Bus Stop design

We also need to demarcate the Bus Stop Limits and the bus tracks near the bus stops to prevent  haphazard way of parking at the bus stops.   Mysore Bank/Majestic Stop is one of the examples of jumbled Bus Stop.   

We may also need a small bench to rest for a while.  The width of the bench should not be more than 9’’ & the length should not exceed 4’.  

BMRCL said it would lay 500m footpath on both sides of every metro station. Similarly a bus stop should have around 100m well laid footpaths on both sides, that is left and right side of a bus stop. This will give people comfort and hassle free walking as pedestrian traffic is high around a bus stop. Another missing thing is footpath behind the bus stop which is generally missing, so those who dont use bus stop have to struggle to pass a bus stop. This can not be said that footpath is work of BBMP not BMTC etc such excuses, this is a basic requirement of a bus stop.

I feel this is an important aspect that needs to be taken care of while identifying location of the bus-stops.

1. Need to ensure that there is additional space created away from the cummutation path. Currently the bus-stop near the yeswanthpur -tollgate - next to IISC is just on the road. Since there is a signal just before the bus-stop , it creates traffic jams.

2. Ensure that there is a space between opposite stops. If stops in both direction are located just opposite to each other, there is higher likelyhood of traffic jams ( unless the have suufficient clearance on the road). This is a big problem near MS Ramaiah bus-stop as well as Mathikere bus-stop.

3. It will be nice if each of the stop displays the bus numbers for the major destinations ( Say to KBS, Shivajinagar, Yeswanthpur etc.)

4.  Need to make the bus-stops -physically handicapped friendly. They should be able to get-in and have seat.

5. If it is financially feasible set-up bus-pass vending m/cs at important bus-stops. One can buy the bus-pass directly from these m/cs.

Thanks,

Bhushan

Dust Bin need not form part and parcel of the Bus Shelters.   The bus track/parking/ must be reserved at every bus shelter for the benefit of commuters.  Usage of such reserved parking areas by other vehicles need to be viewed as a traffic offence.  Vending machine for bus pass/ticketing, petty shops, dust bin, suggestion box, etc, may be a good idea at Bus Terminal / Hubs and certainly not in all the bus shelters.   I am not an architect but the Delhi example/size is what I have observed in other countries as well.

No signage on right side of bus stop which hinders view of an incoming bus. It should be at left side only, be it as big as nobody looks towards other side. I have to get up from my seat often to see if s bus is coming because of signage in many bus stops hinders view.

I have had several exchange of mails and a few personal meetings with BBMP (Advt Dept) Dy Commissioner and his engineers regarding the list of reqiurements for bus shelters.

I corresponded with BMTC also.

They both promised to incorporate the suggestions in the future.

This was a year back. Action is yet to be seen.

K.V.Pathy.

BUS SHELTERS- COMMUTERS' REQUIREMENTS

I.Design Features

The design should coform to Norms/Standards such as Indian Roads Congress Norms as applicable.

1. The shelter should be designed for the utility and convenience of the users/bus commuters

2. The design should protect the users from sun & rain. So the height and roof/ceiling should be made to suit the angle of the sun light and showers. The height should not be too much.

3. The name of the bus stop should be written on all three sides.

4. The name should be written in both Kannada and English.

5. The letter size should be large enough to be read from a distance.

6. The writing should be at eye level of passengers sitting inside the bus.

7. The board should be lighted suitably for easy reading at night.

8. Inside the shelter, bus route information including the destinations and time schedules should be provided.

9. In case any advertisements are allowed, the space for such ads should not exceed 50% of the total available space so that priority is given to the information required for commuters.

10.The level of the floor of the platform should at the same level of the bus floor/ steps for easy boarding and alighting of commuters, esp. senior citizens and disabled.

II. Location of Shelter

1. The location should be decided in consultation with the commuters through Commuters Forum/ Residents Association of the area.

2. The Traffic Police, BMTC and BBMP should be involved in deciding the location.

3. In general the distance between two bus stops should be approx. 500 meters.

4. The shelter should not be located too close to the traffic signal as it creates traffic jam esp. at peak hours and the buses cannot approach the stops easily.

5. Sufficient distance should be provided between the signal and the bus stop. The shelter should be preferably after the signal, not before.

6. Wherever there is more bus traffic more than one shelter should beprovided and the buses should be bifurcated according to the destinations.

7. No overtaking of buses should be allowed at bus stops.

8. To ensure that the buses stop properly humps should provided at proper locations.

9. Wherever sufficient space is available suitable approach bays should be provide so that the buses stop close to the platform without obstructing other traffic.

