[fx45]

nice info there.. thanks guys.

[Ram]

Here's a pic of a pic from the BEST museum.

A 1926 Thorneycroft Type A1 Model 14 single-deck omnibus with front entrance.

The number plate is BOM 1201

One advertisement on the roof says "Castrol motor oil -- the finest you can use". Another says, "IBP Petrol: blended with natural gasoline"

The board on the side (black letters on white background) announces:
"WARDEN ROAD via CHURCHGATE STATION, QUEENS Rd. and GOWALIA TANK"

That's my Bombay.

A slice of history from 1926

• Lord Bulwer-Lytton was Governor General of India.
• Sir CV Raman was working on the scattering of light and discovering the Raman effect.
• "The Jazz Singer" was the world's first movie with sound.
• Gold was discovered in Johannesburg, South Africa.
• Henry Ford announced that Ford employees need only work 8 hours a day. Also that Saturday and Sunday would be holidays.
• John C. Garand patented the semi-automatic rifle.
• Imperial Airways started to fly airmail and passenger services between England and India. The Handley-Page HP42 aircraft had all metal bodies and fabric covered wings.

Ram

[nbr]

This is what Bangalore should get to transport people around.

Check out this video on Youtube:

YouTube - Phileas bus rapid transit Eindhoven. Part 1

[Ram]

For the Phileas to maintain a reliable schedule especially during rush hours, it requires a dedicated track.

The track cannot be shared with other road users.

[The only transit system in India, that I know of, which maintains a modicum of strictness about schedules -- if that -- is the one with Mumbai's three local train lines: Harbour, Central and Western]

So like a railway track, this dedicated asphalt or concrete road, must exclude all other traffic.

I have experienced this back in 1991 in the city of Ottawa, Canada.

The city had pulled up all the railway lines and replaced them with a dedicated sunken road, where only city buses could run.
There were no traffic intersections and the buses would run at very high speed and only stop at the designated platforms.

Sounds expensive?

In Holland, Phileas has already cost several million euros. Still its budget in sparsely populated Holland prevents it from being completely isolated from regular traffic.

How do you propose then, that such a concept could work in the second most populous country in the world?

Pune is India's first city to experiment with a Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) system.

This has been implemented on the Hadapsar-Swargate-Katraj corridor and Solapur-Bhairoba nallah stretch.

There are dedicated lanes for the zooming red Volvo buses isolated from second-class traffic.

The board says, "Exclusively for B.R.T. buses

Over the next few years there will be 100 km of BRT network. Just the first phase [10 km] completion will cost Rs. 65 crore @ Rs. 6 crore per km.

And have you seen the issues that crop up?

Planning has failed. Execution has failed. The police is barely able to keep encroachers off the dedicated lanes.

I leave it to other Puneites in Team-BHP to share their experiences.

Ram

[normally_crazy]

We also have a dedicated lane for buses on the EEH which is not used by buses. And tot op it - no other vehicle uses it as well.

Also they tried this dedicated lane thing in VT towards Fort and after every bus passed, the lane would be encroached by taxis parked, hawkers or people walking !!

[fx45]

volovs in pune?? nice .. whn will we get ours.

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Ram

And have you seen the issues that crop up?

Planning has failed. Execution has failed. The police is barely able to keep encroachers off the dedicated lanes.

I leave it to other Puneites in Team-BHP to share their experiences.

Ram

Ram, I felt that BRT is probably not the solution for our crowded cities. Perhaps when you plan an all new city it might work well.

Here is my reasoning: Already there is too little road and waaay too many people that want a clear stretch of it. Now if you take a big slice out of it and say 'buses only' that leaves the rest with fewer lanes and more jams in those lanes. Now at the same time the Bus lanes have just 1 or 2 buses using it every 5 minutes and rest of the time its empty?? Somehow it dosent make sense.

[indian21r]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Ram, I felt that BRT is probably not the solution for our crowded cities. Perhaps when you plan an all new city it might work well.

Here is my reasoning: Already there is too little road and waaay too many people that want a clear stretch of it. Now if you take a big slice out of it and say 'buses only' that leaves the rest with fewer lanes and more jams in those lanes. Now at the same time the Bus lanes have just 1 or 2 buses using it every 5 minutes and rest of the time its empty?? Somehow it dosent make sense.

