- Historically, Pune’s bus service has been badly managed. Run down buses, lack of rationalised routes, poor frequencies, absence of a long term vision and business model has led to Pune citizens resort to use of private vehicles.
- Pune does not have facilities to park / maintain new buses and pre-paid ticketing system is a distant dream.
- For more details on how poor the Pune Municipal Transport’s basic facilities are, please read my detailed review ‘Pune Caught in a Whirlpool – can a modern public transport system rescue it’
Unfortunately they don't acknowledge that a kerb side bus lane can be implemented on many more roads (and hence offer better overall mobility) and is much cheaper. The London model shows that bus lanes can be used on any 2 lane road. Peripheral bus lanes can be non-segregated allowing use by other vehicles during non-peak times, making optimal use of road space. Interruptions & conflicts with off-lanes can be minimised in many ways – introducing red routes (no stopping) and altering entry/exit points on parallel off-lanes. Please see documents listed in appendix below in connection with use of peripheral non-segregated lane. There are clear advantages as well in using the positives of London's bus lane model –
- Cheaper and quicker to implement
- Can be used more widely (on any 2 lane road) - across the city, we can end up with much better overall mobility. We all know many roads with 3 lanes (I know at least a dozen in Mumbai and Pune) which would never be considered for BRT due to lack of width to expand (but are ideal for London style bus priority).
- Non-segregation offers fair and optimal use of road space. London bus lanes operate largely during peak time, are available for others during non-peak times and indeed for parking beyond parking restriction times. In many ways the strengths of current infrastructure is used as against damaging ecology by making efforts to widen roads by culling trees.
- In the event of a failure of the scheme, nothing is lost – in contrast, if median segregated bus lanes fail; it will not be easy to reverse the damage (there will be huge costs). Thus I would argue, if you have to pilot, why not pilot the more cost-effective option.
As an author of a series of driver education videos, I can demonstrate amply how a respecting a zebra crossing automatically stems and regulates flow of vehicles by spacing them out evenly. It does not take hard to imagine the cost differential between painting the zebra’s correctly vs. implementing BRT, having said, it’s the former that will work far better than the latter in improving overall flow of traffic in the city.
* Buses using the kerb-side lane are forced to stop at every red signal with other vehicles reducing throughput, therefore central bus lanes are preferred.
If they had seen the Bus Priority Resource pack developed by DOT, UK they would have found an answer to this. UK has implemented the concept of pre-signals / smart signals which offer priority to buses and this could very easily be considered in India. I have created a summary document of the 250 page resource pack, click here for same.
* Unless we have central lanes, at least 50% pedestrians will need to cross a total of 12 lanes to get to the bus stop on the other side of the road.
A simple solution for this is using a Pedestrian Refuge. In fact by using central bus stops 100% of people will need to cross the roads and at least 6 lanes on each side. Does the current design ensure safety of these pedestrians any better? All reports suggest otherwise.
* Further they support the idea of central lane as it allows bus stops close to traffic light junctions
This is a money saving argument to get away from building crossways or an equally desperate attempt to build BRT on roads without adequate width for incorporating crossways / subways as their design needs wider footpaths (a mouth of a subway itself is typically 5-6 feet wide). In fact by virtue of making pedestrians mingle at the junction, all traffic lights have to incorporate this within the traffic lights cycle and hence reduce speed of travel - effectively taking away the R (Rapid) within the acronym BRT.
In medical research and practice there is a concept of fidelity. If a treatment has to implemented one has to ensure that it is done to with truthfulness to the original treatment concepts core principles. Where fidelity standards are poor, treatment success rates are poor. Hence the western medical practice does not allow cutting corners, its protocol driven. If I as much as raise a dose from 10 to 20 instead of 15, the pharmacist calls me and asks for justification and if unsatisfied will not dispense the medication. Attached is an image of a typical BRT design, it’s a single carriage way design and it is 105meters wide. Bogotá designs if I remember correctly were 104m wide. Basically the reason why we cannot see the wide footpaths and safe crossways is that we do not have the additional 12 feet needed and we seem to be satisfied with the idea of 100 feet being sufficient. Some of you may have seen a best seller called copycat marketing. Its book giving examples of brands that spread world over copying their success script - the core principles are never messed with, the soft touches can be modified. When there has been evidence through out of a compromise in basic principles why not question it. If the planners had been questioned sufficiently and strongly we could have done much better.
5. Sadly, our planners do not specify how BRT in it self will get people to switch from use of personal vehicles to buses? In Pune, it costs the same to travel in a two wheeler as it will to buy a bus ticket. Further an interested reader may compare the ticket/pass prices of Pune buses versus BEST. It becomes obvious that a hugely superior BEST is offering value for money while the more expensive PMT is offering dusty, rusted, broken buses with poorly trained staff and irrational routes at frequencies of a bus every 30-60 minutes of huge number of routes. Unless this equation changes, as it has in London, where there is no petrol subsidy (it costs more than twice compared to India), no free parking and a stiff congestion charge, we may end up with a BRT system plying empty buses. By implementing tough measures London’s bus riders-ship increased over 30% and less than a fourth of commuters use personal vehicles inside city centre. For more details please read pages 8 to 13 of my article Pune Caught in Whirlpool. Curitba too had to force people in to buses. Downtown parking in Curitba has been either totally banned or made so expensive via municipal fees that it is effectively prohibited for most motorists – thus making the local bus and "BRT" system the only realistic alternative. Curitba has been able to take advantage of land-use controls forcing development to cluster around the transit arterials. Is there any assurance from our planners that we could emulate these tough measures? It is now evident from a number of articles (available here) that many Western countries where BRT was implemented passengers per hour figures are not as high as expected. Like the West, Indians have due to lack of choice been forced in to the habit of travelling in their personal vehicles. Thus any measures not affecting this dynamic directly or indirectly will most likely fail.
When I make points in favour of London’s model, people have pointed out the difference between population densities of Delhi and London. Delhi’s density is twice that of London. But these very people have nothing to say when I point out that Mumbai’s density is 2.5 times that of Delhi!! The virtual neglect of trying to understand the success behind Mumbai’s BEST is appalling. Our cities have more in common with Mumbai & London where already built up areas need a bus service and road width makes BRT an illusory concept. One only needs to look at London's figures - 700 routes, 6500 buses and 5,400,000 passengers. And then compare them with Mumbai's figures which are almost half with regards all 3 parameters to see how the models fit well and also work well. I do feel that JNNURM funds are being wasted due to wrongful prioritisation of BRT over a basic bus service that would serve most of our cities very well. That such factors need looking in to first is obvious when one looks at the fact that the PMT runs too many routes, several dozens less than 10km!! This is where revamping and rationalisation of routes is vital (like the BEST routes which run length and breadth of Mumbai and overlap thus making huge choice and good frequencies a reality). Mumbai has 3391 buses, 350 routes covering 3 times the area and 4 million passengers per day (= to Pune's population), it is hard to understand why PMT has over 200 routes with just about 1000 buses? I have in recent times been pointed by some to also highlight how well the Chennai bus service runs. I have now checked up their website http://www.mtcbus.org/ and share some information. They like BEST carry 4 million passengers each day - up by half a million since 02/03, have a fleet of 3084 - up from 2773 in 02/03 with an average life of a bus ~ 4 years + (down from 6+). In contrast Bangalore has 5K buses but badly managed. Here is food for thought - wonder why people in Mumbai and Chennai are not shouting for BRT?
We need a comprehensive plan with clearly identified priorities, I suggest one below.
