Choked roads
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970044


Cyclist in BRT lane
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970054

Clueless traffic cops
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970048

Green lane was supposed to be for cyclists, but motorists occupied this lane too
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970046

Lack of civic sense
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970055


whom to blame....check the debate at ibn live http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/63857/04_2008/ftn_2304_1/capital-chaos-brt-indias-road-to-nowhere--metro-mess.html

Blame Game starts

Experts had warned: BRT needs more space on car lanes to carry traffic load
Express India Anubhuti Vishnoi April 24, 2008

New Dehi, April 23 At least three organisations with expertise in urban traffic and transportation had warned Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) that traffic volume on the BRT corridor was too high for it to be successful without allocating more space for car lanes.
DIMTS, the nodal implementing agency for BRT, had however turned down such suggestions, asserting that its project plan and traffic volume estimates showed the corridor would be a smooth affair. RITES had done the detailed study for the corridor in Delhi. DIMTS, with help from IIT-Delhi experts, had then implemented it.

Traffic experts from the School of Planning & Architecture (SPA), Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), and Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), it is learnt, had expressed serious reservations about road space to be made available for vehicles other than buses on the corridor. They had suggested that space for other modes of transport need to be increased for BRTS to work successfully.

Prof P K Sarkar, HoD, Transport Planning, SPA, said: “A three-lane road in Delhi must be re-touched with utmost sensitivity and not cut down unless you can add to road capacity. I have been raising the BRT issue for a year now, as our studies showed it would not work at grade in Delhi. While BRT as a concept has an admirable motive and I fully subscribe to it, I think this is a historical blunder in Delhi.”

Sarkar, honorary secretary of the executive committee of Institute of Urban Transport (IUT), said there has been no proper safety audit or detailed project report done on the corridor. “I have repeatedly told DIMTS that taking one lane away from a heavy-traffic corridor will never work. But who is listening?”

CRRI studies had earlier said Moolchand intersection clocks one of the highest passenger car movements in the city on a daily average.

“The project is a good idea and public transport needs to be encouraged but it would definitely work better if road space for vehicles other than buses was increased to, say, six lanes instead of the present four lanes,” another expert, who did not want to be identified, said. “But DIMTS said they were confident the corridor would manage the traffic well. We had suggested that traffic volume expected in the next five years must also be kept in mind while planning the corridor but DIMTS did not really share our point of view on it.”

Rohit Baluja, president of IRTE, said: “We had expressed reservations on the issue almost eight months back. We felt that a total of four lanes — two on either side of the road — would be insufficient to handle traffic volume here. After all, the BRT corridor is on an arterial road and already faces heavy traffic.

“Traffic flow should be smooth on an arterial road, so we suggested space for other vehicles should be increased to make it work. We also raised the issue during the basic assessment of construction done by IRTE at the L-G’s behest.”

About time the Idiotic Delhi govt. sends workers to break down the corridor and let people of South Delhi get on with their lives .

Also it's quite amazing how IIT Delhi used 2002 traffic data to implement the project .

what a waste of 100 crores of Public money.

The authorities should be kicked out for being so unprofessional.

Trained for a day, marshals flounder at the deep end (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Delhi/Trained_for_a_day_marshals_flounder_at_the_deep_end/articleshow/2977018.cms)

Even as 120 marshals sweat out along with 12 teams of transport department enforcement staff, over 35 traffic police officials and an army of officials from Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS), RITES and IIT, snarl-ups are the order of the day on the BRT corridor.

Imagine the situation when enforcement will be left only to the marshals, deployed there on a permanent basis.

An early morning brief about the task for the day and a day's training on traffic management. That's all it takes to be a traffic marshal on the BRT corridor. Compare it to the thorough two-week orientation for traffic policemen before they start duty - even after which they are not allowed to man an intersection all by themselves.

When Times City interacted with numerous marshals, it found that even those manning the most challenging points are untrained and have no idea about the BRT concept. This, even as the government claims that all the marshals have undergone rigorous training in traffic regulation.

Said Shailendra Kumar, who was diverting traffic into MV lanes and bus lanes at the start of the corridor after the Press Enclave crossing: "I used to be a Blueline bus conductor before I joined here as a marshal about a week ago, so I can relate to the bus drivers. I have not undergone any training but have been told to direct the buses into one lane and the rest of the traffic into the other. That is not a tough job - what kind of training would help anyway. The trouble is that we can't issue challans like the cops."

Another marshal, Pawan Singh, positioned at the Pushpa Bhawan bus shelter also admitted that he was posted on the corridor the very day he was inducted. "What special training?" he said. "I was given a uniform and sent here. I don't know how the entire system is going to work since it looks very different from the other roads. But I am just going with the flow. I do whatever I am told by officials each morning."

Marshal Kallu Singh, whose job was to stop motorised traffic from entering the cycle tracks, looked exasperated. "No one listens to us. I can only afford to stand here till there is an official behind me. After that, with the way tempers are raging here, I feel people would start beating me up if I stop them from taking a short cut from here. We can't control it all by ourselves," he said.

A senior official, however, said that 120 traffic marshals have undergone training with the traffic police where they were taught basic principles of intersection management.



========================================================

Tough time for traffic marshals on BRT corridor (http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080047590)

The BRT corridor continues to make headlines and an army of traffic marshals struggle to make it work in favour of the capital's citizens.

Paid a pittance, these marshals also have to face Delhiites throwing their weight around.

For the last two days, Prithviraj is trying to come to grips with a tough job. He's manning traffic on the Bus Rapid Transit corridor at Khanpur and the traffic lights have not been working since Tuesday morning.

To make it worse, people don't seem to have any respect for his job.

''The only people coming to this area are the VIPs. Every person we have stopped since morning says that he is the son or daughter of an influential person,'' said Prithvi Raj, Traffic Marshall.

Prithviraj is paid Rs 100 for an eight-hour shift on the traffic junction. He invariably has to do overtime to earn extra money.

''Every thing is third class here. I have been sweating all day,'' added Prithviraj.

A few metres away, his colleague Ramesh is a shade luckier. He is a regular employee of his company and his monthly salary of Rs 4,000 supports a family of 10 people.

''The people are ill-mannered, they do not listen to me at all. If I try to stop them, they even drive over my feet,'' said Ramesh Dwivedi, Traffic Marshall.

On trial every day, to make the BRT corridor work, are 132 traffic marshals. They try to cope with a lot of things like endless traffic, cattle, infrastructure failure and also relentless stress.

If BRT doesn’t work we’ll scrap it says government (http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=7100c217-ab16-46b6-b975-abcf8d4da905&&Headline=Govt%3a+If+BRT+doesn%e2%80%99t+work+we%e2%80%99ll+scrap+it)

April 23: Two more days and if things don’t improve on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) stretch, the government in all likelihood may abandon the project that has caused widespread anger and a traffic nightmare in south Delhi.

“If the people of Delhi feel that it is not working, we could take a decision. After all in a democratic set-up, policies and programmes are drawn for the benefit of the people,” said Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf on Tuesday. He, however, still hoped that the 5.8 km corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand flyover would “succeed” after the faults are rectified.

“We do not want to do anything to inconvenience the people in an election year,” he said. His comments came even as jams on the BRT continued to fuel public anger for the third straight day.

The anger echoed in the Rajya Sabha as well where members demanded scrapping of the project — “one of the most ill-conceived transport schemes ever seen by the capital”.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit meanwhile chaired an emergency meeting with all BRT stakeholders. A source said she was “angry, disturbed and annoyed” due to the complete failure of the project so far. “She had realised that the cascading effect of the corridor had practically led to huge traffic problems in most south Delhi localities,” the source added.

Abandoning the project did not come up for discussion but Dikshit gave a stern warning to all involved in the project — DIMTS, transport department, DTC, traffic police, RITES and two professors from IIT-Delhi. “You people had advised us that the project is doing wonders elsewhere. The experience suggests otherwise,” she told the officials and gave them two days to improve the system.

It was decided at the meeting to remove all the 100 Blueline buses from the route with immediate effect. From Wednesday, DTC buses, including the new low-floor ones, will replace them. The signages would be improved in the next 72 hours with the focus being on big pictorial signs.

The next review would be held on Saturday. “If things do not improve by then, it could well be bye-bye BRT,” said a source.

Every one is blaming every one, but we all are short sighted on the issue.

It is true that BRTS carved out exclusive lanes reducing 5-20% of road space from other traffic and hence the traffic crawls. This is bound to happen in few years anyway as the number of vehicels increase exponentially.

The difference is, instead of slow death(ave speeds going down every year), travellers noticed a signficant change overnight.

BRTS is a good long term solution, if they can either add an additional lane or keep it on elevated(Expensive).

The need is for a comprehensive traffic solution with long term planning that entails migrating travellers to public transport, developing by-lanes, instill traffic discipline, parking lots at stations, last mile connectivity etc..

Since all of the above cannot happen overnight, we might have to live with this painful transition.

Any thoughts?

From what i have read the road seems to have a very high traffic density and I am not too sure if having a BRTS is a wise option considering the total lack of discipline among Indian drivers. Its sad that in India factors like crowd discipline have to be taken into account during the design stage.:bash:There is only 1 solution. Lay down the lane discipline rules clearly and heavily fine (maybe Rs 10000)violators.

I still believe BRTS is not for Indian cities. No matter what you do, there will be frustration both the BRTS users as well as other motorists. Even if we add more lanes, it wont solve the problem.

The best solution is to use the lanes as effectively as possible. After using BRTS, i feel monorail is a better choice, it consumes the least space of all, is cheaper than a metro line and faster than a BRTS bus. Im sure Ahmedabad will face the same problem, no matter how many cops they have on the road trying to divert traffic.

I don't agree with the across-the-board prescription that BRTS cannot work in India. It can be made to work - we just have to ensure that we take local conditions into consideration. Every corridor may not be suitable for BRTS, but there are surely corridors where it can be made to work.

Similar pessimism was expressed about every attempt at modernization in India. The Delhi Metro was a prime example. I was indirectly involved with the initial proposals for the system - from the light rail plan of Madan Lal Khurana (he called it high speed tram system) in around 1995 through the formulation of the current Delhi Metro plan. At every stage, all kinds of reasons were given to show that such a system would not work in India. Delhi Metro has proved the critics wrong and now there is much more confidence in our ability to make successes of metro projects (after decades of pessimism following the Kolkata Metro and Chennai MRTS experiences). Similarly, it will take one big success to change minds.

At the same time, I disagree with the kind of anti-metro extremists, who try to suggest that BRT is the solution to all our urban transport problems and that it could replace metro systems. What we need is an objective sense of what is best for the transportation system of the city as a whole. And adapt it to local conditions rather than blindly transporting concepts from Curituba or Bogota or somewhere else. And of course, good execution is critical to success.

It is exactly the kind of across-the-board conclusions like the above that we should refrain from drawing based on this experience. There are large cities that have made successes of BRT systems and small ones that have been utter failures. The same goes with rail based transit systems.

From what i observe, i would lay down following rules to make BRTS a success.


Streets with BRT should create extra lanes for the BRT with no apparent reduction of lanes for motorists. This takes care of existing traffic so that the current generation of motorists is not dissatisfied.
BRT corridor should be exclusive for BRT buses and not for all buses. Other bus routes should act as feeders to BRT routes and should end at terminals/close to bus stops where passengers can board these special buses.
BRT buses should have high frequency 2-3 minutes between buses. Corridors should be sufficiently long so that advantage of BRT corridor is realized.
Underpasses for pedestrians at all bus stops. Fine jaywalking.
Introduce high-quality higher-priced buses for enticing motorists to move away from driving. Provide motorists with parking space at the BRT terminals or close to the major bus stops.


Some reference : (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/Delhi/City_project_a_poor_copy_of_Bogota_original/articleshow/2980456.cms)

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Transportation/Dont_flag_red_signal_yet_BRT_may_get_better/articleshow/2980691.cms

If BRT doesn’t work, we’ll scrap it – says the government! Whatever the political compulsions or the style of governance may be, such an impatient reaction to any project during its trial run could only be termed as strange.

BRT — Bus Rapid Transit, or High Capacity Bus System as it was called earlier — has reached its current stage only after years of planning, series of government approvals and crores of taxpayers’ money flowing down the corridor. How can this brainchild of IIT-D be suddenly junked and why?

Did we expect the corridor to instantly eliminate all the traffic bottlenecks and cut the travel time to half? If it were to be so indeed, transportation theory tells us that many travellers will soon learn about the faster route and opt for it to save their time.

New users will add to the traffic and travel time on new route will increase, thereby making the other alternatives comparatively faster. Over a reasonably long timeframe, travellers will keep switching to faster option until the traffic on all alternate routes balances out and the travel time using each option is almost equal. Once that state is reached, initial euphoria of ‘travel-time-down-to-half’ will disappear and the blame game will start then.

Therefore, it must be borne in mind that any addition/closure of a route or any measure to increase/decrease the throughput on specific sector affects the entire road system in and around that area and complete impact of such a change can be known only after reasonable passage of time.

Given that BRT is a change from the existing traffic system, one cannot expect the implementation without any criticism, resistance and opposition. As a concept it achieves two objectives. First, it confines all buses to the central corridor.

This will eliminate the dangers associated with bus drives stopping at will, in the middle of road to let the passengers board or alight. This will also ensure that bus drivers keep to their lane and do not try to overtake other buses at every bus stop. Second, a dedicated corridor allows a reasonable speed and makes the transit rapid.

In comparison, our old system in Kolkata also confines trams to the tracks running through the central corridor. However, the lane there is not dedicated to trams. All vehicles, right from horse carriages to manually pulled rickshaws and luxury cars to mini buses also use the entire width of the road and trams can run only when they get the tracks clear.

To that extent reserved corridor in Delhi is a superior concept and is likely to speed up the public transport option. Further, the corridor which may seem to be empty at times will be a great help in emergency situations and can offer a passage to ambulances, fire tenders, VIP movement and so on.

Finally, BRT or Bus Rapid Transit system is intended to improve the public transport. In this backdrop, BRT success or failure cannot be judged by sighting the time taken by car to travel the corridor distance. Even if BRT adds say 10 minutes to travel time of 200 cars and we take average occupancy as two persons per car, we estimate the time lost as 10x200x2 = 4,000 minutes. As against this, if BRT implementation saves 20 minutes for 50 persons each in the 10 buses, bus travellers together would save 20x50x10 = 10,000 minutes.

Once again, if BRT becomes a faster alternative, people may opt for public transport thereby reducing the usage of private vehicles on roads and this in the long run will mean improvement in traffic conditions.

Agreed that BRT trials have caused a temporary chaos on roads, but we can’t simply scrap the project after going so far. Public at large must know the initial basis for approval and expectations from the project. It is likely that the actual traffic is higher than the design basis.

May be the signaling system is not fully operational as yet or it could just be the teething problems common to all projects of such magnitude. Evaluating the project success, even before its formal launch can be misleading and should be avoided. We must take necessary corrective actions and allow sufficient time for BRT to prove its worth.

The author is an alumnus of IIM-B. Views are personal.

Couldn't agree with you more...we have to trust the people who implemented it and give them support..

There is a lesson to be learnt. Adopting to local conditions is the key.. Underpasses (may be a cheaper cut & fill option) to the bus stops would be key to pedestrian safety and reduces traffic signal lenght for pedestrian crossing roads..

It is no easy task to implement a change on Indian Roads. Whether it is to enforce safety rules, lane driving or jay walking...

The Times of India

BRT Spillover chokes south Delhi
25 Apr 2008, 0102 hrs IST,Megha Suri,TNN

The effect of the five-day jam session on the pilot Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor is now being felt on the entire road network of the area. Even as the movement of traffic became relatively smoother on Thursday with the average travel time coming down to about 30 minutes for the 5.6-km BRT run, major traffic snarls were reported from arterial roads all around it, including Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Outer Ring Road, Khelgaon Marg, main Nehru Place road and inner roads of GK-1, Panchsheel Enclave and Shiekh Sarai.

"I tried taking MB Road as an alternative to the BRT mess and ended up getting stuck between Saket and Ambedkar Nagar for two-and-a-half hours. Buses taking a turn turn near the terminal to get back on the corridor are adding to the mess," said an exasperated Bhupendra Acharya, who owns a factory in Okhla. Acharya actually postponed important work appointments by an hour to apprise transport minister Haroon Yusuf about the problems faced by commuters on the stretch, when he heard the minister was present at Ambedkar Nagar.

