‘Model’ BRT adds to traffic chaos
26 July 2013 11:16 PM GMT
In June, Delhi traffic police launched a move to enforce discipline on all arterial roads of the capital, with the Bus Rapid Transit System corridor as the model. Unfortunately, the BRT corridors are one of the least disciplined stretches in the city, when it comes to vehicular movement.
The BRT was introduced in the capital in 2008 in a bid to facilitate quick traffic movement in the capital. The model has been successfully implemented in cities such as Jaipur and Hyderabad. But in capital, the system was a failure from the word go.
The reason for that, explains road design engineer, Umesh Sharma, is an inherent flaw in its design. Says Sharma, ‘The BRT system was adopted from countries like Brazil. But
there, they have wider five-lane roads. The roads in the capital are narrow, making the channelisation of traffic into the BRT and normal roads difficult.’
It’s not as if traffic policemen are not posted along the BRT. But if smooth traffic movement is to be ensured, the number of traffic cops on this stretch will have to be increased. The reason being, the heavy traffic flow. ‘Everyday we face traffic jam in the BRT stretch. Be it peak
traffic hours or not, crossing the BRT is a huge pain,’ said Rita Singh, an MNC employee.
Another problem which ails the concept is the problems faced by the pedestrians along this stretch. Pedestrians find it difficult to cross the BRT stretch because of very few pedestrian cross-overs.
The BRT was introduced in the capital in 2008 in a bid to facilitate quick traffic movement in the capital. The model has been successfully implemented in cities such as Jaipur and Hyderabad. But in capital, the system was a failure from the word go.
The reason for that, explains road design engineer, Umesh Sharma, is an inherent flaw in its design. Says Sharma, ‘The BRT system was adopted from countries like Brazil. But
there, they have wider five-lane roads. The roads in the capital are narrow, making the channelisation of traffic into the BRT and normal roads difficult.’
It’s not as if traffic policemen are not posted along the BRT. But if smooth traffic movement is to be ensured, the number of traffic cops on this stretch will have to be increased. The reason being, the heavy traffic flow. ‘Everyday we face traffic jam in the BRT stretch. Be it peak
traffic hours or not, crossing the BRT is a huge pain,’ said Rita Singh, an MNC employee.
Another problem which ails the concept is the problems faced by the pedestrians along this stretch. Pedestrians find it difficult to cross the BRT stretch because of very few pedestrian cross-overs.
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