Scrap BRT corridor: Kejriwal
11 Feb 2014 12:47 AM GMT
The capital’s Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) corridor should be scrapped in its present form, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday. He has asked transport minister Saurabh Bhardwaj to look into the matter.
Introduced six years ago in south Delhi, Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) corridor has led to massive traffic jams, prompting demands from citizens that it should be scrapped.
The existing BRT Corridor, on a small stretch between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, which covers a distance of 5.8 kilometers in South Delhi, has come to be identified with chaotic traffic and long -winding snarls, which has proven to be a nightmare for commuters.
According to a Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transport System (DIMTS) study, one major problem with the present BRT stretch is that it has eaten into existing road space meant for other vehicles, and creates a disruption in free-flow traffic. The BRT stretch was created without the necessary widening of roads and construction of flyovers or underpasses to avoid traffic signals.
The other drawback with the BRT is that the ‘current traffic signals fail to discharge traffic at peak hour, as traffic flow is not stable and (this) creates a long queue of cars in motorised vehicle lane as well as the bus lane.’
The study pointed out that the static traffic signal system installed at BRT corridor relies on manual operations of traffic signals and added that the manual control of signals is incompatible with efficient operations.
A BRT corridor has a lane reserved for buses on each carriageway. A key requirement of a successful BRT system is lane discipline among the commuters, which is seldom followed on the existing stretch.
The speed of buses on the Ambedkar Nagar -Moolchand stretch is only 13 kilometers per hour, while the ridership is a mere 12,000 per hour.
Kejriwal’s predecessor Sheila Dikshit had backed BRT till the very end of her tenure but eventually relented just before the December Assembly polls, promising to disband it if voted back to power. She was trounced in the polls.
Introduced six years ago in south Delhi, Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) corridor has led to massive traffic jams, prompting demands from citizens that it should be scrapped.
The existing BRT Corridor, on a small stretch between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, which covers a distance of 5.8 kilometers in South Delhi, has come to be identified with chaotic traffic and long -winding snarls, which has proven to be a nightmare for commuters.
According to a Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transport System (DIMTS) study, one major problem with the present BRT stretch is that it has eaten into existing road space meant for other vehicles, and creates a disruption in free-flow traffic. The BRT stretch was created without the necessary widening of roads and construction of flyovers or underpasses to avoid traffic signals.
The other drawback with the BRT is that the ‘current traffic signals fail to discharge traffic at peak hour, as traffic flow is not stable and (this) creates a long queue of cars in motorised vehicle lane as well as the bus lane.’
The study pointed out that the static traffic signal system installed at BRT corridor relies on manual operations of traffic signals and added that the manual control of signals is incompatible with efficient operations.
A BRT corridor has a lane reserved for buses on each carriageway. A key requirement of a successful BRT system is lane discipline among the commuters, which is seldom followed on the existing stretch.
The speed of buses on the Ambedkar Nagar -Moolchand stretch is only 13 kilometers per hour, while the ridership is a mere 12,000 per hour.
Kejriwal’s predecessor Sheila Dikshit had backed BRT till the very end of her tenure but eventually relented just before the December Assembly polls, promising to disband it if voted back to power. She was trounced in the polls.
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