The situation was the same on Outer Ring Road, where the stretch between Panchsheel and Nehru Place was chok-a-block during the morning rush hour. Even the inner roads of the colonies around are being used by motorists as an escape from the jams. "The R-Block and E-block roads have been choked with vehicles from outside using the colony as a transit. This leads to congestion in the residential area and is also going to make the colony more prone to crimes. Why should we suffer for the BRT?" asked Atul Handa, a resident of E block.

Strangely, the volume of traffic on the corridor seemed considerably reduced as the signals were being operated manually yet again. The waiting time at the crossings was reduced, but the daily chaos still prevailed during the morning rush hour with vehicles hopping dividers and two-wheelers taking to the cycle tracks for a fast ride.

A jubilant transport minister Haroon Yusuf said that "the situation had become much better due to improvements in the signal cycle and changes in road geometry". However, traffic police and road experts said that this reduction in traffic is a normal phenomenon, and is no indication of the successful working of the corridor.

"Road users start avoiding roads which are choked and instead switch to a secondary road network for their commute. But the day this route becomes better, they will switch back and the jams will return. The government has to understand that such patchwork solutions won’t work. They need to tackle the entire area, including the secondary roads as a whole and then work out solutions. This way, they are only repeating their flyover mistake and shifting the troubles from one spot to another instead of dealing with them," said Dr Vinay Maitri of department of transport planning, School of Planning and Architecture.

In a thesis being carried out on the corridor by SPA, they have found the corridor to be a disaster. "On analysing the traffic volume and the designed capacity of the road, the level of service was calculated between 3 and 4 points. Ideally, a good road should have a level of service of less than 0.7. The BRT concept is not wrong, it is the area chosen and the traffic volume and socio-economic behaviour of people which was not accounted for," Maitri added.

Since the chief minister's emergency meeting, everyone concerned with BRT has been busy finding a solution to the mess. From a slip road parallel to the corridor from Press Enclave to Outer Ring Road, widening the road at the turn leading to Chirag Village, reworking the signal cycles and phasing out of Bluelines from the stretch to even planning a grade separator at Chirag Dilli intersection, every measure in the book is being initiated on ground to improve the situation.

As Rohit Baluja, president of Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), puts it: "Crisis management for today can never be transport management for the future. Every new road is planned keeping the increase in traffic for the next five years in mind. If the corridor is crumbling under today's vehicular load, what will happen after five years when the traffic would have increased by another 180%. These short-term measures will prove to be of little use."

Another contributory reason for the mess around, he observed, was lesser visibility of traffic policemen in the area. Because of this, motorists jumped traffic signals and drove at will, aggravating the situation.

megha.suri@timesgroup.com

Why is everone bothered only about the cars? What about the buses, did the corridor reduce the travelling time of buses or no?

http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/63908/04_2008/brt_mess1/chaos-complaints-may-see-delhi-brt-being-scrapped.html

According to this video, the people travelling in the bus (atleast the guy asked) are happy. Obviously, the car drivers are going to complain. And most of the TV channels have been unfairly only looking at the plight of the motorists.

However, i do agree that their condition should not have worsened after introducing the corridor. Can someone explain why the condition has worsened?

Was the dedicated bus lane "taken away" from the motorists , as in, did cars drive on those lanes before? As far as i know, the lane was "added" to the road by reducing the lane widths a bit.

It is exactly the kind of across-the-board conclusions like the above that we should refrain from drawing based on this experience. There are large cities that have made successes of BRT systems and small ones that have been utter failures. The same goes with rail based transit systems.

^^ I think we need to focus on what can work in the Indian context irrespective of how things work across the globe. In a city like Delhi ( and all the big indian cities ) it is imperative to keep the existing width of the road intact when vehicular traffic is booming. My personal opinion though is that rail transit ( with good feeder services) is better suited for Indian cities than BRTS

Anyway, I am sure the torch bearers of all the other cities where BRTS is proposed/under construction is closely observing the developments and can take steps to learn from the current experience and do what is best suited for those cities

What shambles!!!

Hope they scrap the idea if it does not work by the weekend and a great shame too.

BRTS can work anywhere but in Delhi you have got alot to contend with like scooters, bicycles, rickshaws as well as cars, jay walkers, silly padestrians...it was also poorly planned by the look of it..

Sad sad sad....

What shambles!!!

Hope they scrap the idea if it does not work by the weekend and a great shame too.

BRTS can work anywhere but in Delhi you have got alot to contend with like scooters, bicycles, rickshaws as well as cars, jay walkers, silly padestrians...it was also poorly planned by the look of it..

Sad sad sad....

It is hard in any Indian city and not just Delhi and the reason is the traffic sense of the Indian people and particularly more because of the high number of 2-wheelers that can slide across any gap available, no matter what rules are set. Even if the BRT lanes run smoothly with a few buses, the outside lanes will always be packed and already Indian roads are not wide enough to afford a BRT which takes 3-4 lanes for itself.

One of the solution from stopping other vehicles from entering the BRT lanes is to place a person/police at the entrace/exit of every BRT route and construct a smalll gate or rope in hand, that is what is being on Pune BRT routes currently in order to stop motorists from entering the BRT lanes and this sounds ridiculous.

From rediff

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5812/25ss1pa2aa1.jpg

It is hard in any Indian city and not just Delhi and the reason is the traffic sense of the Indian people and particularly more because of the high number of 2-wheelers that can slide across any gap available, no matter what rules are set. Even if the BRT lanes run smoothly with a few buses, the outside lanes will always be packed and already Indian roads are not wide enough to afford a BRT which takes 3-4 lanes for itself.

One of the solution from stopping other vehicles from entering the BRT lanes is to place a person/police at the entrace/exit of every BRT route and construct a smalll gate or rope in hand, that is what is being on Pune BRT routes currently in order to stop motorists from entering the BRT lanes and this sounds ridiculous.

The problem is not just two wheelers. They occupy less space than cars. Delhi has one of the highest % of cars than most cities. Imagine those two-three wheelers getting replaced with TATA Nano soon..


Everyone waits for Nano

Carazoo.com

25 April 2008, Friday

TATA MOTOR’S ultra-cheap car, Nano, still remains on top position of the hot topic chart and has already attracted a long queue of customers.

It is the taxi drivers and the cab drivers that stand top on the list; many taxi drivers have postponed their plans to buy new cars and prefer to wait for the Nano’s launch, which will be in this October.


Nano was unveiled at the 2008 Auto Expo in New Delhi. The small car is enhanced with 600 cc engine and a seating capacity for four persons.


Earlier, it was Tata’s Indica and Sumo, the preferred vehicles on account of high fuel efficiency, easy maintenance, and easy affordability, but once the Nano is launched, it is going to pull all the crowds towards itself.


Tour operators and business process outsourcing (BPO) cab fleet owners feel the TATA cars provide enough power to run their operations at a lower cost. Taxi owners and cab vendors around the country swear by Tata Motors’ hatchback car, Indica, and multi-utility vehicle, Sumo.

Presently, Indica is the single largest used taxi across commercial transport in India. The diesel and compressed natural gas (CNG) versions remain the most fuel efficient hatchback in its segment. In spite of spiraling costs, Tata persistently has worked out the cost/profit ratio and has managed to stick to its Rs 1 lakh target. Taxi operators and BPO cab vendors want to have a combined fleet of Tata Indica and Micro to achieve optimum operational costs.

Nano would worst hit the auto rickshaw manufacturers. Currently, an auto rickshaw costs Rs 1.4 lakhs (ex-showroom Delhi), an Indica car costs Rs 3.5 lakhs and an ambassador car costs Rs 4.5 lakhs onwards. Auto rickshaw owners are also eagerly awaiting Nano’s release and want to upgrade their services according to the impact it will have. The advent of Indica and Sumo into the market phased out the Ambassador cars from most cities, auto rickshaws might just be the next.

However, it is yet to be known if the government will allow Tata’s one-lakh car for commercial purposes. The taxi operators are keeping their fingers crossed over the government’s decision. They hope that the small car would be a major hit in their intra-city operations and also in the tourism segment. It could also create huge employment opportunities in smaller cities.

The small car will be available in both diesel and petrol versions. The diesel version contains the new common rail direct fuel injection developed by Bosch, German leader in automotive component manufacturing, especially for the low cost cars.
The taxi fleet operators hope that the diesel version will fetch them higher fuel efficiency than any other car on road. They are expecting the small car to repeat the success of the one-ton truck Tata ACE. It was a runaway success and sells more than any other light commercial vehicle and three-wheeler and is the highest selling small utility truck in the Indian market.

Well being from Delhi, I think the biggest mistake was that a wrong corridor was chosen for this project. South Delhi doesn't yet have the METRO and the people of that region rely very heavily on their private vehicles. Besides this, it's a busy corridor connecting the South-Central-Northern alignment. So if space has been taken away from the existing road, I can therefore understand the wrath of the people over there. BRTS can still workout, if it's tried in recently established colonies like DWARKA and Rohini, because traffic there is lighter in comparison to South Delhi. Also there's no point in arguing over the driving habits, because they won't change that easily. They have to be phased in by implementing these projects in areas where vehicular/road space is not a constraint.

Also, the government should act in a proactive manner, rather than just going for cosmetic changes afterwards. Delhi has busy roads because of vehicular density, and often the give nary a damn to the pedestrians. There should be more subways and a concerted effort should be made that delhi-ites start using them for their own safety and wellbeing.

Bottomline is, that their are parts of Delhi like, DWARKA, Bahadurgarh, Rithala and even Gurgaon/Manesar, which are still very new and in the process of populisation. The state should not missout on the opportunity of developing BRTS in these areas, before roads start to get clogged and become unmanageable. 3 lanes eachside are not enough in Delhi anymore. Design accordingly with a 20 year target in mind.

From rediff

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5812/25ss1pa2aa1.jpg

Anyways, good to see so many lowfloor buses on Delhi roads. I will definitely try them when next in Delhi.

Heavy weaving and lack of awareness are the two things that caused the corridor to collapse. People are so lazy and nonchalant that they'd rather cross the corridor (as observed in one of the images) than walk down and use the zebra crossing which has a light for pedestrians installed.

Streets with BRT should create extra lanes for the BRT with no apparent reduction of lanes for motorists. This takes care of existing traffic so that the current generation of motorists is not dissatisfied.

They actually increased a lane on either side by cutting down the trees on the sidewalk (and relocating the sidewalk to the left) to include the service lanes and make it part of the road for vehicles.

BRTS can still workout, if it's tried in recently established colonies like DWARKA and Rohini, because traffic there is lighter in comparison to South Delhi.

Dwarka and Rohini are small places and wouldn't have a sufficient number of people to warrant the need for a BRT corridor for intra-subcity travel. In denser areas like Gurgaon, the BRT can be a boon for the people since public transportation is inexistant there. South Delhi in a way was the best location to try out the BRT since it has wider roads compared to the rest of Delhi and a slightly better understanding of lane discipline.

Dwarka and Rohini are small places and wouldn't have a sufficient number of people to warrant the need for a BRT corridor for intra-subcity travel. In denser areas like Gurgaon, the BRT can be a boon for the people since public transportation is inexistant there. South Delhi in a way was the best location to try out the BRT since it has wider roads compared to the rest of Delhi and a slightly better understanding of lane discipline.

Okay....there again, we are looking at the shortterm. DWARKA is a subcity with an area of over 100 square kilometers. So in no way is it small. My point is that there are wide enough roads in these places, where appropriate BRTS designs can be implemented without causing chaos on the roads and frustrations for private vehicle owners. If we cannot convince the people of south delhi - due to certain number of reasons (and those who are from Delhi, know what they are), then atleast experiment in areas where there's still a chance of salvaging public transportation. BRTS is not just about numbers, but like the METRO it's also about prospective travellers. With the amount of people moving into DWARKA, one can only assume that an advanced bus system will only thrive in the coming years. "You gotta catch 'em young"

I think those who are more abreast with Delhi can name the places where BRTS could be implemented with more "ease".

I see potential for BRTS in North and Northwest Delhi, but ring road is a goner for now!

Okay....there again, we are looking at the shortterm. DWARKA is a subcity with an area of over 100 square kilometers. So in no way is it small. My point is that there are wide enough roads in these places, where appropriate BRTS designs can be implemented without causing chaos on the roads and frustrations for private vehicle owners. If we cannot convince the people of south delhi - due to certain number of reasons (and those who are from Delhi, know what they are), then atleast experiment in areas where there's still a chance of salvaging public transportation. BRTS is not just about numbers, but like the METRO it's also about prospective travellers. With the amount of people moving into DWARKA, one can only assume that an advanced bus system will only thrive in the coming years. "You gotta catch 'em young"

Dwarka already has a metro line passing right through it with stations ~850m apart and the DMRC minibuses complement it by acting as an excellent feeder to them. I just don't see a massive rise in passenger numbers in the future for intra-subcity travel to warrant the need for a BRT system there.

I have to agree with IU on that one. South Delhi is indeed the best place to test the BRTS. It does have some of the widest roads and open spaces in Delhi.
Besides its a new concept. I remember when the metro first opened, there were reports of the crowds scratching the seats and windows and in general being very unruly and complaining of various things. In due course im sure people will realize the only way for this to work for their benefit would be to follow the rules. I am quite confident that in some time this mess will be sorted out, provided the authorities are a bit proactive about it.

I live in South Delhi and have taken the Much talked about chirag Dilli road several times while traveling to Collage , here is my experiences in a few points

1. after 6 days of trial runs it takes 1 hr and 25 minutes to clear a 6 Km. stretch which previously took around 15 minutes.

2. Lane discipline is not the problem , poor planning is . One third of the road is reserved for buses which carry only 9% of the traffic on the road.

3. I have seen a cardiac patient die in front of my eyes in an ambulance waiting to get to the hospital and a traffic Marshall being beaten Black and Blue by motorists who were deeply frustrated at missing vital meetings.

4. Bus stops are located in the center of the road , how is to possible to reach them without jumping over the lines , not everyone has the stamina to walk 2 Km. for a zebra crossing in searing temperatures.

those who have not experienced the plight of people in these corridors have no right to say that people lack Lane discipline , pathetic planning of IIT Delhi and foreign engineers has made sure that the project would have to be scrapped sooner or later.

Ad just for the record , I cannot wait to see the miserable congress govt. get lost into oblivion because they sure enough aren't getting any votes from south Delhi

Delhi govt not to scrap BRT Corridor (http://www.zeenews.com/articles.asp?aid=439044&sid=NAT)

New Delhi, April 26: Delhi government’s ambitious Rs 180-crore Bus Rapid Transit Corridor got a fresh breath of life on Saturday when the special panel that was set up to review its effectiveness decided not to scrap the project just yet.

The panel, however, put on hold the expansion of the corridor for the time being and also announced that no other corridor will be built till the system is perfected and proves to be glitch free.

At a meeting held at Chief Minister Sheila Dixit’s residence, it was also decided that two foot-over bridges would be built along the 5.8-km BRT Corridor that stretches from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand in South Delhi.

The panel also came up with the decision to build a parallel road along the Corridor to divert the traffic volume. A new road would be built from Saket to Outer Ring Road.

I live in South Delhi and have taken the Much talked about chirag Dilli road several times while traveling to Collage , here is my experiences in a few points

1. after 6 days of trial runs it takes 1 hr and 25 minutes to clear a 6 Km. stretch which previously took around 15 minutes.

Was the 15 minute drive before construction of BRT? Or during construction?
Were you allowed to use BRT lane during its construction?



2. Lane discipline is not the problem , poor planning is . One third of the road is reserved for buses which carry only 9% of the traffic on the road.


Each bus carries atleast 50-60 people. They easily carry 40-50% of the traffic - so reservation of 33% road is not a big deal. So, i do not accept this reason. Ofcourse bus services need to be improved and better buses introduced to encourage motorists to shift.


3. I have seen a cardiac patient die in front of my eyes in an ambulance waiting to get to the hospital and a traffic Marshall being beaten Black and Blue by motorists who were deeply frustrated at missing vital meetings.



I thought ambulances can use the BRT corridor. That was supposed to be one of the uses of the corridor - Help emergency services get through even in heavy traffic! I have seen Indian drivers never yield to ambulances on the roads and in traffic it is almost impossible.



