[sustran] Re: BRTS in Delhi

[arul rathinam]

‘Give BRTS time to overcome teething troubles’

April 25th, 2008
New Delhi, April 25 (IANS) The much-maligned Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in the capital Friday found unexpected backers with two environmental watchdogs defending the new traffic segregation model and saying it should be given time to iron out initial hiccups. “The BRTS means a massive transition in Delhi’s traffic ways (and) therefore implementation problems are bound to happen. But scrapping the project cannot give a solution for Delhi’s traffic woes,” Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) director Sunita Narain told reporters here.
“Buses mobilize 61 percent of the capital’s population and cover only eight percent of the road space. So providing a faster lane for buses will be in larger good,” Narain said.
The BRTS corridor on each side has four lanes - meant for buses, two-wheelers and cars, cyclists and pedestrians. The width of the bus lane is 3.5 metres, while that of two-wheelers and cars is seven metres, and cyclists and pedestrians each have two-metre wide lane.
The Rs.1.8 billion project had come under heavy criticism after the capital witnessed major traffic snarls on the 5.6-km stretch of BRTS from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand in south Delhi, which has been opened for trial run. 
“”The traffic situation on the Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand stretch has also improved after the signal cycle was changed and space was given to vehicles where there was congestion,” Narain said.
Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) chairman Bhure Lal also backed the project, saying that BRTS was necessary as 1,000 new motor vehicles were added to the city’s roads every day.
“Segregation of space for traffic will help traffic in moving efficiently and faster,” Bhure Lal said.
“The BRTS will supplement the metro and will be part of the integrated transport that will be the future of the city. We need to build a public transport system where all metro, road and proposed monorail are interlinked,” Narain said.
Narain also said that buses could not fight with cars for space as the “bus system deteriorates in congestion”.
The system has been under fire from road users and citizen’s groups after massive traffic snarls left motorists fuming and pedestrians complaining they were finding it difficult to negotiate the heavy traffic.

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/give-brts-time-to-overcome-teething-troubles_10042019.html




--- On Sun, 4/27/08, bruun at seas.upenn.edu <bruun at seas.upenn.edu> wrote:

> From: bruun at seas.upenn.edu <bruun at seas.upenn.edu>
> Subject: [sustran] Re: BRTS in Delhi
> To: sustran-discuss at list.jca.apc.org
> Date: Sunday, April 27, 2008, 7:18 AM
> Aashish
> 
> Thanks for the ridership figure. (I think the 65 km is out
> of date. It  
> was 66 kms 3 years ago.)
> 
> The reason I was asking is that Sujit said the ridership
> was  
> "abysmal." But 600,000 persons for 66 kms is
> actually pretty crowded.  
> The Washington Metro is 105 miles (over 160 kms) and
> several of the  
> lines are genuinely crush loaded during the rush hours with
> only  
> 700,000 passengers per day. Admittedly, people in the U.S.
> tend to be  
> larger than in India, which also aggravates the crowding.
> 
> As for an estimate of 3.1 Million, this seems ridiculous.
> Of course,  
> it isn't going to meet that. Maybe if the fare was
> assumed to be very  
> low and crowding standards were extreme......
> 
> Eric
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Quoting Sujit Patwardhan <sujitjp at gmail.com>:
> 
> > ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> > From: Sujit Patwardhan <sujitjp at gmail.com>
> > Date: Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 1:08 PM
> > Subject: Re: [pttfgen:1409] BRTS in Delhi
> > To: pttfgen at googlegroups.com
> >
> >
> > 25 April 2008
> >
> >
> > BRT in Delhi
> > =========
> >
> > Yes problems galore and I've been following the
> reports in the media
> > including the CNN IBN that Ashok Datar was to appear
> on, but didn't for some
> > reason.
> >
> > My take on all this is as follows:
> >
> > Deterioration in traffic has been an ongoing process
> in many Asian cities
> > for the last 3 decades or more. Like the frog sitting
> in a beaker of water
> > being slowly heated it has not had an occasion to
> "explode". Metro was taken
> > up and executed brilliantly by Mr. E Sridharan, with
> attention to the
> > minutest detail and a free hand guaranteeing "no
> interference" from
> > politicians. On top of that every lapse and
> overshooting of budgets as well
> > as abysmally poor ridership compared to the projected
> figures was pardoned
> > by a supportive Govt and compensated from additional
> funds made available
> > without delay and cloaked in secrecy.
> >
> > *Delhi Metro project is a marketing triumph that fills
> every Indian's chest
> > with pride*. However, how much travel-coverage (as
> Public Transport) the
> > very expensive Metro will be able to provide is a big
> question mark. There
> > is also the real possibility that the amount spent on
> the Metro represents
> > lost opportunity for other investments - like
> libraries and cultural
> > centres, gardens, public spaces and other amenities
> needed by the city. *But
> > in the final analysis we should accept that the Metro
> is pubic transport and
> > hence we must support it* unlike the eight lane
> highways, flyovers,
> > multistory car parks and other infrastructures being
> *routinely provided by
> > the city as subsidy to ever growing number of car and
> 2 wheeler owners at
> > the cost of other more efficient modes of travel.*
> >
> > BRT unlike the Metro has to deal with the existing
> conditions on our roads.
> > Of indiscipline, rampant irregularities,
> encroachments, poor engineering,
> > lack of understanding about the rights of pedestrians,
> cyclists and non
> > personal auto users. So if the road surface is poor
> BRT is blamed, if
> > drivers are indisciplined  BRT is blamed, if a car
> stalls in the MV lane and
> > clogs up the traffic it is perceived as a problem
> caused by the BRT. If the
> > BRT lanes look empty (as indeed they will -
> considering each bus carries
> > many more people), it is seen as  waste of an
> expensive resource -- although
> > not many of these critics complained much all these
> years about the *wasteful
> > use of resources when low occupancy cars filled up
> these very roads* - well
> > before BRT appeared on the scene.
> >
> > So it is clear that BRT planning should have been
> rooted in outreach and
> > marketing it as a concept that will improve mobility
> (of people as against
> > just near-empty personal vehicles),  will greatly
> improve access for people
> > who are today helpless captive users of uncomfortable
> and outdated buses, it
> > will provide an option to those who are forced to use
> personal transport,
> > not necessarily out of choice but compulsion, and as
> benefits of a growing
> > BRT network becomes visible and better, more
> comfortable and even A/C buses
> > start plying on the BRT corridors, the higher middle
> class and even the rich
> > will have no problem patronizing this mode for purely
> rational reasons of
> > getting a faster, more punctual, comfortable and
> stress-free mode of travel.
> >
> >
> > This indeed is the situation in many cities in Europe
> and while we have no
> > qualms about importing western concepts  (English
> medium education, wearing
> > suits and tie however uncomfortable they may be in our
> weather, listening to
> > western music, eating the big Mac (ughhh) and even
> importing Cheerleaders
> > for our newly formed Cricket Series) why do we
> suddenly start protesting
> > when our capital city tries to copy a Western/ Latin
> American idea of
> > excellent bus system/BRT calling it a foreign
> concept??????
> >
> > The need is to publicise wider benefits of public
> transport and to reach the
> > *majority *of citizens who are users/potential users
> of *bus based public
> > transport, cycling and walking* in the city. (It is
> they who will benefit
> > most from a good BRT)
> >
> > It is this huge majority of commuters who will have
> the opportunity of
> > breaking free from the shackles of our present
> horrendous conditions of
> > urban traffic.
> >
> > So let's not worry too much about the high pitched
> screams coming from the
> > pampered lot of car users (and to some extent from two
> wheelers) protesting
> > against dedicated BRT lanes taking away *their* road
> space, and let's reach
> > the gagged-majority who have been at the receiving end
> of the stick ever
> > since our cities became car-dominated *and if
> necessary bring them on the
> > roads to block the MV lanes and put the personal cars
> in their place.
> >
> > *Does this sound extreme? Not when contrasted with the
> obscene arrogant rant
> > coming from Mr Chandan Mitra -  representing the car
> lobby/media/politician
> > clique on the recent CNN IBN TV report about the mess
> accompanying the BRT
> > trials in Delhi.
> >
> > --
> > Sujit
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Apr 25, 2008 at 10:35 AM, Abhay Patil
> <abhay.patil at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Looks like BRTS in Delhi has reached a flash
> point.  From the visuals (CNN
> >> IBN, newspapers) it looks like Delhi's
> implementation is no better than
> >> Pune.  Empty BRTS lanes, sloppy junctions,
> ordinary bus stops and so on.  I
> >> don't know what went amiss in the capital. 
> Sheila Dixit has promised that
> >> she would make an all out effort to remove the
> glitches in a few weeks.
> >> Most important - she has said that she would not
> hesitate to drop the
> >> project if they are unable to get their act
> together right away.
> >>
> >> On a positive note - everybody is looking at BRTS
> now.  On a negative note
> >> - it is appears to be quite a tall order to fix
> it.  Given the ugly traffic
> >> jams and vociferousness of folks like journalist
> MP Chandan Mitra - it is
> >> quite likely that the baby would be thrown out
> with the bath water! And,
> >> that would have serious repercussions on BRTS in
> other cities.  I can not
> >> imagine the cacophony that would ensue once that
> happens...
> >>
> >> -Abhay
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
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> >>
> -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > --
> > ------------------------------------------------------
> > Sujit Patwardhan
> > sujitjp at gmail.com
> >
> > "Yamuna",
> > ICS Colony,
> > Ganeshkhind Road,
> > Pune 411 007
> > India
> > Tel: +91 20 25537955
> > Cell: +91 98220 26627
> > -----------------------------------------------------
> > Hon. Secretary:
> > Parisar
> > www.parisar.org
> > ------------------------------------------------------
> > Founder Member:
> > PTTF
> > (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum)
> > www.pttf.net
> > ------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > ------------------------------------------------------
> > Sujit Patwardhan
> > sujitjp at gmail.com
> >
> > "Yamuna",
> > ICS Colony,
> > Ganeshkhind Road,
> > Pune 411 007
> > India
> > Tel: +91 20 25537955
> > Cell: +91 98220 26627
> > -----------------------------------------------------
> > Hon. Secretary:
> > Parisar
> > www.parisar.org
> > ------------------------------------------------------
> > Founder Member:
> > PTTF
> > (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum)
> > www.pttf.net
> > ------------------------------------------------------
> >
> --------------------------------------------------------
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> >
> >
> ================================================================
> > SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of
> people-centred,   
> > equitable and sustainable transport with a focus on
> developing   
> > countries (the 'Global South').
> >
> >
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------- 
> IMPORTANT NOTE to everyone who gets sustran-discuss
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> 
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> like you can). Apologies for the confusing arrangement.
> 
> ================================================================
> SUSTRAN-DISCUSS is a forum devoted to discussion of
> people-centred, equitable and sustainable transport with a
> focus on developing countries (the 'Global South').


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