[sustran] Bhubaneswar To Give Metro A Miss, to focus on BRTS

[Vinay Baindur]

City Focus: Bhubaneswar To Give Metro A Miss, to focus on BRTS

*Bhubaneswar Smart City has decided to do away with the metro rail and is
focussing on improving the bus transport system, installing intelligent
traffic system and creating cycling tracks for the convenience of cyclist
and pedestrians*

24March, 2017 <http://bwsmartcities.businessworld.in/date/24-March-2017>by
Manish
Arora
<http://bwsmartcities.businessworld.in/author/BW-Reporters/Manish-Arora-83901>

It was for a reason that Bhubaneswar topped the list of the first pack of
20 cities selected by the Urban development Ministry under the Smart Cities
Mission. As the city has decided to do away with the Metro, it is opting
for Intelligent Traffic System(ITS), revamping its public bus transport
system and creating infrastructure for cycle sharing to make its mobility
solution intelligent and green.

“We need not have car-centric development and must have efficient, reliable
and cost-effective bus-based public transport system as metro rail is not
feasible in a city like Bhubaneswar even in coming two three decades,’’
Aditya Prasad Padhi, Chief Secretary, Odissa Government said.

And that is the reason the city has opted for BRT system, with new fleet of
modern buses.

According to Vice-Chairman BDA, Krishan Kumar, during the Citizen
Engagement exercises Mobility was voted as the most prioritised sector for
the city’s development and said that the city’s planning will be people
centric and not car centric.

“Bus transport as the mass mobility tool would be the most suited option
for a city like Bhubaneswar,” he added citing an example of London city,
which having an efficient metro system, still depends on buses to carry
more and more people on daily basis.

The buses will have options like standard buses, trolley buses, electric
buses and BRTS or a collage of some from these models.

As per Bhubaneswar Development Authority, Metro system for Bhubaneswar
might cost Rs 6,000 crore for a route of 100 km, but with a 10 percent of
the cost they can have an efficient bus transport network. With a new fleet
of around 500 buses, we have decided to change the city’s mobility scenario
within two years’ time. We have already started the process to have an
expert from mobility sector to do a DPR,’’ Kumar informed.

Bhubaneswar has already working on Master System Integrator, which aims to
integrate an array of services such as traffic, parking, transit and city
WiFi into a single service with an investment worth Rs. 585 crore. The
smart tracking management will look after functions of about 475 public
service vehicles. This will help in streamlining the traffic and will be
implemented by next two years. The city is also developing a cycling track
of 105 km with help of Germany to boost cycling and promote cycle sharing