4. Bus stops are located in the center of the road , how is to possible to reach them without jumping over the lines , not everyone has the stamina to walk 2 Km. for a zebra crossing in searing temperatures.


I agree poor planning - they should have underpasses or overbridges for all bus stops.


those who have not experienced the plight of people in these corridors have no right to say that people lack Lane discipline , pathetic planning of IIT Delhi and foreign engineers has made sure that the project would have to be scrapped sooner or later.


Agree planning has been pathetic and it needs more time to perfect. But, scrapping it is not the way to go. Improving it is the way.



Ad just for the record , I cannot wait to see the miserable congress govt. get lost into oblivion because they sure enough aren't getting any votes from south Delhi

I live in South Delhi and have taken the Much talked about chirag Dilli road several times while traveling to Collage , here is my experiences in a few points

1. after 6 days of trial runs it takes 1 hr and 25 minutes to clear a 6 Km. stretch which previously took around 15 minutes.

2. Lane discipline is not the problem , poor planning is . One third of the road is reserved for buses which carry only 9% of the traffic on the road.

3. I have seen a cardiac patient die in front of my eyes in an ambulance waiting to get to the hospital and a traffic Marshall being beaten Black and Blue by motorists who were deeply frustrated at missing vital meetings.

4. Bus stops are located in the center of the road , how is to possible to reach them without jumping over the lines , not everyone has the stamina to walk 2 Km. for a zebra crossing in searing temperatures.

those who have not experienced the plight of people in these corridors have no right to say that people lack Lane discipline , pathetic planning of IIT Delhi and foreign engineers has made sure that the project would have to be scrapped sooner or later.

Ad just for the record , I cannot wait to see the miserable congress govt. get lost into oblivion because they sure enough aren't getting any votes from south Delhi


Exactly the same experience i had using the Pune BRTS which has been running for over 6 months now. The bus stops and the BRT lanes inthe middle of the road takes up almost 4 lanes and are not busy at all. You see them empty even if buses ply every 5 mins and all this on a road which is 10 lanes wide.

This adds to frustration of others on the outside lanes who then take over the BRT lanes making the whole system useless. The concept is good, but not feasible in India where we are already short of space as even the BRT buses are stuck in traffic once they are out of the BRT lanes and join the regular traffic. There's more chances of accident with people trying to cross roads to reach the bus stops in the middle.

'Give BRTS time to overcome teething troubles’

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/enviornment/give-brts-time-to-overcome-teething-troubles_10042019.html

The much-maligned Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in the capital Friday found unexpected backers with two environmental watchdogs defending the new traffic segregation model and saying it should be given time to iron out initial hiccups. “The BRTS means a massive transition in Delhi’s traffic ways (and) therefore implementation problems are bound to happen. But scrapping the project cannot give a solution for Delhi’s traffic woes,” Centre of Science and Environment (CSE) director Sunita Narain told reporters here.

“Buses mobilize 61 percent of the capital’s population and cover only eight percent of the road space. So providing a faster lane for buses will be in larger good,” Narain said.

The BRTS corridor on each side has four lanes - meant for buses, two-wheelers and cars, cyclists and pedestrians. The width of the bus lane is 3.5 metres, while that of two-wheelers and cars is seven metres, and cyclists and pedestrians each have two-metre wide lane.

The Rs.1.8 billion project had come under heavy criticism after the capital witnessed major traffic snarls on the 5.6-km stretch of BRTS from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand in south Delhi, which has been opened for trial run.

“”The traffic situation on the Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand stretch has also improved after the signal cycle was changed and space was given to vehicles where there was congestion,” Narain said.

Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) chairman Bhure Lal also backed the project, saying that BRTS was necessary as 1,000 new motor vehicles were added to the city’s roads every day.

“Segregation of space for traffic will help traffic in moving efficiently and faster,” Bhure Lal said.

“The BRTS will supplement the metro and will be part of the integrated transport that will be the future of the city. We need to build a public transport system where all metro, road and proposed monorail are interlinked,” Narain said.

Narain also said that buses could not fight with cars for space as the “bus system deteriorates in congestion”.

The system has been under fire from road users and citizen’s groups after massive traffic snarls left motorists fuming and pedestrians complaining they were finding it difficult to negotiate the heavy traffic.

lemme answer some questions

Was the 15 minute drive before construction of BRT? Or during construction? Were you allowed to use BRT lane during its construction?

It used to take 15mins before construction began. After the bus lanes were made, cars were allowed to use it while the bus shelters, lights and other things were being put in place.

I thought ambulances can use the BRT corridor. That was supposed to be one of the uses of the corridor - Help emergency services get through even in heavy traffic!

Yes, they're allowed to use the corridor. Probably the ambulance wasn't using the corridor?

_______________

Copyright Madpai
http://img87.imageshack.us/img87/3961/2444158209d0a83bf85fbkb3.jpg


http://img247.imageshack.us/img247/3750/2444978404d93bf9048abya4.jpg

^^Is there any reason why the height of the divider between the traffic and the BRTS lane is so low?? That would kinda allow at least 2 wheelers to jump lanes etc.

^^^ traffic on left side going up and on right side coming down. But all the buses in the corridor are coming down. Is there no lane for buses going up ? As per this pic.

Or may be the buses moving up are stopping below the zebra crossing not shown in pic.

By mentioning that buses accounted to only 9% of the traffic I meant that it was in relation to the total number of PEOPLE traveling on the BRT and not with relation to the number of vehicles so the argument of each bus holding 50-60 buses dos not hold true.

The govt. can give it time while it lasts but no amount of correction can cover for poor planning and fundamental mistakes

Delhi BRT model - Courtesy Peeb1 @ flickr

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/72/214830983_785d15d086.jpg?v=0

Delhi BRT model - Courtesy Peeb1 @ flickr

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/72/214830983_785d15d086.jpg?v=0

6 Lanes for BRTS:bash:

lemme answer some questions



It used to take 15mins before construction began. After the bus lanes were made, cars were allowed to use it while the bus shelters, lights and other things were being put in place.


They should not have let them use the corridor at that point in time!

Most people must have just come down that road not knowing that the lanes are gonna be blocked.

The bad planning and weaving requirement also added to the confusion i guess. Hope they can fix it soon.

This materializing is a sight for sore eyes. We need this all over India, especially the emergency vehicles bit.

Also - looks like the modernization of the fleet is going well.

man.. I really hope this works out. Those 2 pictures above look beautiful.

Or may be the buses moving up are stopping below the zebra crossing not shown in pic.

yes, the exact same setup is mirrored behind the photographer for buses going up.

no wonder the BRT system is not so efficient. having so many lanes dedicated to buses is stupid, i would assume 3 lane max would have been the best.

The bus lanes just expand near the bus stop as shown in the model and pics on the previous page. Otherwise there are just 2 lanes along the entire corridor for buses to go in either direction.

Anyways the model has an extra bus lane towards the left which actually doesn't exist as seen in the pics.

Dwarka already has a metro line passing right through it with stations ~850m apart and the DMRC minibuses complement it by acting as an excellent feeder to them. I just don't see a massive rise in passenger numbers in the future for intra-subcity travel to warrant the need for a BRT system there.

What i am sensing here is that: BRTS is just a substitute for the METRO. If this is the case then South Delhi will soon have it's METRO, thereby making BRTS redundant. Are the policymakers clear as to what they want to achieve by having these dedicated public transportation corridors?

Thats very true , Saket and Malviya Nagar metro stations have been under construction for almost 1 year now and given the DMRC record they will be complete ahead of schedule by March 2010 Max.

Then what , commuters will defiantly opt for the relatively cheap and air conditioned Metro which provide a traffic free direct journey connecting almost the entire Delhi , who would bother with these Low floor DTC buses . Not many I fear.

I agree.

People will opt for the Metro and the BRTS will be obsolete plus the BRTS has taken too much space up so creating that traffic blunder we saw last week.

It would have made more sense to make the BRTS at a stretch were the Metro isn't u/c.

BRTS Critics please note:

BRTS is a wonderful idea. BRTS is apparently planned after the transmilenio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TransMilenio), in Bogota, Columbia. If you spend a few minutes reading about TransMilenio you will understand that it is very efficient system if designed and used properly. Here are some the design differences I have noted.

1. The bus stops should be placed away from a traffic intersection and not at the intersection. Commuters should use either Foot over bridges or subways (with escalators) to cross the road. The roads should be fenced near the bus stops to prevent Jay walking.

2. Why are there two bus shelters, talking away almost one lane. The Bus shelter should be in the center (and shared by) of the upstream and downstream traffic. Apparently this was also one of the points that was discussed, by the Delhi BRTS, but for whatever reason it was decided to have 2 shelters.

3. There should be passing lanes for buses, near the bus stops, so that one stopped bus doesnt create a backup as shown in this picture here. It can be easily done by removing the shelter on the left shown in this image. This will also facilitate express service buses which does not stop in all bus stops.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970044

4. I have no idea what kind of right-of-way is provided for BRTS buses at traffic intersections. Do they have their own time slot to negotiate an intersection, there by making it longer for the people in the regular lane? Cant we have intelligent signals (smarter than a traffic cop!) installed?

5. There seems to be NO traffic study done with current and future forecasts. (the one that was done was based on 2002 data, which is as good as being useless). There is NO detailed project report. If we want traffic forecasts for our airports, shouldnt we be expecting the same for our roads? Afterall the roads probably move 90% of all our traffic.

6. The Delhi govt should have launched big PR campaign on TV / Radio educating the commuters reg BRTS and what lanes to use. (The same with Toll plazas in expressways around Delhi).

Last but not the least the TV channels should be questioning where the Rs 100 Crore was spent (almost 20 Crore / Km) if FOBs and Subways were not built.

Here is project report (http://www.nbrti.org/docs/pdf/Bogota%20Report_Final%20Report_May%202006.pdf) by the US Department of Transportation, regarding the applicability of BRTS to the US, for those who think we should be blindly following the US.

I think what we need is a saner discussion, why the BRTS is not working and not just throwing our hands up and saying BRTS gotta go!

Take a look at AHMEDABAD'S BRTS. Delhi's lacks two major things that Ahmedabad's has: FOBs and two lanes for buses. Gujarat will show 'em how it's done come next year.

Oh and Delhi oddly built the BRTS on an extremely high VEHICLE traffic road instead a road with lots of BIKE/FOOT traffic. Stupid planning. Only solution now is to widen the road on either side or come up with some sort of flyover to divert traffic.

If they scrap this BRTS, then there won't be another BRTS in Delhi for another 20 years because any politician who mentions the word will receive flak even if the politician plans to implement it properly.

Ahmedabad BRTS (note the FOBs and multiple bus lanes)
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/7149/88359365xl8.jpg

Lets see if Ahmedabad is successful where the others have not! But, i agree Senthil, the idea is wonderful - the implementation pathetic and that is what people should focus on.

From rediff

http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/5812/25ss1pa2aa1.jpg


Looking at the kind of other-than-bus traffic, lanes to the right and left of BRTS seems too small. Besides, I think there are too many buses plying simultaneously along the BRTS lane that would choke the entire lane.

^^^ traffic on left side going up and on right side coming down. But all the buses in the corridor are coming down. Is there no lane for buses going up ? As per this pic.

Or may be the buses moving up are stopping below the zebra crossing not shown in pic.

Still doesn't make sense. Looks like 2 lanes for buses coming down and 1 for going up? Am I getting it all wrong?! :(

BRTS systems typically build passing lanes near bus stops. Hence the two lanes in one direction (for a short distance). In the other direction, the passing lane must be behind the photographer, if that is where the bus stop for that direction is. If you see the model for the Ahmedabad BRTS, you see the same passing lane design. The purpose for this is to allow for express buses to run on the same corridor. By staggering the passing lane for the two directions, the BRTS does not take up too much width at the bus stop (it might not be possible to reserve four lanes even for a short distance, which would be necessary if the passing lanes in both directions were at the same location).

Added later: In this particular case, it is not even a passing lane. Rather, there are two lanes for bus stops to ensure that there isn't a line up of buses at that location. The two lanes of bus stops in the opposite direction is most likely behind the photographer.

Makes sense to me now.. This picture might help validate your theory as well.

Courtesy madpai@flickr
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2280/2444978404_d93bf9048a.jpg?v=0

Question is , what can the Delhi government do now . BRTS has been built on 2002 traffic data (how dumb is that??) and I have my reservations on Slip roads as they will cause congestion on other roads and one vehicle brak down will casuse an enormous back log.

The congress must act really fast as Assembly elections are due this year
and if the problem is not sorted till then , the BJP will certainly scrap the project if it comes to power , it would do anything to show the previous Govt. in bad light.

Plus the bad publicity the IIT and Congress is getting from respected national Dailys like TOI , Hindustan times and Hindu is certainly not helping in cooling public rage.

Scrap the project I say.

Nice buses saying that, they should have improved the existing bus service even further.

Times of India has been the most irresponsible in this entire issue. The others have been more balanced even though most of the attention of the media is on the <25% people on the route who use private cars, with no attention on whether the project makes sense for the remaining 75%+ or not. The project could have been implemented better and even now can be ironed out. The wrong conclusion to draw is to scrap it - that would be the end of any BRTS projects in Delhi and perhaps all of India for some time to come. We don't need knee jerk reactions and at least let this forum conduct a more intelligent debate on the issue than the one we have seen in the media.

BRTS in clumsy cities like these will only work if people actually give up cars and bikes in favor of public transportation. lets see what we got here.
we reduced the number of lanes(or width) for other vehicles- the number of vehicles remains the same mind you. you added a few dozen buses with dedicated lanes (carved out of the existing lanes). so basically we have the same effective lanes with more number of vehicles. it took an IIT to come up with this?

We cannot count on reducing number of vehicles in a short run. Why would some one leave their car/bike, just because there is a BRT corridor for 5KM?

Once the BRT extends its network and other modes of transport feed into BRT, only then we can expect some decrease in vehicles. This decrease would probably be off-set with new vehicles adding onto the road.

Ideally it could have been better if they could have carved out additional space for BRT lanes to get the public opinion in its favor.

Scrapping the project can never be the solution. Whatever under utilized roadspace ( from existing BRT lanes) would be taken up by the vehicles and we would be at the same situation in few months from now. There is a high cost of not doing anything and we are already paying a price for not focusing on efficient public road transport.

Take a look at AHMEDABAD'S BRTS. Delhi's lacks two major things that Ahmedabad's has: FOBs and two lanes for buses. Gujarat will show 'em how it's done come next year.

Oh and Delhi oddly built the BRTS on an extremely high VEHICLE traffic road instead a road with lots of BIKE/FOOT traffic. Stupid planning. Only solution now is to widen the road on either side or come up with some sort of flyover to divert traffic.

If they scrap this BRTS, then there won't be another BRTS in Delhi for another 20 years because any politician who mentions the word will receive flak even if the politician plans to implement it properly.

Ahmedabad BRTS (note the FOBs and multiple bus lanes)
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/7149/88359365xl8.jpg

where is the disability access in this plan ? Let alone disability, how about elderly people ? It needs a better alternative.

the number of vehicles remains the same mind you.
No, they did not. The buses went off those lanes, the cycles and pedestrians have their own lanes and footpaths respectively. So if the system were built properly and people followed rules, it would increase throughputs for everybody. A bad implementation does not mean that the system itself can never work. BRTS systems have worked in other places in the world, some of which were just as chaotic in traffic terms as Delhi is, at the time they were built. It may not have been the best thing for this particular corridor - I don't have the information to judge that - but by scrapping it, we will ensure that Delhi remains trapped in its current state of chaos and poor transportation options for everybody - vehicle owners and those who use public transport.

BRTS worked successfully around the world at cities where automobile population was very high. The road will have less lanes than before as it is everywhere else with the idea that more ppl will give up on travelling by cars and use the public transport. But Delhi seems like an exception for some reasons.
Lack of space utilization on the existing roads.. for eg, why make two seperate shelters on the median of existing road where as all other places uses one median and if very busy then elongated shelter to segregate the up and down bus stops..

I cant see any FOBs/Underpasses for access the bus shelters. Knowing the fact how much traffic discipline is there in india, it is very challenging to first cross the road to access to the shelters.

