [sustran] Re: BRT - switchover lanes
>
>
>Dear Alan,
>
>I think that's an excellent rule on three grounds :
>
>1) It is simple and unambiguous
>
>2) The participants always know which situation they are in, and 
>whether they should yield. It is highly visible when a potential 
>yield situation arises, no need for control systems.
>
>3) The priority is to clear the bus stopping place to make room 
>for incoming buses, so it is right that buses leaving the 
>stopping area should have priority.
>
>With best wishes,
>
>
>Brendan.
>_____________________________________________________________________________________
> >From Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd.   e-mail : etts at indigo.ie   tel : 
>+353.87.2530286
>
> 	----- Original Message -----
> 	From: Alan Howes <mailto:Alan.Howes at cbuchanan.co.uk>
> 	To: edelman at greenidea.info ; Global 'South' Sustainable 
>Transport <mailto:sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org>
> 	Sent: Friday, March 16, 2007 10:52 AM
> 	Subject: [sustran] Re: (NEWS) Mumbai's BRTS project turns into 
>a joke!
>
> 	I thought someone might think that! I take it what concerns you 
>is the (two per stop) conflicts between buses moving in opposite 
>directions?
>
> 	Remember that the buses will be moving slowly as they are about 
>to stop or are just leaving the stop. I don't know offhand what 
>the maximum bus flows are likely to be, but I would not have 
>thought that even in Mumbai there would be more than 120 buses 
>per hour - correct me someone if I'm wrong (I could do a check, 
>but it would take some time). At that level I see no problem with 
>a simple "give way" arrangement (e.g. incoming buses always give 
>way to leaving buses) - you could have traffic signals, but IMO 
>that would be an unnecessary expense.
>
> 	Regards, Alan
>
>
> 	--
> 	Alan Howes
> 	Associate Transport Planner
> 	Colin Buchanan
> 	4 St Colme Street
> 	Edinburgh      EH3 6AA
> 	Scotland
> 	email:  alan.howes at cbuchanan.co.uk
> 	tel:      (0)131 226 4693 (switchboard)
> 	           (0)7952 464335  (mobile)
> 	fax:     (0)131 220 0232
> 	www: http://www.cbuchanan.co.uk/
>
>
> 	-----Original Message-----
> 	From: 
>sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk at list.jca.apc.org 
>[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk at list.jca.apc.org] 
>On Behalf Of Todd Edelman, Green Idea Factory
> 	Sent: 16 March 2007 10:44
> 	To: Global 'South' Sustainable Transport
> 	Subject: [sustran] Re: (NEWS) Mumbai's BRTS project turns into 
>a joke!
>
> 	Alan Howes wrote:
> 	> [...] The problem, however, with with-flow bus lanes placed 
>immediately to the left of the median is that, assuming bus stops 
>are on the median, the bus doors are on the wrong side (an 
>expensive problem to fix). MMRDA explained to me an ingenious 
>proposal for overcoming this - at the stops the buses would swap 
>sides, crossing the median through a gap immediately before and 
>after the stop. This sounds perfectly feasible to me - the only 
>potential problem I foresee is that the necessary gaps will be 
>used (illegally) by other traffic, or even pedestrians (who get a 
>pretty raw deal in terms of getting across the road).
> 	>
> 	That seems really dangerous unless there are electronic safety 
>systems, etc. Am I missing something?
>
> 	- T
>
> 	--
>
> 	--------------------------------------------
>
> 	Todd Edelman
> 	Director
> 	Green Idea Factory
>
> 	Korunní 72
> 	CZ-10100 Praha 10
> 	Czech Republic
>
> 	++420 605 915 970
> 	++420 222 517 832
> 	Skype: toddedelman
>
> 	edelman at greenidea.eu
> 	http://www.worldcarfree.net/onthetrain
>
> 	Green Idea Factory,
> 	a member of World Carfree Network
>
>
>
>
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