- Reform the basic bus service provision (rationalise bus routes, frequencies, adequate number travel worthy buses, garages and depots with possible workforce optimisation to reduce overheads) and ensure the city has footpaths.
- Mobility on roads can be improved through better traffic discipline (needs education, change in licensing procedures) and synchronising signals. We can do a lot by considering use of bus only ways and one-way options along parallel roads (we use these strategies sub-optimally). The zebra as described already is immensely effective too in evenly spacing the traffic.
- Use simpler alternatives – bus only routes (South Mumbai’s Girgaum road for over 3 decades has one section open to buses in one direction. This clever ploy allows private vehicles to get in to any of the off-lanes but only after a detour (as mixed flow is allowed from other direction).
- Use non-segregated bus lanes where possible, but not before point 1
- Use segregated bus lanes where possible but not before point 1. For reasons mentioned, peripheral segregated lanes need considering.
- Bus transport needs enhancing by having smart cards, single fare strategy, wide double doors for quick entry/exits. London uses all principles of BRT except segregated lanes.
- Implement ways of getting people to switch to buses. Educate people; we need campaigns the size of Pulse polio. Public Consultation during the planning phase it self offers this opportunity. Talk to the real experts, the ones who live on the streets of the given project or who travel on it (in contrast 3 public workshops were done in Pune, each attended by same group of people / citizens / NGOs – majority with their own biased views on the matter).
- Manage demand and capacity – this is a vital piece of jigsaw neglected by PMC planners. To consider offering increased FSI and expand geographical limits of a city is not the solution conducive with sustained long term growth. If anything lack of simultaneous increase in public transport facilities, affordable healthcare, affordable quality education, sanitation, water and electricity makes such increase in demand unexplainable and unjustified. When we have a city where footpaths remain occupied by garbage skips, pigsties and public lavatories, there can be no reason to raise FSI. The city needs a whole systems approach as demonstrated in this document.
Instead of looking elsewhere (Western models) Pune and Delhi should look at BEST for inspiration. In addition, not exploring non-BRT bus priority measures as used in UK has also been a cause of systemic failure. It is time to hit the pause button and take stock. We need to go back to the drawing board and ensure we get the simple basics correct, only then can we hope to achieve success in improving mobility in our cities.
Dr Adhiraj Joglekar
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
An appendix with links to all referenced documents is given below
I clearly favour non-segregated peripheral bus lanes used only during non-peak time. The documents listed below connect with correct implementation of this strategy. People argue that because law enforcement is poor in India non-segregated lanes will not work. But we have seen the reality – to ensure the segregated lanes in Delhi and Pune, huge numbers of police have had to deployed, thus such arguments don’t hold any sway logically.
1. My document principles of bus lanes show two things – page 3 shows how a badly planned peripheral bus lane can go wrong (an actual real life case example is explained). Importantly page 4 shows how conflict with off lanes can be reduced.
2. Another real life case example of peripheral bus lanes, smart signals, land use policies from London. Please download this document by clicking here.
3. Land use policies are vital for prioritising buses. In UK nobody can open a supermarket / shopping mall without allowing space for buses to stop / terminate outside the shopping malls. Here is an example of land use policies prioritising buses.
4. I am also offering a link comparing different bus transport models in London/Mumbai and Pune. Click here to read this comparison.
5. Change the public image regarding buses – public campaigns are a must, click here to excerpts from London buses free magazine
6. London could have implemented BRT; instead, they chose to retain the natural assets of its city roads & culture. Further the authorities by way of congestion charging earned money to enhance public transport (very different from our model of spending money on BRT projects that are not feasible for out cities). Here is a link to a collage celebrating the assets of The Mall, a road between Buckingham Palace and Strand.
7. Case example of land use policy – a road converted in to a thriving space for pedestrians.
- My document principles of bus lanes show two things – page 3 shows how a badly planned peripheral bus lane can go wrong (an actual real life case example is explained). Importantly page 4 shows how conflict with off lanes can be reduced.
- Another real life case example of peripheral bus lanes, smart signals, land use policies from London. Please download this document by clicking here.
- Land use policies are vital for prioritising buses. In UK nobody can open a supermarket / shopping mall without allowing space for buses to stop / terminate outside the shopping malls. Here is an example of land use policies prioritising buses.
- I am also offering a link comparing different bus transport models in London/Mumbai and Pune. Click here to read this comparison.
- Change the public image regarding buses – public campaigns are a must, click here to excerpts from London buses free magazine
- London could have implemented BRT; instead, they chose to retain the natural assets of its city roads & culture. Further the authorities by way of congestion charging earned money to enhance public transport (very different from our model of spending money on BRT projects that are not feasible for out cities). Here is a link to a collage celebrating the assets of The Mall, a road between Buckingham Palace and Strand.
- Case example of land use policy – a road converted in to a thriving space for pedestrians.
- I have made reference to improving traffic flow and mobility. The Pune Municipal Corporation is in receipt from me several documents that may help them achieve this, these are listed below –
- Link 1 is Road Marking Guide used in UK. Because all rules and similar, we can use the principles on our roads as well.
- Link 2 is Traffic Signs Manual used in UK - gives exact details of where and how to place the signs.
- Link 3 is related to above but focuses on warning signs.
- I have also compiled a document showing how correct placement of signals can help stop people stopping beyond the stop line. Please note that in UK they have a crossing area of a different shade / colour at signals (not zebra). I think this is a good policy because it takes away confusion. The Delhi and Chandigarh Traffic Police websites clearly state all vehicles should stop at zebra (not controlled by lights) and give way to pedestrians. Now where there are traffic lights, vehicles and pedestrians should follow the lights, but where there is no traffic light but only zebra pedestrians have right of the way. Thus in UK by removing the zebra at traffic lights they have made it easier to follow rules. The only reason why we may not follow this policy in India is because many times signals are not working (power supply problems). In short when traffic lights are not working, automatically pedestrians should have right of way on the zebra.
- A link to proposed pavement, parking and licensed hawkers scheme – click here
- Pavements are important for ensuring mobility; this compilation shows how a footpath should never lose its identity.
- Promoting cycling – an image comparing parking lot outside Cambridge Train Station in 2007 against Pune Train Station in the same year. While Pune lost its cycling culture, Cambridge has preserved it – Here is a video show casing Cambridge cycling culture.
I have written to the AGM Amdekar (BEST) about this in past, there is much to gain from following London’s footsteps, more so because historically the models are very similar. In fact even today the statistics show resemblance –
One only needs to look at London's figures - 700 routes, 6500 buses and 5,400,000 passengers. And then compare them with Mumbai's figures which are almost half with regards all 3 parameters to see how the models fit well and also work well.
It is hence obvious that Mumbai can make huge progress in offering a better BEST in the 21st century by following simple and relatively non-expensive bus priority measures listed below –
- BEST needs to expand on its smart ticketing quickly
- Introduce more and eventually replace old buses with low floor buses with automated double doors for fast entry / exit (this speeds up travel significantly). The low floor buses used currently are again used sub-optimally as the rear double doors are not always in use.
- The ACT governing BEST requires conductors on board, this adds to huge overheads for any organisation, affecting improvements to the service. By going the smart tickets route, the conductors would not be needed. Using London buses i-bus system can also pave way for on board automated announcements. Someone had pointed out the need for a friendly conductor to tell you where to get off – in a crowded bus how many can speak to a conductor at the other end of the bus? And don’t we see passengers ask each other for guidance? Such archaic reasons are not good enough to retain conductors on board. Money spent on their salaries will be better spent on making other improvements.