Unless the Design is changed, I dont think Delhi BRT network will be of any success. Ppl are complaining bout roads being narrowed for busway but thats the only way to improve public transport and discourage private vehicles. Adding five lanes on each side of the roads wont be a pemanent solution instead because the car population will catch up and before we know it we will have big congestion just like today.

it's blinkered thinking to suggest that people will give up private vehicles for public transport in Delhi , they will not - if anything more pedestrians will purchase bikes and Nano's will flood city roads.

Plus the metro will be very comprehensive in covering every part of the city and people desirous of using public transport will use that , sure bus passengers would increase but not enough to justify reducing of road space for cars and bikes , that is not done.

If BRT must be built then it would be much better to utilise space on both sides of the roads rather than the center and feel a few trees and bring down illegal shops for them .

You people tell me how foot over bridges and signal cycle reworking will bring an end to the chaos , any bright ideas ??

Picture from TOI

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOICH/2008/04/30/12/Img/Pc0121400.jpg

Formal opening of BRT put on hold



Fate Of Other Bus Corridors in Delhi Depends On Success Of Trial Run


TIMES NEWS NETWORK



New Delhi: As the mess on the new Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor continued to ground commuters, Delhi chief minister Shiela Dikshit made it clear that there will be ‘‘no formal inauguration’’ of the 5.6-km corridor, as was proposed earlier, till the stretch becomes ‘‘trouble free’’. In a cabinet meeting on Monday, Dikshit asserted that all ongoing construction activity on the pilot project had been stopped and the other proposed corridors put on hold till the trial stretch succeeded.
The showcase project of the government was supposed to be inaugurated in the first week of May. But after the trial runs — which began on April 19 — spelled absolute chaos on the stretch between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, the government put the inaugural plans on hold and ordered a slew of ‘‘corrective measures’’ including construction of slip roads and foot overbridges (FOBs) to set things right.
According to sources, a lot of concern was shown by Dikshit’s cabinet colleagues on the the workability of the corridor and the solutions proposed. It was suggested that all the loopholes be plugged within the next 10-12 days. After the meeting, minister of transport Haroon Yusuf reiterated that the government’s attempt was to add to the convenience of people. ‘‘While no fresh work will begin, the half-constructed cycle tracks and footpaths will be completed as people have been left with no space to walk. The earlier footpaths were dismantled to make room for the new corridor,’’ Yusuf said.
When pointed out that contractors were seemingly at work on certain portions,Yusuf insisted that it wasn’t possible as instructions had been issued to the grassroots. He, however, added that if work was on, then he would immediately have it stopped. Though the mess looked unlikely to be sorted out soon, Yusuf said in another 15 days things were likely to come under control and then there would be a formal inauguration.
On the corridor, officials from the transport department and Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) were busy surveying suitable sites for construction of FOBs. Transport commissioner R K Verma told TOI that the location will be determined after taking into account the traffic volume and pedestrian rush, and also engineering aspects such as availability of space and road width.
‘‘A service road running from Press Enclave to Chirag Dilli has been opened for traffic. This should help ease the situation. The construction of the slip road will also begin this week,’’ Verma said. Also, work is on redoing signal cycles at the Siri Fort crossing, which is now causing more delays than Chirag Dilli crossing. The government is also putting up self-explanatory signages to inform road users about how to use BRT. The signages are expected to be in place by Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Cabinet meeting also saw a presentation by DIMTS managing director S N Sahai who apprised the government of the necessity of the BRT corridor. Though he agreed that a lot needs to be done to make the commute trouble-free — like construction of FOBs and slip roads, he doled out figures to support the concept of a dedicated bus corridor. Sahai pointed out that 60% of the road users on the pilot stretch were bus commuters, another 17.24% accounted for those using two wheelers and autorickshaws, around 10% were pedestrians and cyclists and just 7.59%were those in private cars.
As far as road space is concerned, the presentation emphasised that about 65% of the space is still available for cars and two wheelers and the buses are using just about 20%.

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Daily/skins/TOI/navigator.asp?Daily=TOICH&login=default

I thought that the Delhi Metro managed to siphon of road traffic substantially. Guess I am wrong.

Personally i feel the motley nature of vehicles in india is the contributing factor to traffic chaos. 3 wheeler autos, 2 wheelers, bullock carts, horse buggies, cows, hand pulled carts all need to be banned on major roads. 3 wheeler auto needs to be banned for its instability and ugly looks (comes from sonia manio land). They try to take any little space and create a classic brownian motion of traffic flow. Another major traffic problem is jay walking. public who seem to have no discipline keeping to the walkways, walk across traffic willy nilly. Lastly, people driving in traffic seem to have no patience or discipline following rules. If they followed rules and signs then the overall traffic flow would improve.

I am a little distressed at these experiments on live traffic. Only good working solutions should be brought into play. Having a live experiment causes confusion and bitterness.

exactly - live traffic is not there for experimenting in any way, shape or form.

However you talk of banning autos from roads , don't think thats such a bright idea . Autos carry a fair share of passengers who do not own a vehicle and don't wished to be pushed around in buses and walking long distances to their destinations.

What i am sensing here is that: BRTS is just a substitute for the METRO. If this is the case then South Delhi will soon have it's METRO, thereby making BRTS redundant. Are the policymakers clear as to what they want to achieve by having these dedicated public transportation corridors?

Dwarka is small,bundled behind the airport and towards the outskirts of the city while South Delhi is huge, has far more inhabitants and major parallel thoroughfares. Coming to the point, you're right that the Delhi Integrated Multi Transport System doesn't have a master plan in mind and their plans aren't in sync with those of the DMRC. In the second leg of this corridor, the U/C Line 6 of the DM would be running on the median of the BRTS corridor (if built) which would make the BRT system on that road unviable.

I thought that the Delhi Metro managed to siphon of road traffic substantially. Guess I am wrong.

The DM still has to reach South Delhi which it will via line 2 and line 6 in 2010.

exactly - live traffic is not there for experimenting in any way, shape or form.

However you talk of banning autos from roads , don't think thats such a bright idea . Autos carry a fair share of passengers who do not own a vehicle and don't wished to be pushed around in buses and walking long distances to their destinations.

True....this would be an antisocial move, considering how many people earn their livelihoods through autorickshaws. Besides this, it's still true that autos carry a fair amount of passengers who cannot afford taxis, but can pay for their services. So, one has to think about both employment and public that pays for this mode of transportation.

[QUOTE=Arul Murugan;20185592]Picture from TOI

http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Repository/getimage.dll?path=TOICH/2008/04/30/12/Img/Pc0121400.jpg

From this picture it clearly shows that autorickshaws are major impediments on this stretch. Since they are meant for public transportation, I see no harm in them being run on the BRTS tracks, provided they don't jam the space by cramming as many of them as possible on the lane. If they can monitored, so that they follow a file-system, i think everybody will gain from this arrangement.

^^ Hmm...good idea, but I don't know if it will work because there are way too many autorickshaws.

Oh, how about this, creating a separate lane for autos, Autorickshaw Rapid Transit? :P The autorickshaw drivers (not the autorickshaws) are a menace. Somebody teach them what road etiquette is! Yeah, the police...somebody teach them to be efficient! Sigh..never mind me, just one disgruntled Delhiite here.

I personally don't want the BRT plan to be shelved. The planners were not far-sighted and methodical. But with proper coordination, the BRTs will dramatically change the wretched road scenes of Delhi.

Those auto-travellers better shift to those cute-looking buses! Will save them time, money and lung cancer.

not a plausible solution is that - Children and elderly can't travel on busses and then get off at their stop only to walk long distances in the sun to to their destinations .

But certainly I agree with the fact that autos can be shifted to bus lanes as they are a part of public transport and besides the Bus corridor goes almost empty in non peak hours .

If only IIT experts had common sense.

The thing with Autos is that they always show India as "third world" in pictures. We have to get away from this junk. The Autos were a cute idea several decades ago. Now they are plain downright stupid, why? Firstly they are unstable. I was in one when it overturned, barely got away without injuries. Second, the thing has a highly inefficient engine. They were 2 stroke, then the RE engine conversion, then in Delhi they converted them to natural gas. All kinds of contortions for a vehicle that barely is in keeping with modern times. Tata's Nano should replace this utter crap. Most Autos are owned by the usual cabal of thugs (politicians) and policeman. Trotting out the old slogan of employment is passe. The same tired arguments were made for retail revolution. Actually the people "employed" in countries like Singapore happen to be the "same numbers", they drive clean well maintained taxis and don't cheat their customers. They seem to be making a nice living there. Having taxis that are clean, green and with a reliable meter system would go a long way.

Seeing so many buses bunched up to together tells me that the route timing plan is messed up with most buses turning up at the same time perhaps. Metros need a more intergrated outlook on traffic planning. Bus timing, traffic light synchronization, peak hour traffic management are all timely topics to be addressed very urgently.

AC buses to beat corridor heat

New Delhi: There is some respite coming the way for commuters stuck in unending traffic jams on the pilot Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor. By the end of the week, five airconditioned buses will start plying on four routes traversing the length of the 5.6 km long corridor. Incidentally, this is the first time the Capital will have state-run AC buses plying as part of the bus-based public transport fleet.
The buses, part of Delhi Transport Corporation’s new low-floor fleet, will ply on four routes — 419, 423, 521, 522 — which run along the entire length of the corridor. The fare structure has been fixed between Rs 10 and Rs 25 for the journey, depending on the distance

Another flyover to ease BRT mess

New Delhi: At their wit’s end in dealing with the heavy traffic volume on the BRT corridor which continues to be marked by jams and delays, the government has initiated a slew of measures to make the corridor work at any cost. The latest are road widening at the Siri Fort intersection, construction of a grade separator on Outer Ring Road and intelligent traffic signals throughout the corridor.
Highest on the priority list of the transport department is sorting out the trouble at Siri Fort crossing, which is causing maximum delays. The signal cycles at the crossing are being reworked, and on Wednesday work was also started on widening the main intersection. ‘‘The idea is to provide more space for vehicles in the MV lanes so that the throughput increases and the traffic waiting at the signal clears out faster,’’ said R K Verma, secretary-cum-commissioner, transport. Similar changes are also being planned at the Moolchand crossing.
The slip road being constructed parallel to the corridor — from Press Enclave to Outer Ring Road — is expected to be ready in the next two months. The road alignment crosses a drain and some DJB work area; hence construction can’t be completed before that.
Now, the government is also looking at providing a flyover with clover leaves at the point where this road meets Outer Ring Road. Since a large number of vehicles from Press Enclave are headed for Nehru Place, the clover leaf will provide a long-term solution for the mess at Chirag Dilli crossing. The blueprint for the flyover is being drawn up by DIMTS, but it is not finalised yet, said officials.

not a plausible solution is that - Children and elderly can't travel on busses and then get off at their stop only to walk long distances in the sun to to their destinations .

But certainly I agree with the fact that autos can be shifted to bus lanes as they are a part of public transport and besides the Bus corridor goes almost empty in non peak hours .

If only IIT experts had common sense.

poor children. school buses should be allowed on the BRT lanes, if they are not.

Absolutely. School buses should be allowed on BRT lanes as they are relatively safer. We shall do as much as we could to not let the kids suffer for the mess we created on our public roads.

I am curious to see pictures of this road at rush before the system was constructed. Anybody has such pictures?

Also, before the project was even begun, was this a six-lane road all the way through (excluding service lanes) or four lane road? My memory (from 2000 when I was last here) says it was a four-lane road, but I could be wrong.

Choked roads
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970044


Cyclist in BRT lane
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970054

Clueless traffic cops
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970048

Green lane was supposed to be for cyclists, but motorists occupied this lane too
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970046

Lack of civic sense
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/photo.cms?photoid=2970055


whom to blame....check the debate at ibn live http://www.ibnlive.com/videos/63857/04_2008/ftn_2304_1/capital-chaos-brt-indias-road-to-nowhere--metro-mess.html

that is awful situation, i do not envythe people who deal with such traffic everyday :ohno: good and surprising thing was that the green busses seem to be airconditioned, is it true. Also how much do they cost to travel in them. I will say london can use this air con busses specially in summer

poor children. school buses should be allowed on the BRT lanes, if they are not.

Absolutely. School buses should be allowed on BRT lanes as they are relatively safer. We shall do as much as we could to not let the kids suffer for the mess we created on our public roads.

School buses can use the BRT lanes. Infact you can even see one (in yellow) in the pic quoted by Ubermeow.


Also, before the project was even begun, was this a six-lane road all the way through (excluding service lanes) or four lane road? My memory (from 2000 when I was last here) says it was a four-lane road, but I could be wrong.

The corridor from Moolchand to Chirag Dilli used to be 6 laned. I am not sure about the stretch from Chirag Dilli to Ambedkar Nagar since I've just used it a couple of times. I'd guess it was 6 laned as well.

that is awful situation, i do not envythe people who deal with such traffic everyday good and surprising thing was that the green busses seem to be airconditioned, is it true.

They aren't air conditioned though I thought they were. In the article posted by Euromast, it says that they're going to introduce some AC buses now.

^^^ These Lo flo buses are lot of 525 buses ordered by DTC and out of which 25 are AC.Then there is further order of 4500 buses [Low floor 1500(Non AC) & 1000(AC);remaining 1000 are non AC semi low floor] To be delivered by 2010 i think

Bus rams into BRT stand, drivers blame faulty design
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A bus packed with commuters, a narrow corridor with little space to manoeuvre and people running to a bus stop located in the middle of the road — it’s a tragedy waiting to happen. More than 100 people — bus passengers and pedestrians — had a miraculous escape when a Delhi Transport Corporation bus crashed into a bus shelter near Press Enclave on the pilot Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor on Thursday morning after its brakes failed.
Fortunately, no one was injured in the accident. But eyewitnesses said a major tragedy was averted as the bus stop was packed with commuters and there were pedestrians walking in the bus lane too, minutes before the bus arrived.
The accident comes barely two days after a Blueline bus slammed into the railings on the corridor near Madangir while trying to save some people crossing the road in the bus lane. Two people were injured in the accident and one man lost his toes. Both accidents were similar in as much as they were caused by buses trying to avoid hitting pedestrians in the bus lane.
Thursday’s accident took place around 9.30am, a time when the corridor is bustling with people crossing the road, waiting at bus shelters and stuck in jams in the non-bus lanes. According to police, the bus was moving towards Chirag Dilli crossing when the driver realized that he was unable to apply the brakes and had lost control over the bus. Said the bus conductor, Mukesh Kumar: ‘‘Just ahead of the Press Enclave crossing, the brakes failed. The driver tried his best to stop but it was impossible. We saw two people crossing the road ahead of us and to save their lives, he swerved to the right and stopped the bus, which had climbed on to the bus shelter and rammed into the railings.’’
Eyewitness accounts revealed that the bus shelter was full of people. And the bus, plying on Route 544 between Ambedkar Nagar and Sarojini Nagar terminals, was packed.
Rs 200cr flyover to save Rs 60cr killer stretch
Determined to make the BRT corridor work at any cost, the Delhi government is even considering the option of building a clover-leaf flyover at Chirag Dilli. This project may cost the government a whopping Rs 200 crore. But government officials as well as Congress leaders are not sure whether this could salvage the Rs 60 crore corridor. P 2 Rush-hour accident could have taken a heavy toll
New Delhi: A DTC bus crashed into a bus shelter near Press Enclave on the pilot BRT corridor on Thursday. Said Anil Kumar Gupta, a traffic marshal who witnessed the incident: ‘‘This happened during the peak morning hours and there must have been around 50 people at the bus shelter. It stopped right before the main shaded area of the stop. Luckily, no one was standing there. If the bus had gone a little further, a terrible accident could have happened. All the commuters at the bus stop seemed terrified.’’
A police official said that no case had been registered and a technical inspection of the bus had confirmed that the accident was caused due to a brake failure.
Since the trial run of the corridor began, there has been a lot of criticism about the location of the bus lanes and shelters — in the middle of the road. As pedestrians are finding it difficult to cross the busy road to get to the bus stops — people can be seen running through the bus lanes and even jumping over railings in desperation — the common perception is that the flawed design has made the road more prone to accidents.
Thursday’s accident is a case in point as the DTC bus had no option but to ram into the stand to stop.
‘‘The way the strong steel railings have been damaged, it is evident that anyone standing behind them would have been crushed to death. It’s a miracle that people were huddled towards the centre of the stop at the time of the accident,’’ said a police officer.
Bus drivers using the corridor daily feel the faulty design is to blame for such accidents.
‘‘The bus lane becomes narrower as it approaches a bus shelter due to which one has to be extremely careful while manoeuvring the vehicle. Even a slight movement of the steering wheel can result in the bus crashing into the bus shelter. I go over the orange bollards put up before the bus stops daily since there is no space for the bus,’’ said Zile Singh, a DTC driver on route 423.
Several school buses plying in the corridor are forced to drop children at the bus shelters, and many of them can be spotted crossing the road at places other than the zebra crossings.
‘‘I dropped my eight-yearold daughter just half an hour before the accident at the same stop. Such an accident could have proved fatal for us,’’ said Pinky Arora, a resident of Sheikh Sarai.
Had the bus not crashed into the bus stop, it would have either gone over the low concrete medians into the MV lanes to damage vehicles or hit other buses ahead at the traffic signal, both of which could have proved fatal.

