[vnabhi]

Originally Posted by cediafan

I visited Pune recently and the BRT system that they have there is a disaster. They have blocked off a lane only for buses. Many a times these lanes are empty and the other lanes are jam packed. People enter these lanes and flouting rules.
This can be successful only of the number of buses plying on these lanes are increased significantly.

I am guilty of flouting this rule on my drive to Mumbai from Hyd. I zimmbly did not know it was a dedicated lane. I realized only on my return trip.
BTW, I was not alone to flout that lane rule.

[suvi]

The Volvo in Bangalore is a good starting point. i use it occasionally since it connects my home and office. the problem is frequency. if it comes once in half an hour, it is difficult to wait for it in peak hours with unpredictable traffic jams in the city. the bus seems to be getting warm welcome in peak hours esp from employees in whitefield area. They need to quadruple the number of buses at least to get some benefit (of reduced traffic and higher revenue)

[hrishig]

Ask anybody in pune about BRT and you will come to know the answer. There are lot's of horror stories about it . Though the system on paper is good , the implementation was totally wrong at least in pune.

[kvish]

Check out the pictures below. I shot them in Curitiba a couple of years back. They clearly give an idea on why it wont work here. The fundamental need for BRT is wide roads. That is almost non existent in most parts of our country. And also observe the length of these buses. They carry lot more people and thus become a viable source of transport.



The bus stops exactly where it should. Not where the driver feels like.




Whenever I look at this picture of the bus waiting behind the other one, my BP just shoots up... why cant our drivers do the same? Alyways try to park in front of an already stationary bus.

[maddy42]

Well one thing i feel is give the BRT system some time to get better. They are in its trial phase and it can improve. Its better to have good public transport rather than having none of it

[rkg]

any city should have a combination of public transport which works efficiently and should be cheap. this will make public to shun private transport and opt for public transport.
for example in Bangalore the planner should have utilized the existing rail line to run a local train system to supplement road network.
bangalore have a reasonably good rail network which can have the following possibilities

1. Bangalore city- cant RS- east RS- byyappanahalli RS-chennasandra cross- nagawara-kaggadasapura/drdo pahse II- doddanekkundi- ORR-Marthahalli bridge-munikollalu-e.city- attibili RS –hosur RS

2. Bangalore city-cant-Byyappanahalli-chennasandra cross- KRPuram-ITPL/Whitefield-devangudi- malur- upto bangarupet

3. Bangalore city-malleswaram- YPR- lottegollahalli RS- Kodigehalli RS-Yelahanka-horohalli RS- Doddajala RS- Devanhalli/new airport goes via different places and meets bangarpet line (existing rail line on which some local trains are running)

4. Bangalore city-malleswaram- YPR- HMT-dasarahalli- tumkur line with several RS already there

5. Bangalore city-malleswaram- YPR- lottegollahalli RS- hebbal RS- Banaswadi RS- Byyappanahalli RS- either KR puram or Hosur line

6. yelahanka- hormavu- kr puram ( line is already there by the back of jakkur air strip)
Imagine the amount of time it will save for a person to go from yelahanka to k r puram or whitefiled if this line is used. it is used mostly for goods traffic ( i think so)

7. Bangalore City- Nayandahalli RS- Jnanabharati RS-Hilalige RS- Kengeri

another advantage of in most cases the land on either side of rail track is owned by railways and it does not require too much investment or time to implement.

it should have reduced the traffic density at least on these sectors

atleast in Hyd they have started running local trains on the existing routes.

[Gandhi]

Ahmedabad BRTS was inaugurated last month and it has been very popular till now.

Information - Ahmedabad BRTS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Official Website - ::: Ahmedabad BRTS :

Photos - http://www.ahmedabadbrts.com/Photo%2...%20Gallary.htm

Article in Times of India - Thumbs up to BRTS! - Ahmedabad - City - The Times of India

AHMEDABAD: The city of rickety rickshaws, rundown buses and bumper-to-bumper traffic has just got a tad swankier. And, Amdavadis seem to be loving the experience — riding the Bus Rapid Transit System which was rolled out close to a month ago. A survey by TOI of BRTS commuters tells an interesting story — a quarter of those surveyed said they have shifted from their private modes of transport — cars and two-wheelers — to the BRTS. And a whopping 82 per cent said they would shift to this mode once it is complete.