- Mr Mehta has in past suggested that conductors offer security - but do they really? It did not stop a bus getting blown outside Century Bazar in 1992, there are no conductors in Mumbai Locals (12 coaches packed with people) and if anything arguments (including fist fights) between passengers - conductor over small change is the commonest form of aggression on Mumbai buses.
- By above I do not suggest redundancies or job losses. In fact to use humans as ticket vendors in 21st century is the worst insult possible. Its time these conductors are re-trained for driving more buses, doing customer satisfaction surveys, manning help lines, etc (this offers better value for money spent on their salaries than the way they are currently deployed).
- Mumbai will have to take tough measures –
- Implement peripheral peak time non-segregated bus lanes
- The best routes to start such lanes are on roads such as Marine Drive, Haji-Ali, Marine Lines, Caddle road, Western/Eastern highways – these are good initial considerations because very few if any left turns in to off lanes conflict with bus lanes on these routes.
- Implement congestion charging
- Implement strict paid parking policies
- Single ticketing across the city
- Change the public image regarding buses – public campaigns are a must, click here to excerpts from London buses free magazine
ಪ್ರತಿಕ್ರಿಯೆಗಳು
BRT on one way roads should be easy compared to 2 way roads
brts. wow doc!!
This is it
"To solve problems of congestion where the root of the problem lies deeply connected with driver behaviour, one would think the solution is better driver training, good road signage, synchronised signals, etc. Trying to solve the above problem with BRT is like treating malaria with anti-cancer drugs. It simply will not work. "
This comment alone is sufficient to disprove the need for BRT. Look at places like singapore? What BRT exists? Still there is smooth public transit. Our driving behavior and traffic engineering infrastructure needs to be fixed. After that nobody will need BRT.
public transit
Metro has to be the people mover
Traffic Discipline is very important
Well we all agree and are debating on Mass rapid transport but I am sure Discipline and courtesy on road with proper law and education is utmost important - even if we build metro, monos or BRTS it will not stop the chaotic driving practices the worst thing is accidents that take lives sometimes small kids sometimes aged ones or sometimes even young citizens. There is an article about a young lady who was killed by a Bus because of rash driving - to top it she was engaged and was getting married soon...
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Woman_killed_a_week_after_engagement/articleshow/3178645.cms
Isnt this one more reason for us to implement law and order and discipline first before we plan anything else?
Looking for Naveen's comment on this
Well, Naveen has the other way of thinking. Looking forward for his comment on this. But, as I said, Bangalore is having lot many oneways with 2-3 lanes such as residency road, KG Road etc where not necessarily BRT, but buses can be given 1 or 2 dedicated lanes. Here, there is no need for the pedestrains to cross the road to enter the median. 2 wheelers can be saved from accidents as we see KG road as a bus mess with 2 wheelers and small cars hiding among them.
Putting BRT on a 2 way is a challenge. We need a pilot Monorail of say 5 km on the proposed alignment to see how viable is it for Bangalore or any other Indian city. None of our babus seems to be driving towards it.
public transport
What conditions need to be true for a successful BRTS
Dr. ASJ,
If you could indulge us here a bit. What conditions need to be true for a successful BRTS - soft and hard - based on good working models?
Some examples come to mind (may not be true)
a. Minimum length of the BRST corridor is about 12 km (so that travel time differences become significant
b. 6 lane (3 on each way) for the entire stretch
c. Demand along the corridor should be a minimum of 10000/hr to a max of 30,000/hr
d. Lanes need to be enforced on these corridors with bus only lanes at least during peak hours
e. Pedestrian facilities along the corridor - a crossing every 500m, etc.
etc, etc.
Regards,
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
TS I disagree
Public transport is to move people, traffic management is to make both public and private transport move "efficiently". Why the focus on traffic management? because we already have public transport. It only needs to move efficiently which is what BRT does. BRT is not rockets or aeroplanes they are the same buses moving in a dedicated corridor instead of mingling with other traffic and getting slowed down. Now by making the flow of traffic orderly and move efficiently (efficiently = 45-50kmph on streets without obstructions) you can achieve the same purpose. Its not like the buses need to be speeding at 80kmph since they anyway need frequent stops. If you want to have buses moving like metro (handle more traffic and faster) build a metro there instead.
I dont feel the need to have seperate cordoned off lanes etc to make it a BRT, just my view though. Ensuring bus bays are present and the bus lane is not abused by other private vehicles (by enforcement) is good enough. Public transport we already have. Metro will augment its capacity.
bangalore's tbs is not pathetic
the praja bmtc crib sheet
impact of a mode & test for workhorse
doc, one request
Interesting comparisons
TS, thanks for bringing up interesting facts and figures above. While a lot about Pune's public transport is mentioned here I will stress some additional facts about Pune.
74.9% use 2 wheelers, 13.4 cars, 6.9 auto-ricks - thus buses are used by a fraction of Pune population.
The average commute is 8km. I spent some time today counting and analysing the 210 routes on which the ~1000 buses run.
49 routes are under 10km. Well over half of 210 routes run less than 15km.
This begs the question - why are the buses failing to attract commuters in Pune when average commute is just 8km.
The answer lies in the slightly different interpretation of the analysis of facts / figures for Mumbai provided by TS above. There is no doubt BEST has a specific role, one they perform very well. Their philosophy as described on their website is as under -
The primary role of the BEST is to supplement Suburban Rails, which is the mass carrier. It is for this reason that BEST always gives priority for feeder routes and thereafter for East-West connectors where the railways have absolutely no direct role to play. The third priority is the long distance trunk route, which is an alternative to Suburban Railways, apart from being inter-corridor link between Suburbs and City.
Now the average commute on a Mumbai bus may well be just 4.5km but the buses do not run short distances. Having lived and used BEST for 30 years and travelled from Southern tip up to Panvel, I can vouch that majority of routes are long (~20km or more). What this does is it allows BEST to plan routes such that they overlap substantially. Thus buses starting at Southern tip going up to Vashi / Central / Western subsurbs travel across diferent arterial routes. Hence for someone travelling from Haji-Ali to Dadar there is not one bus at every 20 minutes, there is a choice of half a dozen buses every 5 minutes, effectively increasing frequency for a given passenger (and accomplishes BESTs strategy of zero waiting times during peak times).
For cities without the support of Mumbai's train infrastructure essentiall, buses do all the work - this explains why average commute distances on buses in other cities may be slightly higher.
The other big difference in Mumbai figures reported by TS is use of taxi's. As ricks are banned from souh - central Mumbai, there is no cheaper alternative. Taxis are expensive in comparison to BEST. In stark contrast, Pune and cities where rickshaws remain an affordable alternative they compete with buses. Now compare this with someone wanting to travel from a major residential area in Model Colony to Pune Station. PMT website suggests I have two buses with a frequency of 50 minutes and 1 hour 20 minutes respectively!!! Which person who has not lost his sanity will wait that long, pay Rs 1 per km and then endure going on a rusty, dusty, broken and run down bus (which may never turn up or if it does may not stop for you). Ricks and better still personal 2 wheelers are thus the most cost-effective option (and unless drastic changes are made in the way the buses are operationalised nothing will change).
I hope this helps inform the discussion.
ASJ
PS: Srivathsa, you have described some attributes of BRT very well. Sadly, I don't know many roads in Mumbai or Pune that can implement all these features. Just yesterday NY Times have reported what they are doing in NY. Note there are no median routes nor are they segregating the bus lanes, and the article explains why (the very reason that affects us too).
