Once decried, BRT on revival road

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 18 Juni 2014 | 22.16

NEW DELHI: Implementing bus rapid transit across the city has been one of the key recommendations of the lieutenant governor's committee on air pollution. Allaying fears of congestion and traffic mess that the current BRT stretch has been accused of causing, a committee member said recently that it will be designed differently.

Not all members agreed on the idea at first during a meeting with the LG but later a consensus was reached that increasing the number of buses and implementing bus rapid transit system is the only way forward if use of public transport is to be maximized.

BRTS is only one of the long term measures. Expediting the peripheral expressway project, shifting out the inland container depots, use of bus depots as parking lots and increasing surface parking fee are the other recommendations by the committee.

When implementation of BRT was raised at first, even the LG was reportedly hesitant about it. But experts from various agencies agreed a better design can be explored. "Public transport cannot be successful unless we use it to full capacity. It was discussed that the number of buses will be increased and BRTs will be constructed to complement that measure. The committee believes that BRT is a very important step to check the air pollution problem in Delhi," a committee member said. There are two ICDs in Delhi—Tughlakabad and Patparganj under Container Corporation of India (CONCOR).

The Congress government had introduced the 14km Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand BRT in 2008 but that stretch faced a number of issues including long traffic snarls, accidents and lack of enforcement resulting in cars, two-wheelers and autorickshaws using the BRT corridor. Some BRT users also felt that accessing the BRT station in the middle of the road is unsafe. Private vehicle owners claimed such a corridor prioritizes bus users over others. A cycling lane, also 14km long, is integrated with the BRT on this stretch but is hardly used by cyclists. The committee member said that the idea is in fact to prioritize bus users. "The majority have to get the right of way. It will be very difficult to get car or two-wheeler users to switch to buses if buses ply slowly. The committee has agreed that we may have to explore different designs," added the official.

Private vehicle users in the city may have to gulp down a few unfriendly policies if they want better air quality, it seems. The lieutenant governor had formed the committee to come up with an air pollution action plan only after a WHO report cited how poor Delhi's air quality is. Beijing which has implemented BRT in five heavy traffic lines of the city has also taken some strong measures to cut down on cars.

According to a Centre for Science and Environment analysis, Beijing has capped the number of cars that can be sold in a year and has introduced Euro V fuel norms and low sulphur fuel for buses. They continue to ban diesel cars within the city, have hiked the parking fee in 2011 and increased subsidy for scrapping old vehicles.

The BRT in Delhi has been a political issue as well. Former chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who had introduced the Moolchand BRT stretch, had promised to scrap it after public opposition. She even promised to scrap 14 similar projects that were planned on different stretches.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/followceleb.cms?alias=Congress government,Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand BRT,Air Pollution


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