A Joint Venture of The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi & The Infrastructure Development Finance Company Ltd.
Bus Rapid Transit System
Introduction
Transport and motorable roads are becoming a primary cause of concern for the ever expanding cities along with issues like water and electricity. Delhi too, with the added pressure of the its satellite towns like Gurgoan, Noida, Ghaziabad and Faridabad has to cater to millions of vehicles on a daily basis resulting huge traffic jams, pollution and waste of quality time for its citizens.
However, the city cannot continue to build more and more roads to cater to the rapidly increasing vehicular population. Instead what it needs is an efficient transit plan along with an organized, comfortable and reliable public transport system. It has been observed that the bus ridership has decreased by 17% over the last eight years where as the number of people travelling by cars and two-wheelers has increased by 3.6 and 4.3 percent respectively
Few realize that the key to smooth commuting in the future is a good public transportation system that offers better mobility, besides other social advantages like reducing congestion and air pollution. However, in order to attract a large number of commuters to buses, there is a need to offer good and comfortable service. BRT System plays an important role in a good public transport system.
Thus with a view to improve the public transport system in the city and encourage people to use it, The Govt. of NCT of Delhi introduced the BRT system in Delhi in 2004 under its Integrated Mass Transit Plan.
What does BRT mean? Bus Rapid Transit Corridor or BRT means giving right of way to buses and safeguarding cyclists and pedestrians by encouraging lane driving on engineered road spaces along large and wide corridors and link them to metros and other colony roads for easy access. Besides giving priority to buses, the system also provides dedicated lanes for pedestrian and non-motorized vehicles like cycles and rickshaws etc.
History
In 2004, GNCTD appointed RITES and Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) for designing and implementing the first corridor from Dr. Ambedkar Nagar to Delhi Gate. RITES was appointed the Project Management Consultant and TRIPP IIT Delhi the technical and conceptual advisors. In total, the Government plans to build 26 BRT corridors in the Delhi, covering a total length of 310 km by the year 2020. By 2010 seven corridors which have been planned under phase I will be completed.
These are as follows:
Ambedkar Nagar-Delhi Gate
Shastri Park - Karawal Nagar
Moolchand - Jahangirpuri
Nizamuddin - Nand Nagari
Rajender Nagar - Pragati Maidan
Kondli - Gokulpuriat
Jamia - Tilak Nagar
DIMTS has completed the Techno-Feasibility Study of the remaining six BRT Corridors of Phase I. The EFC (Expenditure Finance Committee) of GNCTD has cleared the proposal for undertaking these six BRT Corridors at a total cost of Rs. 1819.10 Crores. Execution of the Project will begin on clearance of the proposal by the Cabinet of GNCTD.
DIMTS is currently also entrusted with the operation and maintenance of the existing corridor from Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand as the Corridor Manager.
Current Status
Corridor I:
The first part of the 14.5 km long Ambedkar Nagar-Delhi Gate corridor which extends from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand (5.8 km) is already operational and the remaining portion from Moolchand to Delhi Gate will be open on September 1st, 2009.The marked difference between the Part I and Part II of the corridor is the positioning of the bus lane. While in Part I the bus lane was in the center, in Part II the bus lane will be on the left side of the road. In addition there will be no physical barricade between the lanes. The bus lane has been painted blue for easy identification.
DIMTS as the Corridor Manager
As the Corridor Manager, DIMTS has to ensure the smooth operation and efficient maintenance of the corridor. This involves managing the traffic, enforcing lane discipline, reporting on incidents, liaising with the public and all else that helps in the steady flow of people and vehicles. Since DIMTS has taken over the corridor, the number of accidents on the corridor has become nil.
The company has also established an Operational Control Centre (OCC) at Kashmere Gate and a camp office at DTC Khan Pur Depot to monitor the daily progress. Regular monitoring schedules to track operational details are put in place. Road Marshals guide bus passengers, help children and old people to cross the road, manage traffic, instruct people to follow traffic rules and perform other corridor management activities.
Corridor 2 & 3:
Currently the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of two of the corridors from Shastri Nagar-Karawal Nagar and Moolchand-Jahangirpuri is being prepared.
Awareness Building Efforts
There is a lot of negative publicity regarding the BRT corridor usually emerging from the lack of knowledge of the purpose of the system. The BRT corridor has been built to promote public transport in the city. The city cannot afford to build more roads, flyovers etc to cater to the burgeoning vehicular population. This would only lead to more congestion and pollution. While a bus may carry 50-60 passengers, a car will only carry maximum of four passengers.
Bus based infrastructure like the BRT corridor provide dedicated lanes for buses thus allowing them to travel faster and making them more reliable.
DIMTS carried out a number of public awareness campaigns to educate the people on the benefits of BRT corridor. These included workshops in schools and RWAs, distribution of literature on the signage, rules, bus stops and bus numbers etc.
RELATED LINKS
Other Projects Associated with the BRT corridor