I also enjoyed reading the dance between traffic problem Vs transportation problem. Generally agree, but I can swear with hand on my heart that a simple measure of respecting the pedestrain zebra actually improves mobility. I was at busy central London junction, 10 meters away was a zebra, masses of pedestrainas and cars waiting to give them right of the way - the effect - unlike India where vehicles zoom in herds from one junctional chaos to another at this UK junction there was no chaos because the traffic flow was stemmed and evened out by virtue of giving way to pedestrians.
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
ids
BEST vs BMTC
I came to know from most of my friends that Mumbai is a long city with very less width which makes the public transport like the Local Trains and the BEST buses easy to serve with just few routes. Growth of Mumbai is either on northern side or southern side. Whereas Bangalore is going in all the 4 directions with new layouts coming up overnight. Even the newer layouts are served by BMTC. I just had gone to some corner of the city to see how much the NICE road had progressed. NICE road had ended without land to progress and after that there was a mud road with all the vehicles dancing around and there was a village which has now become part of the city. I was surprised to see 2 BMTC buses ready to serve there. What I mean to say is that even the corners of Bangalore are covered although Bangalore is widespread unlike Mumbai which is longer and makes easy to provide public transit.
Basically Bangalore's BMTC is based on the assumption that everyone works around Majestic and it serves the people who still work around Majestic,Vidhanasoudha, MS building. People who work here mostly are with less income and they donot have any alternative to travel.They are still patronizing the BMTC services.
BMTC like TS said has experimented with variety of services. BEST has got not so many varieties. BEST has introduced the kinglong buses whereas BMTC introduced
Volvo for the first time in the country including the BEST which could not afford to invest in Volvos. BMTC made the private operators like airlift who did a lot of air to shyaway with their Vayuvajra services to International airport which otherwise would have been a costly affair. Scenario here is same as that of a poorman using BMTC service instead of private vehicle to Government offices in and around Majestic area. This time it is a rich guy since his taxi bill to International Airport would be far higher.
BMTC was the first organization to introduce reservation for city buses. Although murali sir claims it is just another publicity campaign, somesort of these kind of innovations are good.
I am expecting Vayuvajra like services to Koramangala, Bannerghatta Road, Old HAL Airport road, ITPL and Electronic City along with the TTMC concept. This clubbed with reservation of seat can make BMTC lot better than what it is.
I would say that BMTC should also use the Lalloo's principle, take the money from the rich and not from the poor. Black board passes and fares should not be hiked because this is used by the weaker class of the society. Make the little stronger, the techies to get addicted to BMTC services to IT areas with plush volvos or Suvarna whatever with service from Morning 6 to late 12 (which is the time techies go home). This is where BMTC is lacking and this class of society has the access to alternative modes of commute who does all the traffic jams. A fuel price hike should be hiked to their passes and tickets rather than weaker society's black board passes. A 30-50 rupees hike for a techie is peanuts and it means a lot to a poor man. Use this to serve the needy who has got no other option other than BMTC.
Chennai buses not aesthetic
I have seen Chennai city buses, it is not aesthetic and doesn't look like it serves for a Metro city. You don't feel like getting in itself. Again, the average income level of Chennai is far behind that of Bangalore with lots of poor people who patronize these services irrespective of their service quality. Still people from Chennai claim their's is superior which I had experienced from my colleague from Chennai.
Now they too have introduced Volvo services but for name sake. Number of Volvos plying in Bangalore is far ahead.
To summarize BMTC is far superior than Chennai bus services and BEST. Probably Indore as said by Murali sir, which I have not seen myself may be better - but, Indore is still a small city like that of Mysore and its services should not be compared to Bangalore. Mangalore residents may then compare their's with BMTC.
Bus Lanes Needed not necessarily BRTS
I would say bus lanes are indeed needed either in the middle of the road or on the curbs not necessarily BRTS after seeing so many accidents especially with 2 wheelers in Bangalore wherever possible.
Yesterday I witnessed a close shave while I was standing in a medical store near my house. An young insensible person driving a bike with a baby of 1 year old sitting on the tank without pillion suddenly took an U turn in front of a BMTC bus. Bus driver was highly alert and suddenly applied the brakes. That guy vanished away like a film hero.
If the kid would have fallen of the ground the way in which he took U turn, all the BMTC buses in the vicinity would have been burnt and BMTC would have carried the nameplate 'Killer BMTC' in TV9 news channel. This is what happening with the young insensible turks driving the bike at whims.
Seperate bus lanes wherever possible not necessarily BRTS is needed for buses to prevent the accidents. Still there are wide chances for these kind of 'heroes' entering bus lanes, but it can be minimized.
Junctional chaos and mobility!!!
Dr.ASJ,
" unlike India where vehicles zoom in herds from one junctional chaos to another at this UK junction there was no chaos"
Brilliantly put! I see this often when driving on 9th main in Jayanagar (next to Puttanna). One can see there is a red light staring me in the face about 100m ahead. But people will still speed past people trying to cross rather than waiting.
Mobility is improved by driving in lanes one behind the other. Mobility is improved by giving way to the traffic on the right at a circle than being caught in a logjam caused by Prisoner's Dilemma. Mobility is improved by stopping when the light turns orange and you are behind the stop sign. Mobility is about the entire traffic and not just about myself. When this dawns on our hordes (maybe oil would have run out by then!) then and only then will our traffic come close to being called civilized.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
Its not just about cost
Thank you for more valuable thoughts in furthering our understanding. Some additional thoughts below -
I think the if I were in Bangalore I will be asking myself one question - why is it that Mumbai and Chennai with much fewer buses carry many more passengers than in Bangalore?
ASJ
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
Answer to your question
ASJ,
Answer to your question
think the if I were in Bangalore I will be asking myself one question - why is it that Mumbai and Chennai with much fewer buses carry many more passengers than in Bangalore? is written by yourself:
Like Chennai, Mumbai's labour class is happy on modest buses (no one talks of a Volvo, so long as one gets from point A to B with reliability).
Bangalore is also having same problem, here the labour class is less and hitech people are more. I posted earlier that if BMTC puts a normal bus, it will be 100% patronized or rather over utilized by the normal users, instead if they put a hitech Volvo with 10times the cost of a normal bus and thrice the running cost, they have the uncertainity of it being used or not. Volvos are successful to BIAL since people have less options, on the other hand if you see Volvo 2 route put to a residential area JP Nagar, only 2 or 3 passengers will be travelling especially during non-peak hours. People talk about frequency of a hitech bus which will be patronized by very few people in Bangalore which is difficult to afford by any bus company.These buses can be afforded by upper class of the society who have got alternative means to travel. Longer travels like ITPL are bad on the pocket and hence BMTC volvos to ITPL are patronized. Bus companies like BMTC should study where their prospective passenger travel rather than putting a bus to KBS and expecting people to travel there.This is where BMTC is lagging a bit.
+ effective competiton - the answer
Dr ASJ
Monumental work - as TS puts it. It needs to be made compulsory reading for all city authorities concerned with transport planning. Also, I expect it should soon be reaching the portals of academic institutions, if it already has not. For a psychologist (isn't that what you are?) to go to such depths of transport related issues, it is indeed rare. I am sure Praja feels honoured by your enriching the content of its debates.
I took time to go through (still not complete, though) before venturing to offer my comments. Though, my good friend, Capt Naveen, believes that one-way dedicated bus lanes with the magic-box (Bangalore special - constructed out of prebraicated segments, requiring no deep foundations, making for faster and cheaper jobs) under/ over-passes at junctions may be the answer for speeding up the movement of buses along the not-so-wide Bangalore roads, I am not too sure. I would go by your prescription.
In addition, I believe that the only way to make BMTC more customer-oriented is to bring in competition from reputed players, to begin with at the high-end services, on which I have elaborated more at http://praja.in/bangalore....