I had exactly the same thought while seeing the Delhi BRT system. It is creating more stress and the roads than reducing it.

Unless the BRT system is continuous there is no scope for it to succeed. We can't have it running on dedicated track for a small stretch and then running in normal tracks at other places.

probably they can start implementing it in Cities which are not too crowded. Last I heard the model in Indore is running pretty smoothly. Others can try and understand how it is working.

[AMATMO]

any idea how many volvos are a part of the pune fleet?

guys tk a look at these pics of leyland luxura

[Ram]

Originally Posted by santoshnair

guys tk a look at these pics of leyland luxura

Times and customer expectations have changed a lot.
Travel times are shorter. Speeds have increased tremendously.

There is so much more global exposure. Ashok-Leyland's competitor is no longer another Indian company. It is a global company. Maybe a Volvo, Setra, Neoplan, Mercedes-Benz or even Xiamen King-Long.

No longer can an Indian bus manufacturer use inferior design or inferior materials.

Can you see Ashok-Leyland competing with the likes of Volvo, Kassbohrer Setra or even King-Long?

Tell me it's not another me-too offering.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Ram

For the Phileas to maintain a reliable schedule especially during rush hours, it requires a dedicated track.

The track cannot be shared with other road users.

[The only transit system in India, that I know of, which maintains a modicum of strictness about schedules -- if that -- is the one with Mumbai's three local train lines: Harbour, Central and Western]

So like a railway track, this dedicated asphalt or concrete road, must exclude all other traffic.

I have experienced this back in 1991 in the city of Ottawa, Canada.

The city had pulled up all the railway lines and replaced them with a dedicated sunken road, where only city buses could run.
There were no traffic intersections and the buses would run at very high speed and only stop at the designated platforms.

Sounds expensive?

In Holland, Phileas has already cost several million euros. Still its budget in sparsely populated Holland prevents it from being completely isolated from regular traffic.

How do you propose then, that such a concept could work in the second most populous country in the world?

Pune is India's first city to experiment with a Bus Rapid Transit(BRT) system.

Attachment 39113

This has been implemented on the Hadapsar-Swargate-Katraj corridor and Solapur-Bhairoba nallah stretch.

There are dedicated lanes for the zooming red Volvo buses isolated from second-class traffic.

Attachment 39112
The board says, "Exclusively for B.R.T. buses

Over the next few years there will be 100 km of BRT network. Just the first phase [10 km] completion will cost Rs. 65 crore @ Rs. 6 crore per km.

Attachment 39114

And have you seen the issues that crop up?

Planning has failed. Execution has failed. The police is barely able to keep encroachers off the dedicated lanes.

I leave it to other Puneites in Team-BHP to share their experiences.

Ram

For existing cities, I was thinking on lines of, say having BRT running on slightly elevated road (not providing access to other road users), and that too on key back bone routes only. Does that not work out cheaper and to implement and maintain than say Metro rail running on the same route.

[Ram]

Originally Posted by 1100D

For existing cities, I was thinking on lines of, say having BRT running on slightly elevated road (not providing access to other road users), and that too on key back bone routes only. Does that not work out cheaper and to implement and maintain than say Metro rail running on the same route.

First thoughts: If the transitway is elevated, there is the issue of getting the embarking passengers up there into the transitway station. And the disembarking passengers down from there. The problem is complicated if a passenger is pregnant, old or infirm. Then there's the added cost of escalators/elevators.

BRT works well in Ottawa. The transitway channel is depressed below the terrain around, rather than being elevated.

[1100D]

Originally Posted by Ram

First thoughts: If the transitway is elevated, there is the issue of getting the embarking passengers up there into the transitway station. And the disembarking passengers down from there. The problem is complicated if a passenger is pregnant, old or infirm. Then there's the added cost of escalators/elevators.

BRT works well in Ottawa. The transitway channel is depressed below the terrain around, rather than being elevated.

Attachment 39788

Attachment 39789

For that reason I mentioned "slightly" elevated. Elevated enough for other vehicles not able to make it, the Bus stations can have ramps, flight of 2-3 steps to get to it.

[neoonwheels]

The most disgusting sight in Pune is, every other vehicle is using BRT track as if it is dedicated to them. Indian traffic woes will never be treated given the typical Indian mentality. Pune is the best example of how traffic rules are violated without even being bothered about them.