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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dear all, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would also be interested to know if there are any
practical examples of the switching lanes through the median at the bus stops.
As Alan says, it seems attractive and perfectly feasible, but does it work well
in practice and is it safe? It would be good if we could include it as an option
in our toolboxes.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The big motivation is to gain the speed advantages
of running in the roadway away from the kerbside obstructions, without having to
put the doors on the "wrong" side of the bus, or to have doors on both sides.
'Wrong-side' doors are OK in a totally closed system, but obviously this
completely prohibits buses from other routes joining and leaving the bus
facility, since they could then not function at regular stops. Doors on both
sides are an expense which cost-constrained schemes would rather avoid, leaving
aside the possible problems of procuring vehicles and being constrained about
which operators you can work with. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I think the potential problems of
switchovers lie in two areas - potential conflict between buses on
switch-over, and potential conflicts with other road-users. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- For potential bus-bus conflict, intuitively I
would have thought this should not be a problem as long as there are clear
traffic rules. The vehicles will be coming head-on towards each other, so there
is no risk of being blindsided, the issue is mostly driver training and
discipline. The switch-over point will be at the stopping place, so speeds
should be lower. Perhaps as an operations person I am placing excessive
confidence in the people? </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT><FONT
face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- For potential bus / road-user conflict, the
candidate victims are motor vehicles which illegally use the median cut,
cyclists who illegally use or cross the median cut, and pedestrians who stray
through the switchover point. (I assume that cyclists would not be permitted to
use the bus lane). For motor vehicles, first, I don't see how it benefits them
unless they want to do a u-turn, and anyway that can be made difficult by kerb
alignment. Note that the vehicle would have had to already violate the bus lane
to enter the median gap, and then emerge in the opposite side bus lane. Likewise
for cyclists, although I don't discount the possibility of cyclists or handcarts
actually travelling along the median itself. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>- I think the big potential conflict is with
pedestrians. First, there will be the general population of pedestrians crossing
the roads and using the median. Second, the switchovers will take place at the
stopping places which (we hope) will be attracting thousands of persons per
hour, with lots of potential for jay-walking unless they are channelled through
the stops (e.g. for fare-collection and boarding management purposes) and
pedestrian crossing facilities. The big question is whether having bus
switchover areas close to the stopping places creates NEW conflict zones
(remember, the buses and pedestrians will pass through there anyway whatever
arrangement you choose) and what risk is associated with these. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>OK, that's my hypothesis, does anyone know if it's
been tried and what were the outcomes? I guess the best indicator is whether
it's been tried and is still in place! On a technical question, is there a
minimum width of median needed, and what advice on alignments?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>I would like to thank Mumbai for explaining the
process they are using, to wish them good luck in the next stages, and I
would appreciate if they keep us informed of how it goes.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>With best wishes, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><BR>Brendan Finn. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV>_____________________________________________________________________________________<BR>From
Brendan Finn, ETTS Ltd. e-mail : <A
href="mailto:etts@indigo.ie">etts@indigo.ie</A> tel :
+353.87.2530286</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=Alan.Howes@cbuchanan.co.uk
href="mailto:Alan.Howes@cbuchanan.co.uk">Alan Howes</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=binac@rediffmail.com
href="mailto:binac@rediffmail.com">Bina C. Balakrishnan</A> ; <A
title=sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org
href="mailto:sustran-discuss@list.jca.apc.org">Global 'South' Sustainable
Transport</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, March 16, 2007 10:15
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> [sustran] Re: (NEWS) Mumbai's
BRTS project turns into a joke!</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>My problem is that having spent six weeks in Mumbai last year,
while I mastered reasonably well the transport issues and the geography, I
still have not got all these institutions and acronyms sorted out! What
is the MTSU? I would guess Mumbai or Maharashtra Transport Studies Unit - but
knowing the name does not tell me what it is or what it represents. Would
anyone like to volunteer to put a glossary of Maharashtra transport acronyms
on a website somewhere?<BR><BR>Anyway, it's obvious that judgement of
"responsible reporting" is something of a subjective matter - but I did wonder
whether Raj could tell his right from his left. My understanding is that
all proposed Mumbai bus lanes will be on divided highways - when Raj wrote
about lanes in the "middle of the road" I really did not know whether he meant
the middle of the carriageway or next to the median (and did "right" mean on
the wrong side?).<BR><BR>Anyway, my understanding of the MMRDA proposals is as
explained in Bina's post. 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).<BR><BR>I would be interested to know if
this proposal is still being pursued.<BR><BR>But I have to say that I will be
very pleasantly surprised if a significant amount of properly-designed,
properly-enforced bus lanes are in operation in Mumbai by the end of 2007.