Will be grateful for your comments.
Muralidhar Rao
kaamyaabi aaj!
Hi TS
BMTC operated 1200 routes even in 2004, my CCTF-vice-chairmanship days (as against the figure of 600 mentioned by you). I expect it must be a lot more now. They have kind of decided that the public will not accept the idea of changing buses, even if just one, and are therefore seeking to provide them door-to-door kind of services. This has resulted in the proliferation of routes, like say 201 A-Z, all overlapping each other, except over the last sretch. And, because of this proliferation, the frequency over the last stretches becomes low. Mr Parameswaran's recommendations had a lot of merit in this aspect. But, however much you may try to tell the BMTC lot that, with just one change, you will be able to improve the frequency greatly, they would come back to the same point that the public will not accept it.
Parameswaran's model would have made for marginal improvements. But, I was looking for a quantum leap. That's why I backed the 'Grid & feeder' model, with a self-explanatory numbering system, and I had recommended overnight switch, after sufficient PR exercises. But, BMTC introduced the grid routes, few at a time, without withdrawing any of the old routes, leading to further proliferation of the number of routes, but no significanr benefits.
If you go by the assumption that these are government organisations, and changes can happen only slowly, my approach was probably wrong. But, I was factoring in the onset of competition from competent private players, which would necessitate a mind-set change in the BMTC lot. But, with that not happening, perhaps it would have been better to go for Mr Parameswaran's model. There would have been some improvement atleast.
Essentially, TS, right from school days, I never quite liked the idea of 'hum honge kaamyaab-aek din'. That 'aek din' is an indefinite period. I want the 'kaamyaabi' today. It is happening all around you. Why should we be demanding for any less from our bus services?
Muralidhar Rao
Thanks
Dear MR,
Thanks for your kind comments. Everyone has been very generous. I am not an expert on transport, rather being a medic who specialises in psychiatry I am a servant of the faculty of observation. Everything I share is more with a view of providing feedback and an alternative model. As the previous Chinese Premiere used to say - it does not matter if the cat is black or white so long as it kills the mice - we too need to find solutions that fit our needs.
Regards,
ASJ
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
1200 routes!!
1200 routes (have I read it right) and about 5K buses (if I remember right), it is something that needs a lot of close scrutiny. Readers will note above that London has 700 routes, 6500 buses and 5,400,000 passengers. It covers 1579 km² (609 square miles) and had a 2006 mid-year estimated population of 7,512,400. A much wider area than Bangalore. Population figures for London are useless as 19 million tourist visited last year, not to mention many millions who travel for work in to the city.
But Chennai and Mumbai figures also show that Bangalore's model needs re-thinking as numbers seem disproportionately skewed.
ASJ
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
Closer to 2000 routes
Did a quick check from the BMTC site. There are close to 2000 routes with all the A,B,C and the JPV and Feeder and everything. Had to do page down 70 times with 29 routes/page on the pull down menu!
This is called route proliferation. Based on what Narayan had proposed, I think we can reduce the number of routes to 700-750. BMTC needs some serious help in this. Many of these routes have just 1-2 trips a day.
Srivathsa
Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.
You only have to look at BMTC's airport services ...
... to understand their thinking. They have 46 Volvo buses for airport services. And they operate on 9 routes. The Electronics City to Airport has maximum 8 buses on it. Most routes have hourly services, so a 60 minute wait if you missed the bus by a minute.
If they could instead consolidate 46 buses to 3 or 4 routes, they could put 10 buses on each of them, and increase frequency to 20-40 minutes. That will increase business for their buses, as well as for the feeder cab service which isn't getting used much.
BMTC just doesn't get it that it 1) either needs to be punctual (which is tough for long routes, given the traffic conditions - entropy and turbulence on roads takes their toll), or 2) it needs to offer better frequencies on identified trunk routes. In its efforts to create a large mesh with a wider reach, it is doing us and itself a dis-service. Just look at the poor usage of most Airport Volvo routes (so many buses heading towards the airport run with just 1 or 2 passengers) and you will know.
The next step
This brain storming has been well worth it, lets take it a step further. A core group should collate further information on this very specific issue and a representation meet the authorities. It will help to suggest alternative options (as done with the Airport route) and get them to pilot one or two such suggestions, once they get the concept, it won't take too long to revamp / rationalise the routes (2000-->1000 or even less but with slightly longer but overlapping routes will give much better frequencies without compromising on area covered).
ASJ
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
Must read
Here is a link to an article on BRT related issues - http://www.fta.dot.gov/documents/issues.pdf
Highlights -
Section 2.2 Problems of Arterial Bus Priority Treatments
Here not only the width per bus lane at cross section is an issue, a very subtle admission to the fact that just as peripheral lanes conflict with off lanes, median bus lanes conflict with turning vehicles within junctions. Priority signals for buses are useful here but not easy to implement. In short, the more junctions a BRT route has, more snarls are to be expected (especially in India where we know how well our traffic behaves inside junctions).
I like the idea of HOV using bus lanes - this will also encourage car pooling / shared taxi or rickshaw schemes.
3.0 CURITIBA EXPERIENCE
This is an eye opener for anyone who wishes to impl;ement Curitiba style BRT in Indian cities.
The buses run frequently -- some as often as every 90 seconds - wonder why ?
Around 70 percent of Curitiba’s commuters use transit daily to travel to work - wonder how?
The answer is within 3.3 - decades of master planning - By 1992, almost 40 percent of Curitiba’s population resided within three blocks of the major transit arteries.
We live in an imperfect world, every city being unique. To think there can be one pre-fabrecated perfect solution will not help. We need imperfect solutions that suit our (imperfect cities) needs best.
ASJ
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
chicken and egg
More on rationalising routes
I am editing and re-submiting a more detailed document here on this topic.
Its about 10 pages but is an outcome of a very interesting e-mail based brainstorming on the topic.
Will value feedback from this group.
To read the document as a google document http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dcmq89nq_15d2q376gz
As a PDF file - http://better.pune.googlepages.com/Rationalising_bus_routes_in_Pune.pdf
Thanks
ASJ
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
An eye opener for doomsayer BRTS opposers
http://flickr.com/photos/8754860@N02
Aww!!
Good pics, not exciting enough for me
Great pics. But why on earth should the footpaths be so narrow (once again not in keeping with IRC).
Secondly, pedestrian crossings still are without refuge. Their safety is still compromised and any sanity is due to the plethora of police enforcing this.
Thirdly, by getting large numbers of peds to mix at junctions, signal times and cycles are lonegr, thus reducing R of BRT.
Fourth, close proximity of bus stops to junctions comprmises future effective use of smart signals.
Fifth, even after 10% of Pune gets a BRT (as and when it does), it amounts to 10% of entire Pune roads. Is there any reason why BRT and the bus priority measures that I support cannot co-exist? Would we not be better off with bus priority on 60% or more of our roads? Its unlikely BRT alone can give that kind of coverage for the simple fact that most cities do not have roads as wide.
Sixth - how do we define success of BRT? Crowded buses? were the buses on this corridor pre-BRT not crowded? Personally, its how many give up on personal mode of motorised transport and switch to cycles and buses that should define success? How and when will that happen - unlikely without making use of personal motorised transport expensive than using buses, unlikely if the basics of a bus transport are pathetic.
Nothing I say is against BRT, everything I argue for, if anything will ensure better success of BRT.