Following an in-depth campaign just before launch of BRTS on October 14, where we did a reality check, TOI conducted an extensive survey over two days, seeking responses of 100 persons on board BRTS. Commuters responded overwhelmingly in favour of BRTS.

The first phase, which stretches over 12.5 km from RTO to Chandranagar, is being used by people for myriad purposes. Though most are hopping onto the buses to travel to work or are college students looking for a cheap but comfortable mode of transport, there are shoppers, weekend revellers too.

This has goaded the Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited (AJL), that operates BRTS, to plan more goodies. “Soon, by sending an SMS to AJL, you would be able to plan your journey in real time on your mobile phone. This is the kind of state-of-the-art service that we would offer,” says AJL chairman IP Gautam.

No wonder, many are enjoying the upgradation with the BRTS providing a more comfortable ride and punctuality. As many as 57 per cent of the respondents said they have shifted to BRTS from the 62-year-old Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS), the backbone of public transport till now.

“The RTO-Chandranagar stretch is not a representative of the entire BRTS network. The system is incomplete and after the second phase comes up, citizens would start feeling the benefits of being on BRTS,” says Shivanand Swami, chief planner for BRTS.

[aditya101]

Clearly the Ahmedabad BRT is much better than Delhi BRT - it is planned more like a Metro on roads, while the latter is only an exclusive lane for buses.

[prasadka]

Originally Posted by cediafan

I visited Pune recently and the BRT system that they have there is a disaster. They have blocked off a lane only for buses. Many a times these lanes are empty and the other lanes are jam packed. People enter these lanes and flouting rules.
This can be successful only of the number of buses plying on these lanes are increased significantly.

Doesn't work that way- in UK/Aus etc., there are buses and taxi lanes, and earmarked time zones for these- for instance bus and taxi lane between 7 am and 12 pm and then between 3 pm and 8 pm.

Come what may, even if there is a bus strike, people will NOT enter the bus lanes. Again goes back to our age old problem.. rules.. what rules?
Prasad

[bora.nayan]

After grand failure on Swargate-Hadapsar & Swargate-Katraj corridors Pune Municipal corp. recently started the second phase of the BRT. And this time they are determined to make it large.



The already shoddy Nagar road now has turned into a death trap where road mishaps has become an every day affair; thanks to the determined PMC.

Just got one picture of the huge bus stops which are being built right in the center of the road. (will take out my SLR tomo and get few more pics). One can't help but be aghast at the size of these huge structures and wonder what the logic is of such large bus stops right in the mid of the already cramped roads.



With the PMC geared up with its venture several aspects of the projects are questionable. The pilot project which was conducted from Katraj to Hadapsar in 2006 was a complete disaster and now those BRT lanes have been put open to traffic with the BRT bus stops doing nothing else but causing hurdles to the traffic and making the roads more and more dangerous.

I found a very interesting article on BRT. The picture tells us all we need to know. This BRT is wastage of the public money and is putting each commuters life more and more danger.

[bora.nayan]

spotted an accident today where an alto hit the subway structure in the mid of the road.


clubbed with BRT there are subways at 2-3 spots on this corridor. These subways are hardly used by commuters and completely defeats the purpose. However, amount of hazard caused by this is enormous. Have a look at this subway at chandanagar:


One other disturbing aspect over here is the sheer size of the bus stops (the bus stop is as long as three buses standing infront of each other) and the road left for the traffic.
This road used to be so free that a ride from yerawada to kharadi used to take not more than 15-20 mins. gone are the days ... it's just clogged traffic at each juncture thanks to hugely shrunk roads because of the BRT



Just notice the amount of space left for the traffic. Amazing, no??!!! :Shockked

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by bora.nayan

I found a very interesting article on BRT. The picture tells us all we need to know. This BRT is wastage of the public money and is putting each commuters life more and more danger.

Such articles are sponsored by the car and two wheeler manufacturer. I was not able to locate the date which compares the no of people travelling in the buses in BRT against the number of people like us using cars. A bus carrying 35-40 people crosses this stretch in 15-20 minutes as against 45 minutes it use to take before the construction of BRT corridor. Moreover this stretch was never good for any kind of vehicle before construction of BRT. Now at least it makes bus commuters travel more pleasant. Car users have other alternate routes, bus users don't have too many options.

parliamentarians want it to be scrapped to award the demolishing works to their contractor again and earn a bit more.