<BR><BR>Regards, Alan<BR><BR>--<BR>Alan Howes<BR>Associate Transport
Planner<BR>Colin Buchanan <BR>4 St Colme
Street<BR>Edinburgh EH3
6AA<BR>Scotland<BR>email: <A
href="mailto:alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk">alan.howes@cbuchanan.co.uk</A><BR>tel:
(0)131 226 4693
(switchboard)<BR>
(0)7952 464335 (mobile)<BR>fax: (0)131 220
0232<BR>www: <A
href="http://www.cbuchanan.co.uk/">http://www.cbuchanan.co.uk/</A><BR><BR><BR>-----Original
Message-----<BR>From: <A
href="mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org">sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org</A>
[mailto:sustran-discuss-bounces+alan.howes=cbuchanan.co.uk@list.jca.apc.org]
On Behalf Of Bina C. Balakrishnan<BR>Sent: 16 March 2007 08:00<BR>To: Global
'South' Sustainable Transport<BR>Cc: Rajendra A(Hindustan Times)<BR>Subject:
[sustran] Re: (NEWS) Mumbai's BRTS project turns into a joke!<BR><BR>
<BR>I am surprised and frankly disappointed at Rajendra's reporting: I always
thought you were one of the more responsible reporters. <BR>The following
response has been approved by the Core Working Group, of which I am also a
member, and is being posted as a collective reply. Left to myself, I should
have responded with a little more bite! <BR><BR><BR>"Let's start with the Core
Group: As Coordinator of the Core Working Group (CWG) on BRTS for Mumbai, we
at the MTSU have already submitted our report to the Government of
Maharashtra- as long back as the 6th of February 2007. The CWG is formed of
one officer from all the directly concerned departments, as you have said, to
ensure better co-ordination between them. (For the benefit of our
international readers, Mumbai has about 17 different agencies dealing with
transportation- and this is all aspects of transportation.) The Core Working
Group, however, has only 7 members, including representatives from
NGOs.<BR><BR>The CWG Report was formally presented on the 6th of February,
2007, to all the departments in the presence of the Principal Secretary,
Transport, and this was accepted by the Government of Maharashtra right there.
At the same meeting, we were asked to draw up the Terms of Reference for the
Consultants to be appointed by the MMRDA to carry out the Feasibility Study
for BRTS. The study will examine the feasibility of a city wide BRTS, with
priority on the corridors that we have identified for phase I. These Terms of
Reference have also been finalized, and submitted to the MMRDA. The CWG will
continue to monitor the progress of the project, as well as the work of the
consultants.<BR><BR>The whole process of appointing a CWG and going thru a
pre- feasibility study and recommending a Feasibility Study was to avoid the
mistakes made by the BEST when they arbitrarily introduced a dedicated bus
lane between CST (formerly called Victoria Terminus) and Churchgate, and which
failed because of various reasons- primarily lack of adequate
planning.<BR><BR>Prior to the formation of the CWG, the Government did have a
proposal to start a Dedicated Bus Lane between Thane and Dadar, with a pilot
section between Dadar and Sion. In this section, the BEST have about 45 routes
operating, and there would have been no question of the lane being
under-utilised and therefore being over-run by other traffic. Moreover, we had
already identified and verified supplementary networks to accommodate any
spillover traffic on this route. It was in this context that the BEST had
their buses painted, but before it could be implemented, the Election Code of
Conduct time bar came into force, and the project had to be temporarily
shelved. <BR><BR>Regarding the concerned BRTS lane - you are all confused. The
CWG has recommended the median lanes - ie the lanes alongside the median - to
capitalize on the available infrastructure, and reduce delays from other
traffic. This will enable the BRT buses to use all the flyovers, and improve
their operating speeds. Also, the median width can be used to accommodate the
bus stations. Bus lanes on the LEFT will definitely be affected by parked
vehicles. (Where did the right lane come into the picture? We drive on the
left side of the road, right?) However, the scope of work for the consultants
includes examining the feasibility of using either the median or the kerb-side
lane for the BRTS. Additionally, another aspect we are working on at the MTSU
is removal of all parking on all arterial roads - so the interference from
parked cars will not a problem: but the direct access to private properties
along all roads in Mumbai will definitely be a major problem if the kerb-side
lane is used. But, as I said - the Consultant is expected to look into all