ASJ
www.driving-india.blogspot.com
Curitiba's BRT
Thanks for your article and your comments about BRT. As I've written about, I think Jaime Lerner did a fantastic job in Curitiba with BRT plus other developments such as parks. It's always good to here criticism of a system, but I do feel the light railway articles are a little biased.
Michael O'Hare
Cities for People
Cities for People
No thank you, for your BRT, Mr Penalosa
where traffic volumes are high, need BRTS
Main issue for the buses is in core city area or busy CBD area where buses can travell 10Kms / Hr speed like from Majestic - Anandrao Circle - KR Circle - Hudson Circle / Richmond Circle during morning and evening time. Here if we have BRTS for 6 / 8 Kms, travell time will come down and will encoruage people to shift to buses. Similarly once buses can get BRTS upto Mekri Circle, then the buses will be able to cover dist in short time.
Plan it well and be very realistic
The BRTS idea and concept is great. Will it work in our narrow roads? My suggestion would be to plan it well and be very realistic. Take some more time. Let’s not rush it just for the heck of it. Hope BRTS works well not like the bicycle only lane. The implementing agencies need to be careful while listening to the b***s**t from the so called “experts”.
In a related note, last night I saw the auto only lane in Malleswaram 8th main road. Mainly two wheelers were zooming leaving the autos to use the single lane that was available with other vehicles. As usual, no traffic cops were there.
priority for buses very much needed
It's the most logical thing
Assume you have limited space, and ALL traffic is choked. Successive attempts at road addition have failed to help. What would you do first?
Doesn't it make sense to (at least) proportionally allocate dedicated space to the more space-efficient mode of transport?
That, in a nutshell, is what the BRTS does. I have no vested interest of any sort in it - but it just makes sense to dedicate 50% space to the mode that carries >50% people!!
Will it involve initial pain? Most certainly! Much of it fairer than now - and at least the pain will be reduced for 50% commuters who're not contributing to causing that pain right now.
Bogota, where this was pioneered, is now running into it's new iteration of problems with the system and needs to add capacity and updates a few things - that's a good thing. And it's still the fastest mode of transport around town!!
Will it be totally smooth? Likely not, and we'll have to evolve our methods and variants.
But show me a smarter immediate solution (esp in conjuction with other smart solutions liek the CRS, smaller privately run shared vehicles as local feeders) that's as space efficient, cheap to build, flexible with the city's growth, and fair.
This has GOT to be tried out. Again, if Bangalore comes to a standstill inside 6 months, we might be forced to do this anyhow. I hope so, at least.
- Sameer, Bangalore
http://linger.in
6/8 km makes lot of sense
BRTS for 6/8 km on a heavily travelled route makes lot of sense. Again the implementing agency (is it DULT?) need to think hard, plan it well and execute. Have they started any pilot? At least let’s try it out. If it works, that’s good. Somewhere it should work in our city.
Whats the fundamental requirement?
Firstly, Delhi has a dedicated bus lane on that Chrag delhi route, it also has a dedicated NMT lane. There are lots of buses & cyclists who ply on those roads, Car users filed case saying they lost road space to buses. So in all of those parameters that road to me is a success in design. It is a failure in mindset and usage. Rampant violations, car users getting into the bus lane forcefully pushing the buses onto general traffic, despite a 2000 rupee fine boards & seciruty helplessly sitting there shooing SUV's with a stick. Motor vehicles getting into the NMT lanes pushing the cyclists onto the roads. Completely renderingt he design useless. "The mindset" My SUV is bigger than your puny self waiting for a crowded bus. "the mindset" I earned this BMW and I have the right to run it over your body sleeping on the sidewalk!
Regardless of wether its a BRT or not in nomenclature there is a lane for buses which can be used by buses to go faster than the cars that ply on those streets. That in itself is a success of the design. That is all it takes, whatever names you give, there needs to be PHYSICALLY SEGREGATED lanes for buses & NMT users with appropriate signals which make them travel faster with right of way than cars. Thats is true incentive & disincentive at work.
The bus has 60% modal share in Bangalore. Last time I checked 50% means half, so buses need to get their half of the road, which means everytime we have 2 lanes one lane goes to the bus. SImple 1st grade mathematics.
Why not BRT?
Mr. Murali - Take BTM Layout for example, by allowing private players are we able to reach destination faster? Your assumption is that people will leave their cars and take up private buses to goto office . We are already taking private office buses, so does many Praja.in friends, but there is no solution since it is also struck in traffic. I am not sure how allowing private operators would solve the traffic problem? It might help common man an alternative to expensive BMTC, but there would not be any benefit to buses itself either it is private or BMTC. Again it is stuck in traffic.
You have given refrence to various links, but no one no where has agreed. It is only your own thoughts you are sharing regularly and pushing for it.
Bangalore has got lots of one way roads which can be easily used for BRTS. KG Road, JC Road, Urvashi Road etc. These can be used for Bronze Standard BRTS containing buses which operates both in mixed mode and dedicated lanes.
Outer Ring Road could have a Gold Standard BRTS which operate solely on dedicated bus lanes with articulated buses.
Hubli - Dharwad BRTS is a Gold Standard BRTS. Due to the land loss of local people as well as non-awareness on the benefits BRTS, it is termed 'ill-conceived' rightaway.
blinkered approach
Murali avare, The 2 issues
Murali avare,
The 2 issues are orthogonal!! Private/public ownership of the transport systems, vs road usage and design considerations can be considered independently! The BRTS is more a design issue - and a very logical one at that. The public/.pvt ownersherhip of bus corporations has little to do with that in itself.
Also - you cannot expect private industry to take decisions that do not make short term financial sense to them - and the public goods and commons aren't always about that. So while they can run specific pieces of the puzzle efficienctly (and not always, as the catering and maintenance in the railways is proving, or the privately built bits of the Delhi Metro showed), they must operate within a set of goals and frameworks that are decided and designed totally independent of their involvement or influence. Let's not be dogmatic about state owned/private and see it as an open problem statement.
- Sameer
- Sameer, Bangalore
http://linger.in
enough of government's dis-services, please!
Lets stop using the word BRTS
Hi,
Have an idea, lets stop using the word BRTS and let BMTC do the following simple things along with the stake holders like Traffic/BDA etc..
1.Dedicated Bus lanes : where ever possible. I am sure it is certainly possible from KIAL - Hebbal - and then K R Puram (only bottle neck) - then to Electronic city, second route can be KIAL - Hebbal - Tumkur Road - Rajkumar samdhi - Magadi Road - Kengeri - Bidadi.
2. BMTC can work on many more routes - where ever you have 3 lanes...one lane dedicated to BUS.
3. let these buses run on CNG or Battery powered (no more diesel buses) only hybrid buses and low floor.
4.very important, there is already a bus stand every one KM that has to be interconnected via sky walk/sub way so that people should not cross the road just like that. it shoud be mandatory to use these sky walks to cross the roads. The road dividers should be so high that people should be expert in high jump.
If BMTC can think on this, I am sure Bangalore traffic can reduce atleast by 25% .
The moment one say BRTS...the DPR's, feasibility study, land aquition all nonsense things starts.
this system probably called a brother to BRTS can be built/operate/maintained by BMTC and also no one's ego is hurt, because of the EGO Bangalore is suffering on the infrastructure developments. As of now BMTC is the only mode of public transport. Metro/suburabn train are far behind than BMTC.
These comments are my personal view, I am sorry/appologise if its hurt any one.