III. Other requirements

1. At every bus stop pedestrian crossing (zebra marking with raised level) should be provided.

2. Wherever there are one-ways the reverse route should not be more than 500 meters from the forward route. If there is no such road available the one-way should be eliminated

9:00 PM ,4/20/2010

There are number of existing designs / photos available on the web. Concerned DULT staff needs to take some time to go through them. This would give them a good idea of how a bus stop looks like in other countries/cities and then come up with a design that is suitable for the city. Moreover DULT needs to take suggestions from the bus users rather than from those who use two and four wheelers to commute. Hopefully DULT will be realistic and practical. 

One need to be cautious if glass is to be used around the bus stops.

I forgot to add a mandatory dustbin to my recommendations

Comments are based on the recommendations of mandatory dust bins in all the bus shelters.  Dust bins needs to be maintained.   

Are we planning Vending machine on the same lines at every bus shelter?

Daily bus pass is very popular in Bangalore.  I wanted to know whether the vending machines irrespective of its use, will be manned by some help.  

It may be easier to sell bus passes through retail stores than at the bus stop.

Who is going to bear the cost of the middleman?

I think I am deviating from the main subject ‘BUS SHELTER’.   Do not want to carry forward the dust bin issue. 

If you are a bus user & have some comments do post. I think DULT or any others know google & use it regularly, they also know how to do surveys of bus users,  they want to know if readers of this forum have any constructive things they want to see in a bus stop. There are bus users on this forum as well. I will forward this URL to them so they can read thru & get a consolidated view.

That’s exactly my point. The DULT need to use google/google street to check out other designs and do surveys of bus users. Asking suggestions from 2/4 wheeler users is waste of time as they have no clue how a bus stop should be, as they dont use the bus.  I am not a regular bus user though I have sued Vajra bus number of times to go to the airport. Please do forward the URL to the bus users so that they can provide valuable/constructive suggestions.

Btw, is Ms. Manjula still heading DULT?

One of the major problem is the cleanliness in bus stops. People will be cleaning their running noses, often simply will be spitting waiting for the buses which causes lots of irritation to other passengers. Slogans needs to be added not to spit and clean running noses.Security Guards in Major bus stops should be employed and they should punish the offenders. 

Also, usually many bars are located near bus stops and this causes lots of inconvenience to ladies during evening and night ours. Permission should be withdrawn from these bars and they should be closed. But who / which Government dares such an act?

Delhi Metro has Gazetted many rules which is also being employed for BMRCL for maintaining cleanliness. Sameway, new rules should be Gazetted by DULT to maintain cleanliness of bus stops.

I have suggested 100m footpath on both side of a bus stop as pedestrian traffic is high around a bus stop. But having such footpath on both side of busstop and behind the bus stop too would make it easy to maintain cleanliness apart from helping good pedestrian movement. You cant say footpath is a different issue, i will make world class bus shelter with broken footpaths around it.

Bus stop design must include last mile connectivity component. A bicycle stand has been depicted as a possible feature in the illustration by IDS, which is a good idea. But, also please keep in mind that a person getting onto a bus or alighting at a bus stop also makes his journey by auto/walk and if it is a round trip by bus 90% of the time has to cross a road risking life and limb. So -

- why not have a skywalk in the vicinity of the bus stop linking the opposite side of the road?

- And in case the bus stop is situated accross from buildings like shopping malls, clusters of office buildings etc. how about the skywalk linking them directly if possible? I really liked the idea of the MG road metro station that had a skywalk directly linking the building in front of it. (this is the urban planning component of the design...rewarding public transport users with good infrastructure).

- perhaps an auto stand in the vicinity if space permits? Designed in such a way that it does not interfere with bus operations.

-someone needs to analyze the age old problem of people spilling onto the roaway and design an innovative solution (the bus stop should dole out gold coins to people who stay on the footpath for the duration of their wait in the bus stop:-) ?? That may be the only solution since i have racked my brains on this problem and have accepted defeat)

-another must have feature, enough space to get the bus parked without affecting other traffic, if you look closely at "standard design" in IDS's earlier photos it becomes clearer what i am referring to; this will not be possible in all roads, but roads with enough space can accomodate this kind of design.

In my opinion bus stop design must expand beyond the structure itself and we have to think outside the box to to handle the volume of people and get them to the structure and off the structure safely.

If there is bus bay, then roof of bus stop can be extended outside so that bus would come under that roof. This will be helpful you get complete shade when you get into bus. In case of rain you can get into bus without any problem as bus will come under the roof. But this can not be done where bus bays are not there because it would hinder tall vehicles on the main road.

They took away the bus stop as it happened in Rajarajeshwari Nagar. It was there at night, gone in morning. They sold the things to a scrap dealer. Wow!