[sustran] Vijayawada BRTS trial run in a week

Vinay Baindur yanivbin at gmail.com
Mon Apr 9 23:56:52 JST 2012


http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/article3276612.ece


BRTS trial run in a weekG. V. R. SUBBA RAO


[image: The BRTS bus shelter on Bandar Road in Vijayawada sports a new
look.]
The HinduThe BRTS bus shelter on Bandar Road in Vijayawada sports a new
look.

The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is gearing up to conduct a trial
run of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) buses in a week. The Corporation
officials are waiting for confirmation of arrival of APSRTC Managing
Director (MD), who evinced interest in witnessing the trial run.

The RTC officials are sorting out soft issues like fixing of GPS, public
address system etc. in the BRTS buses. The drivers would be given special
training to drive the new BRTS buses. A new dress code would also be
implemented. The proposed trail run would help in calculating the exact
time required to reach one point to another point in the BRTS corridor. The
BRTS transportation is tentatively christened as Sugamya. The bus shelters
were being spruced with Sugamya Logo and title BRTS bus shelters.

The Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) members -- VMC, RTC and VGTMUDA -- will
have to float a working capital of not less than Rs.1 crore. It is
estimated that at least Rs.25 lakh per month was required to run the BRTS
buses. A working capital of around Rs.1 crore is essential, says Municipal
Commissioner G. Ravi Babu.

The VMC, actually, thought of running the buses on March 23 coinciding with
Ugadi, Telugu New Year Day. Entire infrastructure was ready to kick-start
the BRTS. The Corporation will construct a control room near six-lane
Bridge on Ryve's canal. The Special Purpose Vehicle is also formed and the
RTC would fix the rates for the BRTS buses.

The VMC has readied 40 buses specially designed for the BRTS. Of this, 10
buses are Air Conditioned. An operation plan is being prepared for plying
the BRTS buses. The missing link, bridge on Ryve's Canal, is also complete.

The RTC would take up the responsibility of providing the Bus Terminal and
Bus Depot for the BRTS buses. The RTC would make use of the Pandit Nehru
Bus Station (PNBS) as Bus Terminal, and Governorpet-II, Vidyadharapuram,
and Ibrahimpatnam bus depots for the BRTS fleet and Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project buses. The first phase of
the BRTS project covers a distance of 15.5 km.

Keywords: VMC<http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/article3276612.ece#>
, BRTS <http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/article3276612.ece#>
, APSRTC<http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Vijayawada/article3276612.ece#>


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