these aspects, and recommend the best option. <BR>As the Principal Secretary,
Transport has said, "Hopefully, by the end of the year." <BR><BR>End of formal
reply.<BR><BR>My apologies for being so dense - but what is the
joke?<BR><BR>Bina C. Balakrishnan<BR>Consultant<BR>Transportation Planning
& Engineering<BR>Mumbai, India<BR><BR><BR><BR>On Mon, 12 Mar 2007 Rajendra
A(Hindustan Times) wrote :<BR>>Mumbai's BRTS project turns into a
joke!<BR>><BR>>http://www.hindustantimes.in/news/181_1949087,000600010004.htm<BR>><BR>>Rajendra
Aklekar<BR>><BR>>Mumbai, March 11, 2007<BR>><BR>>Mumbai's Bus
Rapid Transit System or simply the dedicated bus lanes' <BR>>project turned
into a joke.<BR>>The BEST General Manager is ready with his fleet of buses,
got them <BR>>painted in devoted colours, a special fare structure and
timetable has <BR>>been set, more fleet of international brand of buses
ordered and <BR>>comprehensive plans drawn to run them on these hi-speed
corridors. But <BR>>there's no road to run these buses and kick off the
plan!<BR>><BR>>The state transport ministry has appointed a "core group"
to look to <BR>>the project and study its aspects. The group will submit a
report, the <BR>>government will then consider it, after which a decision
will be taken. <BR>>Simply speaking, it's stuck in red tape and won't kick
off before 2008 <BR>>or even later.<BR>><BR>>This is not all. The
latest problem is a dispute between the core group <BR>>officials and the
MMRDA as to where should the bus lane be. While the <BR>>MMRDA wants the
lanes to be on the left, state government officials <BR>>want it on the
right side of the roads. With no decision on the issue, <BR>>the matter is
now hanging fire.<BR>><BR>>To the specific question when will buses
start running on the BRTS <BR>>project principal
secretary<BR>>(transport) GS Gill told HT, "By the end of this calendar
year... <BR>>hopefully."<BR>><BR>>Asked about the lane problem, a
senior MMRDA official, on the condition <BR>>of anonymity, said bus lanes
on the left would be helpful as they would <BR>>not slow down
buses.<BR>>"If lanes are built in the<BR>>right, they would be
obstructed by parked vehicles and hawkers, but in <BR>>left, there would
not be any such problem. We will, however, have to <BR>>invest in
infrastructure to build stops." There's another group of <BR>>experts who
are proposing that the bus lanes should be in the middle of <BR>>the road
for higher speeds.<BR>><BR>>Pushed by the Central Ministry of Urban
Transport and with a promise <BR>>that the project would be eligible for
funding under Jawaharlal Nehru <BR>>National Urban Renewal Mission, a
number of cities woke up to the <BR>>reality of BRTS last year, a globally
accepted mode of urban mass <BR>>transit in crowded areas. Pune was the
first city in Maharashtra to <BR>>kick off the BRTS in
November.<BR>><BR>>Mumbai's BEST too drew plans in the middle of last
year, got test-run <BR>>done, placed an order for 20 hi-end Kinglong brand
of buses for its <BR>>project and also converted 20 of its existing Star
Bus fleet of buses. <BR>>It was decided that these hi-end fast buses would
run between Thane and <BR>>Dadar for four hours in morning and evening
each, segregated from <BR>>existing traffic by spring
posts.<BR>><BR>>But officials woke up to reality after they found the
buses simply <BR>>would jam all traffic during the peak hours and it would
be difficult <BR>>to stop other vehicles from coming in these bus
lanes.<BR>>State officials said that actual project had been delayed for
the <BR>>benefit of the city. The core group has been formed so that there
is <BR>>better planning and co-ordination between the state government,
<BR>>transport department and all the agencies concerned to ensure better
<BR>>planning for the project.<BR>><BR>>The core group set up by the
All India Institute of Local Self <BR>>Government (AIILSG), will decide the
terms of reference, after which <BR>>the MMRDA will issue the bids and
appoint the consultants. The core <BR>>group consists of officials from the
MMRDA, BEST, AIILSG and the BMC, <BR>>among others. "My buses are ready.
The moment I get a green signal from <BR>>the government, I shall run
them," says BEST general manager Uttam <BR>>Khobragade. But the green
signal, it seems, may take a few more years.<BR>><BR>>Email author: <A
href="mailto:rajendra.aklekar@hindustantimes.com">rajendra.aklekar@hindustantimes.com</A><BR>><BR>><BR>>---<BR>>Rajendra
Aklekar<BR>>Transport Correspondent<BR>>Hindustan Times<BR>>HT Media
Limited<BR>>Mumbai Edition<BR>>--<BR>>140-4752, Nehru
Nagar<BR>>Mumbai, 400024<BR>><BR>>Mobile: +91 9892 190
761<BR>>Office: 66539200<BR>>Fax:
66539250/60<BR>>---<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>