[bora.nayan]

Originally Posted by sourabhzen

Such articles are sponsored by the car and two wheeler manufacturer. I was not able to locate the date which compares the no of people travelling in the buses in BRT against the number of people like us using cars. A bus carrying 35-40 people crosses this stretch in 15-20 minutes as against 45 minutes it use to take before the construction of BRT corridor. Moreover this stretch was never good for any kind of vehicle before construction of BRT. Now at least it makes bus commuters travel more pleasant. Car users have other alternate routes, bus users don't have too many options.

parliamentarians want it to be scrapped to award the demolishing works to their contractor again and earn a bit more.

I don't see any reasons for the car manufactures spend any money on photos like these. They already have a tight marketing budget, trust me on this. And more over please don't forget the photo isn't a choreographed stunt... it's actual chaos on the streets.

As far as 35-40 people in the bus are concerned they can have a pleasant ride if there is any space in the bus not just because the bus can run at 60kmph. Look at the kind of buses you have in Pune. They are cramped like cattle field. The answer to better public transport is bigger, better and more buses and not just allocating & dedicating 33% of the road infrastructure to once in 15mins bus as against hundreds of cars and thousands of bikes.

[alpha1]

BRTS plan is a joke in Pune (and presumably across India).
BRTS implementation is equally asinine.

Can someone (who supports the current BRTS system) please answer these questions:
1. Why is the lane on the right most side of the road. Why do you want the commuter to cross the road to use this system?
2. Why do you have the BRTS lane empty most of the times? If the lane is being kept idle, the idea of reducing congestion gets defeated. What has happened to the buses? Not bought yet?
3. Why have you not copied the real BRTS feature of provided a Metro station look and feel and convenience and the buses being long enough so that they can carry passengers - basically a replacement of expensive Metro rail system. (like the image below)


Sorry to say but BRTS has actually been a waste of public money till now.

[sourabhzen]

Originally Posted by bora.nayan

I don't see any reasons for the car manufactures spend any money on photos like these. They already have a tight marketing budget, trust me on this. And more over please don't forget the photo isn't a choreographed stunt... it's actual chaos on the streets.

As far as 35-40 people in the bus are concerned they can have a pleasant ride if there is any space in the bus not just because the bus can run at 60kmph. Look at the kind of buses you have in Pune. They are cramped like cattle field. The answer to better public transport is bigger, better and more buses and not just allocating & dedicating 33% of the road infrastructure to once in 15mins bus as against hundreds of cars and thousands of bikes.

This picture is not a choreographed stunt and I know it. I have been using it for more than 15 years now. It was as bad as now before implementation of BRTS with even the buses stranded. I can take 100s of picture of Delhi roads that look even worse that this. Please trust me on this.

The pleasant ride for 35 commuters can be improved if given a chance and proper thought. But discarding BRT means rectification of error by deleting it and not improving it. Buses can be improved, infrastructure can be planned but bigger and better buses on existing system will only make it worse. Those bigger buses will be even more painful for us car owners.

That 33% of road transport 50% of commuters!

Originally Posted by alpha1

Can someone (who supports the current BRTS system) please answer these questions:
1. Why is the lane on the right most side of the road. Why do you want the commuter to cross the road to use this system?
2. Why do you have the BRTS lane empty most of the times? If the lane is being kept idle, the idea of reducing congestion gets defeated. What has happened to the buses? Not bought yet?
3. Why have you not copied the real BRTS feature of provided a Metro station look and feel and convenience and the buses being long enough so that they can carry passengers - basically a replacement of expensive Metro rail system.
Sorry to say but BRTS has actually been a waste of public money till now.

1. I don't have an answer now will search for it.
2. So that a vehicle carrying 15 times more commuters than a car or SUV can move in peace. How much time will it take to procure buses. The BRTS will remain for a lifetime.
3. Check Ahmedabad system. it runs on similar system. We will soon be able to use our DMRC card on DTC buses. Systems are improving.
4. It is not a total waste of public money. This money is being used for more needy public. It is not possible to get things right the first time. Give BRTS time to become effective.

Even DMRC faced oppsition before its inception in Delhi. Look at it now, one can not imagine the fate of Delhi roads without Metro.

Delhi Transport minister opposed (with huge public support) the conversion of public transport to CNG. SC forced him to comply and trust me it made a huge impact on pollution levels.

These reforms are for greater public good and they will take time to reach perfection. We shall not write them off just because our cars find it difficult to move. Not everyone can afford expensive private transport.