To save corridor, Rs 200 cr may be spent on flyover
Pilot Stretch Cost About Rs 60 Cr, Cure More Expensive
Abantika Ghosh | TNN

New Delhi: The state government is determined to continue its dreary plod along the BRT. It has asked the transport department and DIMTS to make it work at any cost, even consider options like constructing a Rs 200-odd crore flyover to buttress the Rs 60-crore pilot stretch.


Government officials and senior Congress leaders harbour serious misgivings that it may not be possible to make the corridor work in isolation. The speaker, who is the local MLA in Ambedkarnagar has already written to the L-G to intervene and get the project scrapped. Said a very senior Congress leader, ‘‘BRT is a good concept but it can never work in isolation. It is almost impossible to make a 5.8 Km stretch work. Of course by pooling in all its resources, the government will eventually achieve some degree of success. The fact is that the real purpose of BRT which is to discourage people from using private vehicles will not be served.’’


In cities across the world, including Bogota, whose Transmilenio has been touted a lot by the state government to promote the project at home, separate corridors have been promoted to
reduce the load of private
vehicles on city roads.


Also the entire Transmilenio network in Bogota is 84 Km. ‘‘Buses here travel fast only for a minuscule fraction of the distance that they cover per trip. How does the government expect people to leave their cars behind just for that much distance and then do the usual Blueline drill to work? It is preposterous,’’ said a Congress MLA.


Senior government officials also question the fiscal prudence of spending more than Rs 100 crore on a flyover with clover leaf to make the project succeed. But with the government taking it almost as a prestige issue, officials say funds would not be a constraint in this. Steering clear ofcommitting anything,

transport minister Haroon Yusuf, when asked if the corridor was likely to be extended till Delhi Gate before the Assembly elections said: ‘‘I am fully confident that the corridor will be a success — in fact some preliminary surveys have shown that more than 80% road users, including car owners are very happy with the way things are at present. I would not like to comment on when work will be started on the Moolchand-Delhi Gate stretch.’’


The transport department, meanwhile, has not yet identified the locations of the two foot over bridges on the stretch which were mooted in a meeting last Saturday.

<< The transport department, meanwhile, has not yet identified the locations of the two foot over bridges on the stretch which were mooted in a meeting last Saturday. >>

Why are the idiots still thinking about the foot over-bridges? In my opinion, they should go for subways connecting the median to both sides of the road with all amenities like lifts/escalators. The subways will be a better option during the scorching summers in Delhi when people will naturally avoid the over-bridges. Pedestrians should be given all these minimum facilities if they are not to spill over onto the road.
Maybe the Delhi Govt should look at the technology used in the underpasses construction
( 5days for each underpass construction ) in Bangalore to expedite the construction of the subways.

The subways can use the cut & fill method for faster execution.. atleast the future BRT routes shall incorporate that in their design...

Bluelines banned on BRT corridor

The transport department of the Delhi government today banned the movement of Blueline buses on much-criticised BRT corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand and deployed additional low-floor buses on it.

Delhi transport minister Haroon Yusuf said that this had been done to make the movement of buses smooth as earlier it was reported that traffic jam occurred due to Blueline buses. Bus drivers halted the vehicles wherever they wanted. They do not maintain discipline. Now plying of only low-floor DTC buses will ease the traffic movement, he said.

The minister said that the corridor was very successful as a majority of the people travel in buses and there is no traffic jam on the bus corridor. The problem is only for car and two-wheeler drivers.

According to a survey report of a TV channel, 82 per cent people who travel on the corridor have given a satisfactory report. They said that earlier when all vehicles were using the single corridor, bus passengers used to reach their work places late. Now the situation is reverse. With the beginning of the separate track for the bus, the passengers reach their destinations early.

Chief secretary Rakesh Mehta has also called a review meeting today after a number of accidents were reported on the corridor. The meeting was attended by all senior officers of the transport department.

Presenting their report to the chief secretary, the officers unanimously said that accidents occurred due to haphazard driving of the vehicles. The two-wheeler and car drivers sometimes changed their track that causes accidents, sources said

Bluelines banned on BRT corridor

Haha good, can't wait for all blueline buses to be phased out but only after there is proper reinforcement of DTC buses.

Instead of always pointing the finger at the government, people need to cultivate a sense of responsibility and abide by the rules. I agree that the accidents occurred primarily due to in the words of the transport officers, "haphazard driving of the vehicles".

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/4952/54930673va9.jpg

After railing work is done, the residence around the BRTS will not be able to cross the corridor. The footover bridges will take around 6 months to come up.

^^ Looks like all the planning is being done after project implementation.:ohno:

BRTS is an excellent concept but with the amount of traffic on the road especially cars,bikes and killer blue line buses makes it impossible for the BRTS to work.The systm is aleady working in all the developed countries and is successful.

Quickfix solutions are vanishing after U-turns
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Quick-fix solutions and then U-turns. That’s what the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) corridor story is turning out to be. And if you can’t get your act together, despite some fancy PR work, shoot the messenger. Officials have been coming up with a wide range of solutions to the BRT mess — even as there are jams on the corridor past midnight — and then quickly eating their words.

Five days after a senior government official associated with the project told a TOI reporter — and
then reiterated at a press
briefing — that the government would construct a flyover at the junction of the slip road adjacent to the corridor and Outer Ring Road, state PWD minister Rajkumar Chauhan issued a statement on Monday saying that there were no plans to construct a flyover on the 5.8-km corridor. But he went ahead to say that at best ‘‘it could only be an imaginary suggestion...’’. A suggestion that nevertheless came from a senior official associated with the BRT project at a briefing on April 30.


This is just another instance of trying to undo the damage wrought by a kneejerk reaction to the criticism that the corridor has been drawing from various quarters. Exactly 10 days after it was decided at a ‘‘high-level’’ meeting that foot overbridges would be constructed on the corridor, the state transport department is yet to identify the spots. It is only now that officials are talking about how difficult it is to make way for a landing for the FOBs without encroaching on the space meant for cyclists and pedestrians. We realised it the very first day but there were no answers.


After days of observing repeatedly that the signal cycle was not coordinated, the government has now made a pitch for an intelligent signalling system for the stretch that would analyse traffic flow on the feeder roads and accordingly time the signals. We will keep our fingers crossed.


Chauhan said in his statement that PWD was constructing three flyovers on the Outer Ring Road to make it signal free.

The flyovers, with an estimated combined cost of Rs 248 crore would be built at the Africa Avenue Marg-Vedant Diksha Marg crossing, Vivekanand Marg-Nelson Mandela Marg-Poorvi Marg Crossing and Rao Tula Ram Marg-Benito Juarez Marg intersections.


The first two flyovers would have a double carriageway while the second one would have a single carriageway. The length of the first flyover is 900 m, that of the second 1200 m and the third 800m.

all this news is biased BS. it's just fat rich people (who are too lazy to move without their cars) complaining. the common people who ride these buses are happy. these car-folk should be banned from driving on this stretch. only carpoolers (4 or more) and people with legitimate reasons for using a seperate motorized vehicle (couriers, shippers, transporters, etc) should be allowed to drive on it, along with bicycle riders.

this system would work perfectly if these lazy vehicled people would just get out and use the bus like everyone else. obviously if the traffic is bad on car, USE THE BUS, don't complain and ruin it for all the commoners who use the bus.

it's these same fat rich people who complain when the govt doesnt do anything useful. and here the govt has made a world class brts for the common man, and these car-people complain just because they're lazy.

i dont get why the media won't side with the commoners.

CHAOS CORRIDOR - BRT sans bus lane in the middle

AFTER A lot of criticism and failed experiments, the Delhi government on Tuesday decided to do away with the BRT system in its present form. In a high level meeting, the government decided to try a new model with the bus lane shifted to the sides of the corridor and car lane in the middle. The new system will be "experimented" on an 8.8 kilometre stretch between Moolchand Hospital and Delhi Gate. The existing 5.8 kilometre stretch from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand, however, will continue to have the bus corridor as it is.

The government has also decided to do away with the kerb-stone dividers to segregate bus lane from the motor vehicle lane. The divider will be replaced with painted lines and the responsibility to ensure lane driving will be on the traffic police, a senior government official said. The decisions, said officials, have been taken following complaints regarding security risks and confusion on the existing BRT stretch. Imported from Bogota, the BRT model, with a bus lane in the middle, created a lot of confusion and chaos on road. HT also highlighted how buses plying in the central lane caused problems for pedestrians especially children and the elderly. Schoolchildren found it difficult crossing the road every time to board their buses. While the brains behind the BRT, IIT Delhi's Geetam Tiwari, was unavailable for comments and Prof Dinesh Mohan refused to comment. "We have been emphasising that the concept of BRT can be successful only on low-tomedium density traffic," said Professor EK. Sarkar, Head of Transportation, School of Planning and Architecture.

This is just another masterstroke from Sheila Dixit and IIT along with it's band of jokers , so now we will have 2 different types of corridors . One which is already causing chaos is South Delhi will remain as it is and a new type where buses will ply on the sides will be experimented with.

SO why not demolish the first one and try this method there , at least that way there will be only one stretch to experiment with .

painted lanes sounds unrealistic in india. you can bet the brt stretch will turn into just another indian road in about 0.47 seconds

As long as drivers and pedestrians are indisciplined and are more than happy to break rules and the law enforcement is in complete shambles (more interested in collecting bribes than enforcing law), nothing of this sort will work properly.

add to that poor discipline some shoddy planning and even worse execution and what to you get .





DELHI BRTS.....

This new plan will just lead to more jams because of the massive weaving that'll take place between the 2 corridors. They should just scrap the 2nd leg since Line 6 of the metro will run right on the median of the corridor.

IS BRTS required for Delhi.I believe Delhi is supposed to have a Metro Network of about 400+km by 2020.That is huge by any standards.And ofcourse, regular bus services do exist.
I'm not a Delhite but have visited the city twice this year and i think that it is light years ahead of other Indian cities. The only sore point of the city is buses.I used to believe that privatisation is the answer for all of India's ills;but after visiting Delhi i realised that services like Buses should be controlled by the Govt.I stay in Chennai where Govt controls all Buses and Bus services in Chennai are a lot better than Delhi.Of course, no city comes close to Delhi in terms of roads and flyovers.

City govt sees reason, will give car users more space on BRT

In the light of this realization, the government decided on Tuesday that BRT Pilot 2 — from Moolchand to Delhi Gate — would give three, instead of two, lanes to non-bus traffic. Every effort would be made to smoothen the car traffic in the existing 5.8km stretch between Moolchand and Ambedkar Nagar.
Asked how that would be done, the sources said that first of all attention would be given to traffic intersections on the stretch. The Chirag Dilli crossing, for instance, would have a cloverleaf flyover, as was first reported by TOI. The detailed project report for this flyover is being prepared.

[TOI]

IS BRTS required for Delhi.I believe Delhi is supposed to have a Metro Network of about 400+km by 2020.That is huge by any standards.And ofcourse, regular bus services do exist.
I'm not a Delhite but have visited the city twice this year and i think that it is light years ahead of other Indian cities. The only sore point of the city is buses.I used to believe that privatisation is the answer for all of India's ills;but after visiting Delhi i realised that services like Buses should be controlled by the Govt.I stay in Chennai where Govt controls all Buses and Bus services in Chennai are a lot better than Delhi.Of course, no city comes close to Delhi in terms of roads and flyovers.

Of course, BRTS is needed. It is just that people of Delhi (and whole of India) lack traffic sense to drive in their designated lanes.

Secondly, Delhi's bus system is screwed up not because of privatization. It is dysfunctional, because there are thousands of Blueline contractors. Instead of them, Delhi should have allowed only a few (max 3), but renowned private operators.

Review meet to decide fate of Pilot B project
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The fate of Pilot B of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor from Moolchand to Delhi Gate will be decided on Tuesday in a review meeting scheduled for the under-construction stretch.

In the meeting, to be attended by transport department, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) and RITES, officials will assess the progress of construction on the 8-km stretch till Delhi Gate. Sources said the officials will look at how far the construction of cycle tracks, footpaths and lane segregation has progressed and based on this a decision will be taken on how Pilot B will look.

‘‘That there will be another design for the remaining part of the corridor is certain. But how the lanes will be drawn out, where all the road can be widened and the location of bus stops will be decided after the review,’’ sources said.

A decision will also be taken on whether the portion of the corridor which has already been constructed — like the bus shelters and kerbstones which have come up in the middle of the road as per the old design between Moolchand crossing and CGO complex — will be razed or not.

Confirming the review meeting, transport commissioner RK Verma told TOI that the decision about how the corridor will shape up after Moolchand will be discussed in Tuesday’s meeting. ‘‘We need to assess the available road space and existing construction, which will be done in the review,’’ he said.

The government took a decision to change the design of the existing BRT corridor after trial runs started on April 19 led to acute congestion in the MV lanes and confusion for all.

Stick to lanes in BRT-II from Tuesday

DON'T BE surprised to see a battery of traffic cops enforcing lane discipline between Moolchand and Delhi Gate from May 13.
To make its Bus Rapid Transit-II model successful, the Delhi government wants to enforce lane discipline even when the construction is yet to begin. According to senior transport officials, Bus Rapid Transit-II model will be no different from other roads of the city.

As per the Supreme Court orders in 1997, buses have to ply in left most lanes on all roads. Eleven years down the line, buses in Delhi can be seen plying in left lane only.

The difference, said transport offi cials, is that left-most lane will now be reserved for buses. No other vehicle will be allowed to enter the bus lane. Delhi chief secretary Rakesh Mehta has entrusted the responsibility to enforce lane driving on the corridor to traffic police.

"The construction of the entire corridor will take about four months to complete. We can utilise this time in creating some awareness among motorists. The line segregating the bus lane will be repainted and traffic police will be asked to enforce lane driving," Delhi transport commissioner R.K.Verma said.

Delhi traffic police joint commissioner S.N.Shrivastava, however, said every conscious effort is made and most buses indeed ply in bus lane all over the city. "But we have yet to get any communication from transport department for a specific lane enforcement drive," Shrivastava added

One more lane for cars in new BRT

LEARNING FROM its "experiments" and "failures" from model one of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, the Delhi government is now planning to provide one additional lane to motor vehicles on model two of BRT.
In its model two, from Moolchand to Delhi Gate, there will be at least three lanes available to motor vehicles.

Buses will continue to have a separate lane.
The construction of the entire corridor will take about four months

the most difficult part is ensuring two wheelers follow lane discipline. All two wheelers have a habit of trying to occupy every little inch in between cars and every other part of the road. Good luck trying to stop them from leaking out of every hole like water.

Apart from two wheelers lot of stray cattle roaming free on roads. I donot know why there are lot of cows in south delhi!!

The Capital may be suffering from the effects of the BRT corridor, but the Delhi government has found a keen supporter in the French transport minister Dominique Bussecreau, who on Wednesday told Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit that France too faced much opposition when the first BRT corridor came up in Paris. Pointing out that now "all is well" with the project, the French minister revealed that the corridor in Paris stretched over 44 kilometres.

At a meeting with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, the French Minister said that the BRT corridor had attracted a lot of criticism and opposition from the public when it first commenced operations. He told the CM that things improved later and now the project was a success. Indicating that the government should not abandon the project, the minister further said that after the success of BRT in Paris, other cities too had come forward, expressing their desire to adopt the system.

