Traffic congestion at BRT Corridor: Experts blame it on poor planning
19 Oct 2014 3:59 AM IST
Even after intense debates and deliberations amongst political parties, concerned authorities and design experts over possibilities of improved traffic on the 5.8 km long BRT Corridor, the issue remains unsettled. Traffic on this stretch continues to move at a snail’s pace despite attempts to make it fast and convenient.  Â
In a recent study by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) on the Bus Rapid-Transit (BRT) corridor, the average speed of buses and cars moving from Moolchand to Ambedkar Nagar Terminal throughout the day was observed to be a little above 15 km per hour. And during the peak hours, it dropped down to nearly 11 km per hour.
The situation is said to be a little better on the other side (Ambedkar Nagar Terminal to Moolchand), in which average speeds of buses and cars were observed around 19 km per hour and 17 km per hour.
‘Any road that witnesses a volume-capacity ratio beyond 0.688 without further augmentation (which is hardly possible because of space constraint) is destined to fail in carrying smooth traffic flow, and the volume-capacity ratio at the Delhi BRT is nearly 2.50, which is three times higher than the ideal maximum,’ said Dr S Velmurugan, head of the traffic engineering and safety division at CRRI.
Experts blame the congestion on planning, monitoring and the laxity of regulations for the harassment it causes to commuters, more so during peak hours.
Dr Velmurugan further said, it is very important to choose the right corridor for implementing BRT and then there has to be proper monitoring. It can be said that the 5.8 km BRT stretch, out of the total 33,000 km road network in Delhi is not grabbing the attention it should. ‘At this juncture, it would be a wise decision to redesign the entire stretch in order to ensure safe and efficient movement of traffic to facilitate optimum capacity of the corridor,’ said Dr PK Sarkar, head of the transport planning department at the School of Planning and Architecture.
Both the experts mentioned that the designated bus lanes — currently sandwiched between the unreserved carriageways on the BRT — should be on the left of the corridor in order to increase its capacity during the peak hours.
In a recent study by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) on the Bus Rapid-Transit (BRT) corridor, the average speed of buses and cars moving from Moolchand to Ambedkar Nagar Terminal throughout the day was observed to be a little above 15 km per hour. And during the peak hours, it dropped down to nearly 11 km per hour.
The situation is said to be a little better on the other side (Ambedkar Nagar Terminal to Moolchand), in which average speeds of buses and cars were observed around 19 km per hour and 17 km per hour.
‘Any road that witnesses a volume-capacity ratio beyond 0.688 without further augmentation (which is hardly possible because of space constraint) is destined to fail in carrying smooth traffic flow, and the volume-capacity ratio at the Delhi BRT is nearly 2.50, which is three times higher than the ideal maximum,’ said Dr S Velmurugan, head of the traffic engineering and safety division at CRRI.
Experts blame the congestion on planning, monitoring and the laxity of regulations for the harassment it causes to commuters, more so during peak hours.
Dr Velmurugan further said, it is very important to choose the right corridor for implementing BRT and then there has to be proper monitoring. It can be said that the 5.8 km BRT stretch, out of the total 33,000 km road network in Delhi is not grabbing the attention it should. ‘At this juncture, it would be a wise decision to redesign the entire stretch in order to ensure safe and efficient movement of traffic to facilitate optimum capacity of the corridor,’ said Dr PK Sarkar, head of the transport planning department at the School of Planning and Architecture.
Both the experts mentioned that the designated bus lanes — currently sandwiched between the unreserved carriageways on the BRT — should be on the left of the corridor in order to increase its capacity during the peak hours.
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