Regards
kamal
INTENT
I suspect that the intent of our rulers is for Bengaluru not to have a good public transport system in any form. While Delhi Metro has 193 KMs, Bengaluru's Metro is unusable even now. Buses? Its no rocket science to run an efficient system but despite so much controversy and losses BMTC/BTS is unable to provide good and sufficient service. Neither monorail nor metrorail nor BRTS nor a conveyor belt will help. Nor will allowing private companies to run buses help (Kingfisher scewed up by defaulting on loans, taxes, salaries...) if they too subscribe to the same 'intent'. I see that even commuter rail initiatives have fallen flat. Better work on changing the 'intent' and other problems will take care of themselves.
Now who has blinkered vision?
Murali what has dedicated bus lanes got to do with Tata's and TVS?
counters to some responses
Where Sheila Dikshit missed the bus
You're mixing up too many
You're mixing up too many issues all at once. Do state clearly what the logical arguments against dedicated bus lanes/corridor - the core of the BRT idea - are. Privatization of the bus service or not is a totally different issue. And one won't solve the other.
- Sameer, Bangalore
http://linger.in
Big Trunk + BPS
I see the newly introduced Big Trunk service(local shuttles+transfer ticketing policy included) along with Bus Priority Service (BPS) is the only solution to the mess in the transport sector we have today..
This is irrespective of it is done by govt or by private!
what more does one need?
Route vs Destination
Murali, KIA is a destination, not a route. Segregated bus lane is a route not a desitnation.
very enlightening!
very enlightening!
Just as well
Delhi's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has decided to scrap the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor, much criticised by commuters since its introduction in the capital seven years ago.
- - - - Poor management saw private vehicles cross over to the bus lane, which led to a bigger mess at intersections. Despite considerable public anger, the previous government refused to remove the BRT and tried to experiment with ways of making it work.
For the full text of the report in NDTV.com, click here.
The matter has been debated threadbare on this blog, with my biggest reservations about BRT being highlighted in this one post. I won't dwell more. All I'll now say is just as well.
co-opted think-tanks
I must appreciate that Ms Kate Clark has very effectively brought out all the positives of BRT in this report of hers in the Citizen Matters. But, equally, if not more, effective has been the counter to most points by the reader, Vishvajith Madhavamurthy. As such, net of net, I still remain unconvinced about the efficacy of BRT, compared to other systems.
A bigger issue I have with BRT system is that it generally tends to be tailored to fit government monopoly operations (like Bengaluru's BMTC). In fact, I am inclined to think that the massive BRT project in Hubli-Dharwar, which even after a decade is still largely a work-in-progress, was conceived by the neta-babu patronised "government-RTC mafia confederation", essentially to throw out the fairly well run Bendre Nagara Saarige (check here), and re-establish their fiefdom.
And, the think-tanks/ NGO's involved are willy-nilly getting co-opted into these games of theirs, as I had stated here earlier. Once in, they then set up their own consultancy cells to offer expertise in the various aspects involved, eventually becoming another member of the 'confederation', lending 'respectability' to it in the process, even as they seek to paint halo's over their heads as promoters of a government-run service. BMTC's Rs 79 cr ITS contract, which largely remains another w-i-p, even some three months after it was officially launched (check here), makes one think more and more along these lines now. And, having thus established their own vested interests, today they seem to dictate policy, essentially to deepen the entrenchment of the government monopoly operations to further their mutual interests. Unfortunately, the 'janata' doesn't quite seem to appreciate that what may be in the interest of a government-owned operation (actually, in the vested interests of the mafia confederation members who run it) , need not necessarily be in overall public interest, and this ignorance is exploited by the 'confederation'. In fact, the converse is largely true, as elaborated further here.
Another major problem with the present approach of putting all our eggs into the BMTC/ KSRTC basket is what we are facing today in the form of the state-wide indefinite strike, crippling the entire economy (check here).
BRT is at best an engineering solution. It may have its uses, but they are largely over-stated. What is most important today is the need to dismantle the state monopoly (check here), which is the cause of all the distortions in the sector, affecting majorly the quality of life of the people. Once that's decided, there can be any number of ways to improve mobility overall, and that's where the think-tanks could make their contributions.
PS: Incidentally, a friend had forwarded to me the general mail sent by WRI to Praja inviting participation in the "Unlock Bengaluru" event, held on July 9th. Though I mailed in my nomination, quite well in time too, I didn't receive any response. While hinting at the possibility of think-tanks getting co-opted, in my report following the ConnectKaro event held by WRI in March 2014 (accessible here), I had mentioned "Perhaps, that's the end of any invitation for me for such workshops :)))". Well, it's turned out true.
corroboration from Sreedharan
Delays have cost the city dear. There is immense vehicular congestion. A wider reach of the Metro could have aided in reducing it. “The Metro was conceptualized over a decade ago when Bengaluru's population was barely 60 lakh. The city now houses over 1.1 crore inhabitants. There should have been a larger network by now. The only way to tackle the traffic is to aggressively expand the Metro network,“ Sreedharan stressed.
- - - Rejecting the idea of a Bus Rapid Transit System Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), Sreedharan said it would not be able to handle the traffic on Bengaluru's narrow roads.
Sreedharan, who built the Delhi Metro and the Konkan Railway , is credited with changing the face of public transport in India.
For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.
Corroboration of my view by the expert of experts.
urgent need for UMTA to prevent lobby hijacks
With plans for the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) and Namma Metro on the Outer Ring Road hanging fire, citizens’ groups on Monday came together to see how at least one of these public transport projects is implemented on the ORR at the earliest.
The ebent was hosted by Bangalore Political Action Committee (BPAC) and WRI India.
Paulo Sergio Custodio, public transport expert, who was part of the discussion, preferred BRTS on the 30-km ORR between Central Silk Board and Hebbal via KR Puram to the proposed Namma Metro. He said: “Taking into consideration the capital cost and execution time, BRTS is a preferred solution. The government can recover the money invested in this project in less than 10 years,” he said.
When panellists sought to know why a Metro was not preferred on ORR, he said: “The bus rapid transport project is able to take the existing passenger load of 12,000 per hour on each direction on the ORR to 30,000 per hour. BRTS can be implemented in two years while the Metro would need a minimum of five years. Besides, the project just requires 20% of the cost of the Metro project,” he said.
R K Misra, founder director, Centre for Smart Cities said if BMRCL cannot guarantee the execution of Namma Metro on the ORR in the next three years, BRTS is an easier solution. More than 10 lakh people work on the stretch, adding 60,000 crore tax in the government exchequer.
Ekroop Caur, MD of BMTC said BRTS is a suitable option as the left lane of the road is occupied by illegal parking.
For the full text of the report in the Deccan Herald, click here.
I had attended the discussion, though, because of the 'bandh' disruptions, I couldn't get an "Ola" on time, and by the time reached the venue, most of the expert's presentation was over. On the return, I had to walk over a km, before managing to get a "share auto" home.
All the same, being well-versed with the arguments for the BRT, I did manage to get a few points across during the interaction session.
1) Execution time: Here, I pointed out that, since the Metro is planned to come up on pillars in the centre of the ORR, land acquisition problems do not arise, and consequently, the project can be executed fast. I cited the case of Kochi Metro work, which, after the initial land acquisition problems were sorted out, has been moving at tremendous speed in spite of the constraints of marshy soil conditions at a number of locations, as also the intense monsoons. I would also attribute the reasons for the commendable speed, apart from the quality of work, discernible even to a lay-man's eye, to the professionalism of the contractor, L & T. As such, it's important to choose the right contractor, rather than go by L1 criterion, which, if adopted blindly, eventually turns out far costlier in many ways.