The city of Paris, which runs about 60 bus lines, adopted the BRT system in early 2000 when major arteries were thinned to create designated "express lanes" for buses and taxis. These lanes were cordoned off from the rest of the road by concrete barriers. Earlier, the dedicated bus lanes existed, but were marked by painted lines. The system also has separate tracks for pedestrians and cyclists and cycling is reportedly a popular mode of commute for the city.

TOI source.

^^ That is why I totally support BRT for Delhi.

Two more foot overbridges

A DAY after residents of Madangir took to the streets protesting the lack of pedestrian facilities on the 5.8 kilometre long Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor, Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited has finalised two locations to provide foot overbridges (FOB) for pedestrians to cross the busy road.
While one overbridge will be constructed at the Ambedkar Nagar crossing, the other one will come up near a dargah at Sheikh Sarai crossing.

The two locations have been zeroed in keeping in mind the demand and utility of pedestrian services and availability of space for constructing stairs and pillars to support the bridge, DIMTS official said.

A senior DIMTS official said the FOB at Ambedkar Nagar will have three instead of two arms. Apart from crossing the BRT corridor, pedestrians will also be able to cross the MB Road by using the FOB.

The other FOB near the dargah will serve the long-standing demand of the residents of Sheikh Sarai-II, for a subway to cross the busy road.

"There were a lot of factors that needed to be taken into account while finalising the locations and availability of space was the most important. We have decided to hire a new agency of architect and structure engineers to prepare designs for the two FOBs," a senior DIMTS official said.

"The design of the FOBs will be such that there is no need to erect pillars in the middle of the road to give them support," the official added.

Pics by Gyanguru


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The model works in every major cities and should work in Delhi as well.....people should rely on public transport more especially when crude oil prices are going through the roof....a successful public transport model except metro is very important for the city.....

Bus lane to shut at night

New Delhi: Alarmed by the growing number of accidents on the BRT corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, the transport department has decided to shut down the corridor dedicated to bus movement between 11 pm to 5 am. This is likely to come into effect from Tuesday night.

‘‘It was seen that most of the accidents have happened during the night or early morning. Many of these accidents happen because pedestrians and cars take liberties as there are not too many buses plying at night and then get. As a precautionary measure, we have decided to close the bus lane at night—both to pedestrians and vehicles. By closing the lane, chances of pedestrians or cars trying to get into the corridor and suddenly getting hit by a bus can be averted,’’ senior transport department officials added.

Transport minister Haroon Yusuf has also directed the transport department once again to carry out training programmes for bus drivers plying on this route to sensitise them. ‘‘An awareness campaign for commuters and pedestrians using the route has also been proposed,’’ Yusuf added.

In the last one week three people lost their lives to accidents in the BRT corridor. With the recent spate of accidents, the transport department and the government are now having second thoughts about the much hyped Pilot-B project, spanning from Moolchand flyover to Delhi Gate.

source: TOI

Pilot-B Project To Follow Different Design.

...but an experiment.

The Pilot-B project, made public on May 6, will follow a different design. In the new project, the bus lane will be shifted to the left instead of the centre and there will be three lanes for cars. It is proposed that there will be no medians dividing the lanes. The bus lane will be painted a different colour to create a corridor for the buses. Enforcement by the traffic police is to ensure that the cars don’t run into the lane.

According to a recent assessment by the transport department, however, a bus corridor on the left could be problematic as there are as many as 80 turnings if both sides of the road on the eight-kilometre between Moolchand flyover and Delhi Gate are taken into account. A large number of vehicles on that route might want to take
those turns, making it impossible to maintain a free-flowing bus lane.

In an effort to sort out problems on the Pilot-B corridor, the transport department will focus on completing the pedestrian tracks and cycle tracks and widen the road over the next three to four months. The left lane execution on Pilot-B will only begin after that.

A senior transport department official said that the Pilot-B project was ‘‘ going to be an experiment,’’ indicating that there are no guarantees of success.

source: TOI

5 AC buses may hit BRT stretch in June 1st week

New Delhi: The sparklingred, air-conditioned, low-floor buses are here and five of the eight buses that have arrived in the capital will take off on the Bus Rapid Transit Corridor in all likelihood sometime next week. With a tariff ranging from Rs 10 to Rs 25, the government proposes to create a network for buses earmarked for the BRT corridor so that the corridor can get linked to critical points in south and central Delhi.

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/3028/pc0091000jz6.jpg

After much delay, the AC buses are likely to set out on the roads. If the government manages to stick to its deadline, then according to transport minister Haroon Yusuf, the launch will take place in the first week of June which is just round the corner.

The eight, state-of-the-art buses by Tata have arrived from Lucknow and are currently stationed in Ghazipur, awaiting the green signal to drive out. The Transport department is now finalising the routes for all eight, five of which will definitely ferry passengers in the BRT corridor.

The AC drive will cost the customers a slab ranging from Rs 10 - Rs 15 - Rs 20 and Rs 25. The fare structure for the non-AC low floor buses is Rs 3, Rs 5, Rs 7 and Rs 10. Pointing out that the decision to ply the new AC buses on the BRT corridor was an attempt to get more people onto public transport, the transport minister added, “that the other aim was to provide a network to connect the corridor to other central spots to provide a link with other modes of transport.”

Yusuf further said that one of the routes being explored involves linking BRT with Nehru Place and Shivaji stadium. It is proposed that the AC bus would start from Nehru Place touch base with the outer Ring Road, enter the BRT corridor from Ambedkar Nagar and go the entire length of the existing corridor and then take off to go towards Connaught Place, ending the ride at Shivaji Stadium, connecting commuters to the city centre. Also, with Metro facility available in CP, people who get off this AC bus can further use the public transport for a quick transit to other parts of the capital like west Delhi.




[TOI]

I always thought the Green DTC buses were Air-conditioned.They had this huge block on the top...I thought only A/C buses had those.Anyway,wat re those things on the buses?Can anyone explain?Thanks,
Prasanna.

I always thought the Green DTC buses were Air-conditioned.They had this huge block on the top...I thought only A/C buses had those.Anyway,wat re those things on the buses?Can anyone explain?Thanks,
Prasanna.

No DTC bus ever had a A/C facility , I don't quite recall what kind of block you are referring to but most probably that was just for safety of direction sinages and defiantly not for A/C.

No DTC bus ever had a A/C facility , I don't quite recall what kind of block you are referring to but most probably that was just for safety of direction sinages and defiantly not for A/C.
I think he is referring to the big hump on the roof. Over here in Toronto, I have seen that hump in Natural gas and diesel-hybrid powered buses. Not sure why.

Guys, this is the first time something of this sort is being tried out in India.
I think we should keep our faith in the project, because a feasible road transport system is absolutely essential.

I think large portion of the blame also rests with the notoriously bad drivers of Delhi, IMO.

yeah
i was referring to the big hump on the buses.ordinary non A/C DTC buses dont have em...but these green buses have them..In chennai,the A/C buses have those humps and not the non a/c ones.
Does the hump serve any purpose?

Bus lane to shut at night

New Delhi: Alarmed by the growing number of accidents on the BRT corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, the transport department has decided to shut down the corridor dedicated to bus movement between 11 pm to 5 am. This is likely to come into effect from Tuesday night.

‘‘It was seen that most of the accidents have happened during the night or early morning. Many of these accidents happen because pedestrians and cars take liberties as there are not too many buses plying at night and then get. As a precautionary measure, we have decided to close the bus lane at night—both to pedestrians and vehicles. By closing the lane, chances of pedestrians or cars trying to get into the corridor and suddenly getting hit by a bus can be averted,’’ senior transport department officials added... source: TOI
perhaps they should increase patrolling and impose heavy fines on violators.
there are lanes designated as High Occupancy Vahicles (HOV: buses and cars with 3 or more occupants) in US and you will hardly find anyone misusing them ... patrolling and imposing fines seems to work. they also need to build more FOBs for the pedestrians.

Two more foot overbridges

... "There were a lot of factors that needed to be taken into account while finalising the locations and availability of space was the most important. We have decided to hire a new agency of architect and structure engineers to prepare designs for the two FOBs," a senior DIMTS official said.

"The design of the FOBs will be such that there is no need to erect pillars in the middle of the road to give them support," the official added.


I don't see why they can't build an FOB if it requires a supporting pillar on the median... lame excuse ...

this is a pilot project not only for Delhi, but gonna be a trend setter for the rest of the metros.
they got to make it work!

yeah
i was referring to the big hump on the buses.ordinary non A/C DTC buses dont have em...but these green buses have them..In chennai,the A/C buses have those humps and not the non a/c ones.
Does the hump serve any purpose?

May be a possibility lo easily convert these buses into A/C...so the hump might just be a blank covering....

sorry if repost

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Car drivers needs to understand with the popuation of India if everyone would be using cars in Delhi they would be standstill forever....

Inegrated model of public transport system is very important expecially with crude oil prices going through the roof and India import 75% of crude oil.......Efficient Public transport is a key to success and it could easily be veified by looking at any developed country....

um so basically everything the media has spewed about the delhi brts for the past couple of weeks was false...it's a pure success

I think initially when it opened there were quite a few issues, and so the media went crazy over it. Now that things seem to have settled down, the media has nothing to report !!
For some reason after all the brouhaha initially, none of the news agencies has had the decency or integrity to report the improved situation along the corridor (or any other project for that matter)

I think initially when it opened there were quite a few issues, and so the media went crazy over it. Now that things seem to have settled down, the media has nothing to report !!
For some reason after all the brouhaha initially, none of the news agencies has had the decency or integrity to report the improved situation along the corridor (or any other project for that matter)

There is no improved situation , instead the Gov. has bowed down and removed the concrete structures and at times regular vehicles are allowed to ply on empty bus lanes , people have stopped taking these roads and so the rush is less but it has catapulted onto other roads.

Another kind of BRT with different colors is being used with bus lanes on the sides but problems are arising with the no. of turnings on the bus lane , plus FOB is also an issue on which no work has been done , the media probably just got bored

The biggest problem is gove is a scared of being strong because elections are coming soon....BRTS will turn into a success but requires some more time....

Cracks In BRTS (http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/videopod/default.aspx?id=32781)

BRT is a compulsory requirement for Delhi and every other metropolitian city.....

BRT blocked; ply buses on left only, say residents

BRT blocked; ply buses on left only, say residents
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Residents of Madangir in south Delhi blocked the traffic at the Pushpa Bhawan crossing on the pilot Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor on Monday morning, inconveniencing scores of commuters headed to work. The protesters demanded that the bus lanes throughout the corridor should be shifted to the extreme left of the road.

After facing a flak for the design of the corridor when trial runs started, the government took a decision to shift the bus lanes to the extreme left in half the corridor which had not been commissioned. The two designs — Pilot A running from Ambedkar Nagar to Defence Colony flyover and Pilot B from Defence Colony flyover till Delhi Gate crossing, officials said, would be tested on ground simultaneously and the better model will be replicated in the remaining corridors planned across the Capital.

‘‘We have been completely trapped inside our colony. The entire stretch has been barricaded and bus stops have been provided only at Pushpa Bhawan and Ambedkar Nagar. We are forced to walk everyday about two km just to pick up our children,’’ said Nathiya Devi, a resident.

The village came up pre-independence, much before the rest of the colonies and DDA flats were developed in the area. ‘‘The main Madangir T-point had always been here and formed the main access to the village even historically. And now it has been closed. A pedestrian signal put up there is useless as hardly anyone stops there and accidents of villagers have become common,’’ said Choudhary Hira Singh, another resident.

The villagers demanded an explanation from the government on its decision to have two pilots. ‘‘Why is the government shifting bus lanes to the left only after Moolchand? The colonies located after that house affluent people and perhaps they don’t care about the poor. When the government knows that this design has failed, why aren’t the bus stops being removed?’’ said AD Khurana, president of Gurudwara Market
association in Madangir.

The protest led to delays on the corridor. Even as local and traffic police officials tried using force to remove the protesters from the road and ease flow of traffic, the narrow road width and confusion caused long tailbacks of vehicles, running upto Chirag Dilli and Ambedkar Nagar crossings. Some traffic was diverted too.

Source - Times of India

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8070/delhibrtyd0.jpg


Source - HT e-paper

Pedestrian facilities need to be immediately addressed, and too bad 1,800 trees had to be cut down. But good to know the BRT is functioning much more smoothly now :cheers:

I've posted some pics of the BRT corridor in my thread --> IU's Passage to India 2008 (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=23085370#post23085370)

It seems like the BRTS is great for bus users, potentially great for cyclists and pedestrians (gaps in implementation need to be filled) and not much worse off for cars and two wheelers, if they adhere to traffic discipline. Overall, that seems like a good thing for the city. The article does not fully answer how much of the improvement in the situation now is because of traffic shifting to other corridors, but I doubt that is the only or even primary explanation for the improvement in the situation.

The main learnings from this experiment are that (a) traffic discipline must be enforced and inculcated even before the system is opened; (b) peripheral infrastructure (like pedestrian crossings/overbridges etc) are just as important as the main infrastructure and (c) there needs to be a good transition plan when the system is opened.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/8070/delhibrtyd0.jpg
Source - HT e-paper

that is very encouraging news BRTS. :cheers:

we always beleived that the Indian people arent worth of projects like Metro , BRTS etc as they do not civic sense & that they will spoil them as they are beuilt & opened for use. However , the Delhi Metro & now the above BRTS case has demonstrated that Indians arent that bad after all :D .
The most important thing about the Delhi Metro is that they know that this is one project that has bene honestly & very efficiently built. That Sreenivasan & co. have not allowed private interests supercede public interests anyway. Hence they feel happy about it & hence have kept it clean so far

:)

we always beleived that the Indian people arent worth of projects like Metro , BRTS etc as they do not civic sense & that they will spoil them as they are beuilt & opened for use. However , the Delhi Metro & now the above BRTS case has demonstrated that Indians arent that bad after all :D .
The most important thing about the Delhi Metro is that they know that this is one project that has bene honestly & very efficiently built. That Sreenivasan & co. have not allowed private interests supercede public interests anyway. Hence they feel happy about it & hence have kept it clean so far


Actually there are few lessons to be learned from this experience. A majority of the GOI folks are honest decent people living a life, struggling to make ends meet, placing emphasis on their children's future. They go about their jobs in earnest and do their best. Mr. Sreedharan (not Sreenivasan) is epitome of such GOI employees. Another lesson is that Politicians have no recourse nowadays other than to deliver. PM Vajpayee made a valiant effort in two good projects - DMRC and Golden Quad. When the politicians stop playing games and deliver, the People of India are not averse to progress and sane projects. They take pride in such endeavors because they see tangible results. People treat Metros with reverence like Kolkatta and Delhi. Slowly the chaos that is India is emerging from a shell shocked period of subjugation by the British to a more strident self confident one. There is nothing new about this resurgence. India for a very long time dominated the world both culturally and economically, its GDP was 20-30% of the world, in other words, 1 in 5 goods produced were from India. It is natural for a resurgent India to retake what was once its traditional place in world affairs. Going forward, if everyone in India understands the goal, that India will some day be a world leader, then the responsibility, the care and pride in all things Indian comes automatically.

Actually there are few lessons to be learned from this experience. A majority of the GOI folks are honest decent people living a life, struggling to make ends meet, placing emphasis on their children's future. They go about their jobs in earnest and do their best. Mr. Sreedharan (not Sreenivasan) is epitome of such GOI employees. Another lesson is that Politicians have no recourse nowadays other than to deliver. PM Vajpayee made a valiant effort in two good projects - DMRC and Golden Quad. When the politicians stop playing games and deliver, the People of India are not averse to progress and sane projects. They take pride in such endeavors because they see tangible results. People treat Metros with reverence like Kolkatta and Delhi. Slowly the chaos that is India is emerging from a shell shocked period of subjugation by the British to a more strident self confident one. There is nothing new about this resurgence. India for a very long time dominated the world both culturally and economically, its GDP was 20-30% of the world, in other words, 1 in 5 goods produced were from India. It is natural for a resurgent India to retake what was once its traditional place in world affairs. Going forward, if everyone in India understands the goal, that India will some day be a world leader, then the responsibility, the care and pride in all things Indian comes automatically.

100 % true

oh btw sorry for the Sreedharan /srinivasan gaffe :eek2: .my bad

Gald things with the BRTS worked out well and enouraging news for it to be extended to other areas.

If projects are planned & executed properly you wont have problems and people would appreciate the projects better than loathing them.

CCTVs to give real-time info on BRT traffic snarls

NEW DELHI: In a month's time, you will be able to log on to the internet to see real-time photographs of all the intersections on Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor to gauge the extent of traffic jams and choose your route accordingly.

In what comes as a first of its kind experiment for Delhi drivers, those using the road stretch will get an idea of the congestion levels at all intersections simply at the click of a mouse button. The Passenger Information System (PIS), which will enable the service, has been developed by transport department Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) and is being tried out on the BRT corridor to start with.

'' A tender has already been awarded for installation of CCTV cameras at all the intersections, which will gather real time information to be posted on the internet. The system will be updated every 30 seconds and commuters can use it to plan their journeys,'' said SN Sahai, managing director, DIMTS. The webpage can be access through a link which will be provided on the DIMTS website www.dimts.in

The government is expecting that the system will also help bring down congestion levels on the corridor, as people will be able to stagger their journeys after assessing the data.

The website also has a link where the location of all the new Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses is plotted on a Delhi map to enable commuters to ascertain the exact time when a particular bus will reach the desired bus stop. The movement of each bus, along with the registration number and route, is also updated on a 30 second basis. To make this possible, over 120 buses green and red low floor buses have been fitted with Global Positioning System (GPS) and connected to a centralised control room where the current location and movement of every bus can be tracked.

The GPS data has been used to create a PIS for bus commuters. On the website, one can access bus stop wise data on which bus routes will cross the stop and the time taken to reach. Commuters can also see the real time movement of all the GPS fitted buses. The website will also have a community for car pool users, where people can get together and find others taking the same route so that the number of cars headed to the same destination can be reduced.

DIMTS is also in the process of coordinating with a UK based firm to set up a Incident Management System on the BRT corridor, where road users will be able to access data about road blocks caused by vehicle breakdowns or water-logging on the internet and also on LED screens put up across the corridor.

Govt U-turn on BRT, plans more stretches.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had on February 18 this year ordered her officials not to go for any further expansion of the controversial BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) corridor project till the first phase of the pilot — Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand — proved that the system had actually led to improvement in traffic flow and commuter convenience. ‘‘She wishes to satisfy herself first that BRT is useful and this is proved beyond doubt,’’ top sources in her office had told TOI.

Later, the government had made it clear that they were testing another pilot beyond Moolchand and would make a choice between the two.

The government, which has always appeared keen to go ahead with the scheme, seems to have gone back on its word. It has now called for interested parties to prepare detailed design and engineering reports for two more BRT stretches — from Moolchand to Jehangirpuri (Ring Road) and Shastri Park Metro station to Karawal Nagar.

Please god - no more unplanned BRT corridors , what am I supposed to do - fly over them !!

making mroe brts stretches are awesome because....

1) they have bike lanes
2) they look good and are standardized
3) they make transportation better for 60-80 percent of Delhi

making mroe brts stretches are awesome because....

1) they have bike lanes
2) they look good and are standardized
3) they make transportation better for 60-80 percent of Delhi

all that happens if it's well executed , @ the moment it's anything but.

The government learned from its mistakes and will obviously improve the BRTS. Delhi deserves an integrated transport system, as the metro cannot connect every place in the city.

Govt U-turn on BRT, plans more stretches.

The government, which has always appeared keen to go ahead with the scheme, seems to have gone back on its word. It has now called for interested parties to prepare detailed design and engineering reports for two more BRT stretches — from Moolchand to Jehangirpuri (Ring Road) and Shastri Park Metro station to Karawal Nagar.


Please spare the ring road. Despite the 20-30 flyovers, it's perennially choked and reserving a lane for buses will further screw the traffic. DMRC has plans to construct a line on the RR during Phase III of the DM project. Till then the RR bus service (Mudrika) will suffice like it has been.

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/6985/brtsef6.jpg

Where is the Bus lane in the pic? Looks like the cars are running on either side of the road in the BRT lane.

Some pics from www.dimts.in

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/6079/ambedkarnagar2008bn8.jpg
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2313/dsc04351ge3.jpg
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/1570/dsc04426wu5.jpg

WOW that makes delhi look like a worldclass city

The bus-stops look just like those of Singapore.

Hey guys, i must share this with you...

just as i was browsing thru these photos of 2 Green line tata buses, one of my american colleague stopped by and asked me "is it frankfurt". i told him its New delhi, he was surprised and just went ahead....

so guys, the perception of people abroad will only change when we implement such savvy looking designs and infrastructure.

(i am in NY, usa)

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/5090/dsc04351ge3vv3.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

maybe they will go away with arrival of Nano (when is that happening?!). Apparently, the costs for both are similar. If that is true, i see no reason why any auto driver will buy a 3 wheeler (except if they are constrained by their licenses) since 4-wheelers command more respect.

4-wheleers are also safer than 3-wheelers. So, i would make a case of phasing them away based on that fact rather than just looks. 3-wheelers, no matter how maligned, still offer cheaper fares.

Some more from www.dimts.in

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2759/1001brtwq6.jpg
http://img364.imageshack.us/img364/7520/brtdelhipb4.jpg
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9259/dsc04206fs2.jpg
http://img223.imageshack.us/img223/1185/dsc04210em4.jpg
http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/258/dsc04335vg6.jpg
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/2446/dsc04350ja3.jpg

fantastic......
:applause:
this needs to be followed in all d major cities in india

^^ :yes:

Wow !...thats Superb, Fantastic

I dont have words for the beautiful buses....

Good going Delhi........

Keep it Up..........

Copyright BRT_Delhi

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1925/27412394984c19c916d9qe9.jpg

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/4666/2740396231488f421c0aac1.jpg

http://img368.imageshack.us/img368/1163/2741232262e12485ab7drk3.jpg

Copyright BRT_Delhi

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/3774/27403999339558663ea0hl5.jpg

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5677/27412267304ff69029eccv3.jpg

^^fantastic.. i love it..
:applause:

Excellent pics there....hope they will be able to maintain the same kinda discipline throughout.

Brilliant!. The greenliners have perfectly blended with the surrounding greenary of New Delhi

after metro BRTS changes the looks of delhi..
pretty pics there

track for cyclist unbelievable....

Copyright BRT_Delhi

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/1925/27412394984c19c916d9qe9.jpg



Wow! Delhi is doing (and looking) really great!

around 4-5 times, different times of day. Traffic is pretty smooth, lanes are not being jumped (with the exception of some motorcycles/scooters in the cycle lane), and what a relief it is to finally not be sharing a lane with buses!! I am linking to some video and pictures - sorry for the quality, but they were taken from a car. But they do give some sense of how the BRT is functioning.

http://flickr.com/photos/saug/sets/72157606531298310/

that is nice, they BETTER implement this brts EVERYWHERE in delhi

Some pics from www.dimts.in
http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/2313/dsc04351ge3.jpg

Copyright BRT_Delhi
http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/5677/27412267304ff69029eccv3.jpg
cool. BRTS is getting redesigned for the Indian metros. esp the mini lane dividers, extra signage and bike-lanes.
Our beaureaucracy can really deliver with a lil bit of push from the netas!
Lets hope the rest of the metros follow suit.

Now if only there were proper subways connecting the side walks to the bus stops and also to the other side of the road with escalators etc for pedestrians - well no harm in dreaming. Well come to think of it, Delhi does have a lot of pedestrian subways at Connaught place, Janpath etc. Why did'nt they think of something simillar for the BRT. Also does anybody know if it technically possicle to add these subways without much disruption to regular traffic. I mean something other than the cut and cover method? Of course the TBMs used in metros won't be feasible hear.

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/3912/brts2os6.jpg





Source - HT

thats gonna confuse the shyt out of ppl for a while. But i do agree, bus lanes on the left are more practical....

this is ridiculous, bus lanes on the middle were a MUCH better idea

when bus lanes were in the middle, cars had absolutely no reason to go into their lane, but now cars will HAVE to cross into the bus lane, and many cars will even if they don't have to, to avoid traffic

and when bus lanes are on the left, you can't build barriers to stop cars from coming because cars will have to make turns from and to the road the brts corridor is on

so having bus lanes on the left basically defeats the entire purpose of having a bus rapid transport corridor since cars will be driving through them

not to mention how stupid it is to have a lane switch halfway through the road. there are going to be crashes like crazy.

gah, the ONE good urban transport project the government plans goes to ruin because of the selfish 20-30 percent of delhi that owns cars

Maybe the Brt Corridor can have an overpass near an intersection where the busses have to keep going straight but there are other vehicles turning left.
BRT on the middle was a much better Idea, as far as traffic is concerned, but as for pedestrian safety, why not just build foot bridges like they have at the railway stations?
Much safer isn't it?
Not that costly either!

totally unplanned and knee-jerk reaction to the BRTS opposition!

They should have continued with the BRTS lane in the center. Why cant they just build footbridges or subways for people?

This is being badly mismanaged.

This is just plain silly!

It should be consistant all over &kept in the centre instead of different systems.

Yeah I agree that subways, crossings & foot-over-bridges would help to get to & from the bus stops.

Yep. How can it be a Rapid transport if it is on the left (slowest lane). Knee jerk reaction to the opposition for Pilot A. This sounds like a death knell to BRT after this phase.

People will have every reason to criticize again..

The middle lane(Pilot A) was the best possible way of ensuring speedier transport. The issue of connecting to bus stations could have been planned through under passes or over bridges.

totally unplanned and knee-jerk reaction to the BRTS opposition!

They should have continued with the BRTS lane in the center. Why cant they just build footbridges or subways for people?

This is being badly mismanaged.

yes.. its gonno be badly mismanaged...

i just have a thought.. why we have make cars and other personal vehicles. ? to make our ride comfortable .. right.. ? so even if the car climb a small height, it will not effect anything...

so why don't they just keep the pedestrian at same level and make the road go over the pedestrian for easy access to the bus stop in the middle..

i know its a little expensive.. but in long run.. it will be useful.

^^Or Just have foot bridges for the pedestrians!
It's much safer but less costly and gives the city and urban look and feel.
Imagine walking over the foot bridge while loads of traffic is going under you!
It would feel like a true metro.

I noticed when I was in Delhi that a rather nicely-designed foot overbridge was being built acrosds Outer Ring Road near Savitri cinema - actually between Savitri and the tunr into CR Park. It had sycle ramps and what not. Wonder if someone could take and post a pic of this prototype for what they should do all along the BRT. (I know that the point I'm talking about isn't on the BRT, it's just that what they're doing there seemed of some relevance to the discussion about how to get pedestrians and bus passengers across traffic safely).

BRT claims another life: Woman run over by bus
32-Yr-Old Was Crushed Beyond Recognition Under Wheels
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Another accident, another life lost and again in the BRT corridor. On Tuesday morning, 32-year-old domestic help Manju Devi was crushed under the wheels of a low-floor DTC bus as she tried to cross the corridor near her Chirag Dilli home on her way to work.

“I was standing near the bus stop when I saw a DTC bus on route number 423 (from Khanpur to Mori Gate) brake abruptly. The victim was crossing the road and had just reached near the yellow barricades, about 400 metres short of the bus stop. The bus first hit her, then crushed her under the front wheel and even then the driver could not control the vehicle. The victim was dragged for some distance before the rear wheels crushed her head,” said Shahnawaz Khan, an eyewitness.

The accident sparked off violent protests. Locals first surrounded the bus, and then pelted stones, before assaulting driver Bal Kishan. According to an official from the Ambedkar Nagar police station, a case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving had been lodged against the driver.

“However, we have not yet taken him into custody because he is admitted at the AIIMS trauma centre hospital as a result of injuries sustained due to the beating.

According to our investigation, the victim was not crossing the road from the designated pedestrian crossing and when the bus driver saw her, he braked abruptly. As it was running on high speed, the bus spun out of control and swerved, crushing the victim in the process,” he said. He added that accidents on the corridor were frequent because of too few pedestrian crossings which encouraged jay walking.

“We find it very difficult to stop people from crossing the roads inappropriately because why would a person who needs to go to one place, walk a kilometre only to cross the road? Even the guards appointed at all bus stops can only do so much because managing the kind of crowd that this area witnesses is not possible. Also, the low-floor buses don’t have a chassis because of which they lose control easily if brakes are applied suddenly. The authorities should take note of all these factors and take some remedial action to prevent more such deaths,” said the official.

The victim’s body was sent to AIIMS and a postmortem was to be conducted on Wednesday. “We have traced and informed her family. Her husband works as a guard in one of the buildings nearby and they have three children,” said the official.


It just goes to show that even if BRT Delhi is good to look at , it's still a model for crap road planning .

Really unfortunate incident.

One transport mode (BRT) cannot solve our Urbran road traffic issues which we accumulated over 50 years. Be it infrastructure, traffic sense or Enforcement..

its the civic sense which needs to improve....

the point is that there should be crossings at regular intervals on the roads, but even if they are provided, you will see people cross the road in the middle anyways. I have seen this first hand in Hyderabad, where people will just cross the road even if there is a FOB a few steps away.....

So sad and unfortunate.

Yeah it is a lot of factors here, civic sense, more crossings etc however its like anywhere else. People step into the roads here in the West and jaywalkers are abound all over the world.

It just goes to show that even if BRT Delhi is good to look at , it's still a model for crap road planning .

What about the 100s of lives lost everyday on the Indian Railways? According to your logic, we should eliminate Indian Railways.

Civic sense and pedestrian flow has to be improved. BRT must stay.

its the civic sense which needs to improve....

the point is that there should be crossings at regular intervals on the roads, but even if they are provided, you will see people cross the road in the middle anyways. I have seen this first hand in Hyderabad, where people will just cross the road even if there is a FOB a few steps away.....

Forget crossing the road, people dont walk on footpaths even after such good ones have been built in Mumbai for e.g. People still walk on the road. (I can understand older men/women since footpaths are badly designed without sloping transfers.)

What about the 100s of lives lost everyday on the Indian Railways? According to your logic, we should eliminate Indian Railways.

Civic sense and pedestrian flow has to be improved. BRT must stay.

From where in my post do you get the notion that I want BRT to be scrapped , I said it was very badly planned , urgent improvements are needed.

Please read posts before replying .

All of us have seen how pedestrians cross roads in our cities. If there are provisions for pedestrians to cross the bus lanes without getting in their route, should the authorities be penalized for not enforcing them?

Jaywalking is not an issue in this country, neither is stopping for a light before crossing, and although we have rash drivers, we also have innocent drivers who have to pay for the negligence and lack of common sense by most pedestrians. Read the article - the victim was not crossing at the designated spot, the driver applied brakes as soon as he spotted her, but its a freakin bus, not a bike, for all the drivers efforts, it will still take many meters to stop completely.

I feel the driver has been scapegoated again. They list all the reasons and yet the driver's framed for rash and negligent driving. Just another day in our la-la land.

It just goes to show that even if BRT Delhi is good to look at , it's still a model for crap road planning .

That's completely the Lady's fault.
How can she just carelessly walk across like that.
I think the BRTS is not the best thing on earth but it's certainly not bad.
It's a step forward towards a top-notch infra development.
But what's up with the People's reaction? :ohno:
The bus driver was doing his job and he did try to stop.
I bet those bastards who beat that bus driver wouldn't do the same to a politician who killed people for purposes of his election.
I know they got enraged just seeing the horrible sight, but you still can't lose your mind.
Think twice is what one needs to do but some people(the lady who got hit and the guys who beat that bus driver) don't even think once.
But I hope the Lady's family has come out of the somber situation, and not blame it on the BRTS.
Sometimes people loose their minds over fights and it would suck if that was the case here.
What's the point of education?

BRTS is certainly a way forwar and in hindsight it was the lady's mistake too - jaywalking can be very hazardous. RIP

as for the citizens reaction - they've seen so many of these careless DTC buses crush innocent citizens that they just don't seem to be able to take it anymore and give out punishment themselves , it is 100% wrong but I can see where the reaction came from.

This does also highlight a need for better connectivity from roadside to bus stand - right now it's too far and encourages people to take a direct route.

On a different note , I really enjoy the new DTC buses, they have a clean record and drive like they know what they're doing.

It is a rapid transport lane for godsake.. The driver is supposed to go at a minimum speed. Despite the barricades she jumped onto the lane...

It could be lack of education on her part..very unfortunate incident...

The concept is alien to many and speeding is evil for most in India..

But again, the planners should learn from this implement measures taking the local culture, awareness into consideration

not sure if this has been posted before.