2) Cost factor: In the urban scenario, land acquisition cost has become a major component of infrastructure project cost. Metro along the ORR can be built on pillars along the median, avoiding this component almost totally. As different from that, in the case of BRT, land acquisition is necessary at a few pockets, the cost of which, though Mr P S Custodio stated can be addressed through "value capture", is still another added cost element.
3) Entry of vehicles other than special BRT buses: Mr R K Misra made a valid point about the problems related to movement of ordinary BMTC buses (as also buses of private operators, or even an ambulance, if required to be operated) along these stretches, since they have their doors on the wrong side, compared to BRT requirements. This means BRT corridors are largely exclusive for the special buses, made for the purpose, which, in my opinion, will entail a large under-utilisation of expensive urban land, except if confined to extremely high density roads (like the entry and exit points of a bus station).
4) UMTA (Urban Metropolitan Transport Authority): When a participant raised a point about the wrong location of bus shelters, BMTC MD, Ms Ekroop Caur, stated that that was BBMP's domain, and the participant needed to represent the matter to BBMP. I interjected to add that that was exactly why we needed an UMTA, like in Singapore or London, in place, immediately (check here for a bit on that). Ravichander and R K Misra elaborated on the concept, and readily agreed that that indeed was the need of the hour. Questions arose then from the audience as to why that was not happening. Though nobody gave a specific answer, the answer clearly is that the transport ministry is seen as a "lucrative" one (alongwith power, and a few more), and the neta's presiding over it, will not easily allow for any dilution of their powers, even as the city goes to seed because of their ways. And, that precisely is why we need to have the UMTA, and also that has to be the very first thing to happen too. And, if it has to happen, the people need to demand it - very loudly too!
In the course of the discussions, Mr Custodio very clearly stated that BRT will have to have high quality buses, and bus stations/ terminals (quite like the airports). Without mincing words, he stated that the existing fleet of BMTC buses, as also the stations, were poor quality and poorly maintained. When asked pointedly as to which mode he would recommend for the operations, he was very clearly for PPP (compared to government operations). And, that's where I have an issue with the Bengaluru proposal, in that it is going to be operated by BMTC. BMTC doesn't have the capacity (because of government/ neta interference - check here for more on that) to manage what has been entrusted to it, and if in addition, it is given this task too, the city is going to land in a bigger mess. If executed through a PPP arrangement, BRT may be worth considering.
All of the problems the city is facing today were foreseen decades ago, and viable solutions offered then too - check here. But, the neta's were only interested in perpetuating their fiefdoms, and we have landed up where we are today. The need is for a collective demand for change - in the area of "mobility" (that's what it ultimately is), the first demand needs to be for a properly constituted and empowered UMTA.
Metro lobby gains upper hand on ORR
The Karnataka government has decided to decongest Bengaluru's IT corridor by fasttracking the 18-km long Metro Rail line that connects Central Silk Board Junction with KR Puram. The Rs 3,600-crore line has been included in the second phase of the Metro project (it will be categorized as Phase 2A). The new line, called the Outer Ring Road Metro (ORR Metro), will have 13 stations and will link HSR Layout, Bellandur, Kadubeesanahalli, Marathahalli, Doddanekundi and Mahadevapura.
- - - On funds for the project, he said BMRC is working on several innovative financing techniques. A senior IAS officer explained: "Since mobilization of funds for this line is quite huge, we have chosen to source it from multiple sources. We're looking at rolling out a premium floor area ratio (FAR) for those planning to construct properties along the stretch, levying of betterment charges, raising finances through hoardings, by providing premium accessways and ramps, commercialization of space and levying additional cess while approving new projects."
For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.
A skeptic commented, on a whatsapp group, as below:
The 3600 crores on ORR metro could have got us 3600 kms of walkable Footpaths with upgraded drain network. - - - I foresee many ORR cos not renewing their leases despite this announcement. That place will creak next 6-8 years. Metro is not reaching Silk Board or KR Puram till 2023. Can't see them reorienting resources from phase 1, 2 and even 3 for this line on ORR. Phase 2 has very serious land acquisition challenges. It's an announcement so that it does not become a election issue of nothing being planned there. There is no intent in fixing the problem quickly. And Commuter rail will go on slow burner.
There's indeed merit to what the skeptic has stated. Yes, the metro along the ORR is going to cause a lot of disruption during the construction phase. But, I am not sure BRT, even if executed in the PPP mode, could be the answer.
And yes, Commuter rail (Namma Railu - check here), which even Mr Custodio (check the above post) emphasised needs to be the obvious first choice, doesn't even appear to be on the GoK's radar.
All in all, we are paying a huge price for improper overall visioning, but instead allowing all kinds of lobbies and mafia's hijacking us.
Nice Points Murali
Murali, thanks for sharing the points discussed. I am also of the opinion that operational effeciency of BMTC is not enough for BRTS standards.
PPP model BRTS has to be implemented to get international standards such as the one done in Turkey Istanbul with Mercedes bus etc. ORR road quality is also choppy. It should have been done before the sprawl.
Being a BRTS fan I feel sad that it did not go through on ORR, but offlate seeing the frequent failing Volvos and Marcopolos, I do not have confidence in BMTC. The same Volvos which were of similar age in Mysore is running fantastically and daily climbing Chamundi hills at ease. Marcopolos are running fantastically in Delhi. I took an HOHO in Delhi, which was using Marcopolos that were similar to the ones used in Bangalore. They were not emitting like Bangalore nor they had A/C or performance problems.
But BRTS itself is a beautiful concept and should be done atleast to Airport and tier 2 cities like Mysore whose Ring Road is not sprawled yet.
main reservation overcome, but - -
As one of the examples, Bogotá has the world’s busiest BRT system, Transmilenio, with 12 lines serving 144 stations and more than 100 kilometers of exclusive transitways. It accounts for 4 million trips each day and a mode share of about 64 percent of all trips in the city. Partnership between public and private agencies has been key to its success. While the city planned and built the system and continues to regulate and manage it, private companies actually run the buses.
For the full text of the report in NextCity, click here.
Well, yes, if it's not going to be operated by a government monopoly, like the BMTC, BRT may perhaps be workable, more specifically on roads like the Mysore ring road (as pointed out by Vasanth - read his post of 16th Sept, scrolling above), if planned right away. But, while operation by BMTC makes for my biggest reservation, there's still the reservation on account of the road width required, as brought out here. That's not going to go away easily :))).
No tears need be shed for BRT
After nine years of dabbling over whether or not to undertake the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), the Karnataka government has finally decided to shelve the estimated Rs 500 crore project on realising that it cannot successfully execute it in Bengaluru.
- - - Confirming the shelving of the project to Bangalore Mirror, Mahendra Jain, additional chief secretary (urban development department), said now the state government does not feel it is feasible on the ORR “as we have already planned for the Namma Metro”.
He said: “The decision was taken because there was no sufficient road width available for the BRTS. The balance carriage way would be very less so we decided not to take it forward. As we have planned for Metro, two public transportation systems cannot be executed on one stretch.”
He said: “BRTS is best where you are making new roads. For the BRTS, we require four lanes and a place for a platform and also one lane for overtaking. So that makes it five lanes exclusively for this. And that doesn’t really work. If you are planning a new layout or township, then it can work there; but in Bengaluru it is difficult to implement. For the BRTS, a central lane is required for setting up the platform (the bus stand); and at a few places, the overtaking lane is required, which is not feasible.”
For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the Bangalore Mirror, click here.
Finally, we see one decision taken based on proper reasoning. As such, no tears need be shed for BRTS now.
One would like to believe that the arguments put forth on Praja (on this blog, as well as many others linked here) helped in the decision making. Actually, can there be a better platform than Praja for citizen participation?