Source:http://flickr.com/photos/8754860@N02/2740399933/sizes/l/
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9196/27403999339558663ea0bno9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Impressive. We need to make all roads like it now.

http://img81.imageshack.us/img81/6430/610xgf9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

^^
Nice.

I thought this picture was worth putting on here...
BRT corridor bicycle lanes with its own traffic light.
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/889/brtdelhiog4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
image courtesy: BRT_DELHI

not sure if this has been posted before.

Source:http://flickr.com/photos/8754860@N02/2740399933/sizes/l/
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9196/27403999339558663ea0bno9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)


I love this :banana:

Awesome pics especially those bicycle signals. Does anybody follow them? :)

not sure if this has been posted before.

Source:http://flickr.com/photos/8754860@N02/2740399933/sizes/l/
http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/9196/27403999339558663ea0bno9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Cool. :cheers: Is not it nice If there is a Foot Over Bridge to reach the bus shelters?

I wanted to see a picture of the new red bus. Thanks

This is just great news. I feel this low investment mode of transport is the way to go for the Tier2 cities where a metro rail is not viable.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3555314.cms

*********************************************************

"NEW DELHI: Never mind Delhi's harrowing experience. India is pressing ahead with the bus rapid transport system (BRTS) - which entails dedicated lane
s for high capacity, low floor buses - in at least nine other cities.

"Promoting effective public transportation facility is emerging as a major challenge. BRTS is a crucial tool to provide smooth and affordable facility to the commuters. We are keen to have more BRTS projects," M. Ramachandran, urban development secretary, said.

At present, India's urban development ministry is helping BRTS projects in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Surat - three important cities of Gujarat - while Indore and Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh are also implementing them.

The other cities where BRTS projects are coming up are Pune in Maharashtra, Jaipur in Rajasthan, and Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. The total estimated cost of all the nine projects is Rs.33 billion.

"The Delhi experience led to a thorough revision of other projects. It is being smoothly implemented now," said Ramachandran.

When BRTS was introduced in the national capital in April-May this year, there was chaos on the roads and long traffic jams as people were not aware of the right lanes, traffic lights did not work, bus stands were found to be in wrong places among other things.

But with some modifications, the authorities say, the project is running smoothly along a 5.6 km-stretch in the city. However, it has not been extended to other parts after the controversy. Even today many residents say they avoid the BRTS route.

"BRTS is globally recognised as one of the most cost effective solutions for providing high quality public transport service in urban areas," Ramachandran said.

The BRTS is operational in the world's major cities like Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Bogotá, Santiago, Lima, and also Beijing, Taipei and Hanoi, where it has proved a hit with the masses.

BRTS projects in the nine Indian cities, apart from Delhi, are being financially helped by the federal government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), an important government scheme aimed at integrated development of urban infrastructure.

"Though the state governments are free to have their own BRTS projects, the union government will extend financial support to such projects as stipulated under JNNURM," Ramachandran said.

With transport services likely to pose a major challenge in India - where the urban population is officially being projected at 538 million by 2021, marked by 51 cities with million plus population - BRTS is one of the systems the authorities are banking on.

"There are other modes of public transport being put in place as well. There are already metro projects in Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai. Still, we hope to get more BRTS projects for other major cities," said Ramachandran.

Good public transport can reverse the trend of opting for personal vehicles. Delhi alone has over 5.2 million vehicles.

"It will be a great achievement indeed if we have lesser number of private vehicles on roads in a city as large as Delhi or for that matter any other big city. A satisfying public transportation system is the only way out," agreed Ramachandran.

Manoj Aggarwal, head of transport, Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System, which is the implementing agency for BRTS here, said: "Advance and effective planning for better urban transportation is the need of the hour."

"As urbanisation is taking place so fast, fine-tuned modes of urban public transportation have to be put in place. BRTS is one of them," said Aggarwal. "

*********************************************************

...

Pictures are good in the thread.

Things can always be better. Good idea, good implementation, but poor traffic management. The scene could have been better.

:cheers:

I think with all things, you got to be there, use the system, experience it and make your own mind up to draw a conclusion.

Seems to be working fine now since there have not been any negative reports recently or posted on this thread?

More BRT routes are a good idea in the long run as it reduces congestion and give more choice of public transport if it is planned well etc.

The first route had its problems as well as the teething problems like all new projects do.

New Delhi, Dec 18 (PTI) Terming the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in the capital as a "failure", a parliamentary committee has suggested that the Delhi government scrap other five approved BRT corridors and asked other cities too to exercise caution.
The the 13-member Standing Committee on Urban Development headed by MP Mohd Salim is of the view that a thorough scientific feasibility study of each city should be taken up before implementing BRTS.

Proposals for BRTS have been approved for Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Indore, Pune, Vijayvada, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur and Rajkot.

The committee in its latest report has noted that despite all the potential benefits of BRTS, its implementation recently in Delhi has left much to be desired.

Referring to media reports, the committee observed that the "Delhi model of BRT based on Bogota model was a failure." Instead, the committee has advocated strengthening of Metro network along with strong feeder bus service covering all parts of the city.

BRTS, which entails dedicated lanes for high capacity buses, aims at providing smooth and affordable transport facility to the public. Considering the low cost and easy implementation many cities are slated to be coming up with BRTS proposal to be funded under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). PTI

http://www.ptinews.com/pti%5Cptisite.nsf/$All/30D1EF96EDCE9630652575230037C195?OpenDocument

Hmm, I wouldn't call it a complete failure but I like the Idea of replacing the routes with metro.
It doesn't say in the article what they mean of the term "failure."
The thing with metro is that u can't have stops for every block but with a bus you can.

They is no comparison. These two modes of transport complement each.

Referring to media reports, the committee observed that the "Delhi model of BRT based on Bogota model was a failure." Instead, the committee has advocated strengthening of Metro network along with strong feeder bus service covering all parts of the city.


^^ No prize for guess why these guys are behind the metro... with higher project costs, naturally the % commission is also higher... the poor "low-cost" BRTS doesn't fetch much "pocket-money" for them :ohno:

The two modes should be allowed simultaneously, and they can complement each other. The BRTS obviously would have more reach and would be able to feed metro network effectively...

Delhi government on Friday decided to continue with the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor in the capital, but put on hold the further expansion of the controversial transport system.

The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit.

"It has been decided that till this corridor does not become perfect, we will not undertake any expansion of the project," Dikshit told reporters in New Delhi after the meeting to review the functioning of the transport system that has met with public ire for the traffic chaos it resulted in.

In view of the intense criticism of the 5.8 km Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand stretch in South Delhi, the first of the six proposed for the capital, the Chief Minister had called a meeting of the various stakeholders to review its performance and take a decision on whether to continue with it or scrap it.

Dikshit said while the feedback was that the corridor, that aims at segregating different kinds of vehicles into separate lanes, was satisfactory with regard to buses, pedestrians and cyclists, motorists were facing problems.

"We will construct a parallel road to ease the problems of motorists," she said.

In all, six BRT corridors have been planned for the capital.

http://www.ddinews.gov.in/National/National+-+Headlines/dwqde.htm

Gets going....

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5982/brtqy7.jpg

Surprised to see Govt. going ahead with BRTS after days of bashing it received from public and media when the trail runs were conducted.

I don't want to get caught in that traffic it's scary!!

Can they improve the looks of the buses?

^ ^ Buses look find and world class to me.
whats wrong with those buses?

^^
Folding new automatic doors are not installed in new generation buses anymore. eg Volvos for BMTC. All those doors open on the outside. The buses look much better than the previous ones, but I still the technology is there in india to make the bus look as modern as the ones seen elsewhere.

^^
Folding new automatic doors are not installed in new generation buses anymore. eg Volvos for BMTC. All those doors open on the outside. The buses look much better than the previous ones, but I still the technology is there in india to make the bus look as modern as the ones seen elsewhere.

Yeah I agree. We could always use better looking buses in India. That goes for trains too!

Check out these BRT buses in the beautiful city of Los Angeles
http://laist.com/attachments/la_zach/metroorangelinebus2.jpg

^ ^ The kind of roads we have with all those traffic and sharp turns i dont think these kind of buses will work in india just yet.
i have seen new delhi buses and believe me they do look modern.

Roads in delhi are wide enough . Infact some of the roads are very wide. BRTS design should be taken into account when considering sharp turns etc. Bogota is a perfect eg where the space in the middle is so well utilised. I see two different Bus stations side by side for Delhi BRTS which in one way could be just a waste of precious space in the middle. Afterall, cars cant be given just two lanes in the middle of the city to travel.

Personally, I think Delhi's BRTS buses look great! But there's always room for improvement. They should take some design elements from these foreign buses and use them in Indian bus design.

^^^^

I just have the feeling that they are going to upgrade to some good models just around the time of Commonwealth Games...

There were some King Long (http://www.king-long.com.cn/en/p_detail.asp?pr_class=2&id=98) China buses made locally in Chandigarh and introduced (http://209.85.173.132/search?q=cache:wa-zq5HTsXQJ:bestmumbai.blogspot.com/2008/04/kingly-comfort-but-takes-too-long.html+china+brts+bus&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us&client=firefox-a) in the Mumbai BRTS. I'd be curious about the verdict on those. Apparently these were only fifty lakh as well (like the Tata Starbus).

^^
Nice.

I thought this picture was worth putting on here...
BRT corridor bicycle lanes with its own traffic light.
http://img442.imageshack.us/img442/889/brtdelhiog4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
image courtesy: BRT_DELHI

Why is that pole right in the middle of the bicycle lane?

^^^^

So that they can have a valid excuse of the space between the curb and the pole not clean... "khamba beech mai tha saab".... :)

they need to start cleaning up the road.

Can someone please confirm the use of Tata chassis in the Marcopolo Delhi BRTS low-floor buses. I scoured the internet for this and there's not much out there. Seems the Marcopolo would be cheaper than the Kinglong Chinese buses assembled in Gurgaon.

Marcopolo of Brazil provides the coachwork on TATA's low-floor chassis, for the Delhi BRTS (being progressively introduces in other Indian cities as well).
I think the TATA-Marcopolo buses look (and drive better, from what we've seen on the news) better than the Chinese junk the BEST decided to go with.

I was on a Metro Rapid Bus in Los Angeles yesterday. The bus just cruised at 30 miles per hour through 10 signals. What a rush!

They should develop Delhi's BRT along the lines of LA's Metro Rapid and also LA's BRTs. LA's traffic lights are specially programmed so that Metro Rapid buses get priority. When a Rapid Bus is coming, the light knows to stay green until the bus has passed. Such complex systems would help get more people out of Delhi's cars.

It's not really a complex system. They even have that here in Austin. From what I understand of the system it not only keeps the signal green but turns it green if needed as well.

and, largely, is quite impressed...

http://www.economist.com/research/articlesBySubject/displaystory.cfm?subjectid=7933598&story_id=13047681#delhi

^^ nice one.

love this:

The BRT has infuriated car drivers, whose complaints were loudly championed by Delhi’s big English newspapers.....
In the recent Delhi state elections, the opposition party hoped to convert frustration with the BRT into votes. The party’s candidate for chief minister won his seat. But the ruling Congress party, whose chief minister championed the BRT, won every other seat along the route. Either the BRT is more popular than the Times of India believed, or car-owners don’t vote.

for a change, they had the best pic for delhi.

http://epaper.hindustantimes.com/Web/Article/2009/02/27/005/27_02_2009_005_002.jpg

Source: Hindustan Times

Leyland ups working days to five a week

Business Standard Reporter / Chennai March 12, 2009, 0:03 IST

Ashok Leyland, a commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturer and the flagship company of the Hinduja Group, has increased number of working days at its manufacturing units to five from three.

The company, which was producing vehicles all the seven days in a week, had slashed production to three days at its all six manufacturing units in November 2008 in the wake of slackening demand.

The company’s decision to increase working days comes after it reported 33 per cent increase in the sales in February. Its sales in February stood at 3,245 units compared to 2,444 in January.

In mid-February, K Sridharan, chief financial officer of Ashok Leyland, said that “the worst is over” and the industry will start witnessing growth in the next six months. The growth will be mainly driven by the government spending on infrastructure projects, including construction of new roads, bridges and on the public transportation system, he had said.

The company has already bagged two such orders worth over Rs 690 crore — one for supplying 875 high-end ultra low entry (ULE) buses to Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), which is worth Rs 480 crore, and another a maintenance contract from DTC valid for 12 years worth Rs 710 crore.

This would be the company’s single largest order from a state transport corporation in value terms. The company would supply 350 air condition and 525 non-air condition buses by September 2009.

Ashok Leyland has also bagged an order worth $43.5 million (around Rs 217 crore) from the Angolan government to supply 1,000 buses.

Would be nice to know what buses DTC have ordered as well as other customers.

I was searching about Ashok Leyland online and I found out that the Army Trucks in Iraq are made by AL... I was surprised to find that out. Its good to see Indian automobile and bus manufacturers in international markets.

Copyright BRT_Delhi

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5300/3478818983697998c9d6b.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6913/3478820685b9f105ae7eb.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3144/34788215616fc9a98e42b.jpg

Conti..

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/723/3478822067a3de62c82cb.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5483/34788231278133795987b.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6035/34796234704fb5fc566fb.jpg

Conti..

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/9337/34796247926a813ee7dab.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6110/347962606896d487e34cb.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7223/34796273822f6c6eef4ab.jpg

Conti..

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2780/347963223274244bf77eb.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7592/3479632974f480e66156b.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2621/347963992062aa8b2642b.jpg

Conti..

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5508/3481636053b27c358d7fb.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7180/3481637465acf9ce415fb.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5944/3482453572c881e993c0b.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/3479/34824543602a218848c2b.jpg

Very nice pictures, Euromast. Thanks!

Conti..

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/2995/3481644769bd15dff019b.jpg

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7314/347962537239c207dc3fbn.jpg

@Z; Welcome:-)

mast photos bhai!

Conti..


http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/7592/3479632974f480e66156b.jpg



Those idiots using cycles need to get shot. They have a walkway on the left, still using roads.

And amazing pictures... EURO!!!

Initially, I was a fan of BRT. It seemed like a customized solution to traffic problems. But now, after getting a clearer picture of the quality(which ranges from poor to mediocre), I think BRT should almost always be secondary to metro, regardless of the city size. It's nothing but a glorified bus lane fancier stops and lower flexibility. Although building metro lines is significantly more expensive than a BRT of this quality, it is definitely better in the long run for a majority of Indian cities, which are going to be in constant growth for a long period of time.The BRTS should be modified into a metro feeder system.

Those idiots using cycles need to get shot. They have a walkway on the left, still using roads.

And amazing pictures... EURO!!!

In what city do bicycles use walkways/sidewalks? Unless one is a child in some suburban neighborhood, bicycles should always be on the road.

^^

he meant separate road for cycles....which if you look closely you can see.. and many cyclist are using it...apart from few...:nuts:

great pics sir jee .. :cheers:

Sleek stations & buses complimented by well maintained roads. Great stuff:)

^^

he meant separate road for cycles....which if you look closely you can see.. and many cyclist are using it...apart from few...:nuts:

So that area on the left with the two cyclists is specifically for bicycles? Well that's a different story then. He said walkway not bike path.

awesome pics...

Initially, I was a fan of BRT. It seemed like a customized solution to traffic problems. But now, after getting a clearer picture of the quality(which ranges from poor to mediocre), I think BRT should almost always be secondary to metro, regardless of the city size. It's nothing but a glorified bus lane fancier stops and lower flexibility. Although building metro lines is significantly more expensive than a BRT of this quality, it is definitely better in the long run for a majority of Indian cities, which are going to be in constant growth for a long period of time.The BRTS should be modified into a metro feeder system.

I think i will wait for the Ahmedabad BRTS to take off before passing judgement on the BRTS.
Maybe, Delhi BRTS transition was just not managed well?
Understandable also, since it was the first experiment in Indian context.

A few things are clear though - wide roads are essential, bus lanes must be a part of road expansion, physical demarcation of bus lanes required, traffic marshalls essential, subways/ROBs for pedestrians,...

I think the ROI on BRTS is higher for lower levels of user traffic - hence it makes sense for smaller cities and lower passenger traffic neighborhoods. Of course, there should be a planned transition to a metro/monorail system when passenger traffic goes up.

This project is very very well done! Love the LCD Displays!