NCR Surface Transportation Thread

[varunshiv]

After Phase 3 of metro is complete, at least an adequate "backbone" of such a system will be in place, on which to build better surface and last-mile connectivity.

[varunshiv]

Just to add to this, in corollary, the metro system right now is not spread out enough to act as that backbone for multi-modal public transport. There is the *possibility* that once phase 3 is complete, and as subsequent extensions take place, there will be a (much greater) shift in attitude towards public transport in Delhi's two- and four-wheel vehicle owning population.

Once people realize that there is a metro station near their destination as well as point of origin (and instances of this will greatly increase after phase 3), they will start considering metro. Once this happens, and they become accustomed to leaving their vehicles at home/point of origin, the idea of other modes of public transportation and walking longer distances will become easier to swallow. I think it is only then, once this "conditioning" has taken place, that the concepts like BRT might become acceptable in Delhi. Personally, I think the middle-class taking to bicycling on a daily basis, at any substantial level, is even further away in the future than an acceptance of BRT.

So in a way the acceptance of public transport and walking/biking, or "levels" of public transport/walking/biking, may be incremental, and within this it is possible that metro's phase 3 will be the trigger that makes public transport more palatable in Delhi overall, and gets the ball rolling! (What is the emoticon for "hawai kila"? )

[varunshiv]

Some more views on BRT as part of multi-modal public transport:

Shekhar Gupta in today's IE called Delhi's BRT an "ideological" experiment that was forced on the people of Delhi. The city might not be ready for BRT yet, and the "experiment" might have been relatively expensive, but it was the only way to see if the system could be successful in Delhi, and to learn for the future. And this is why the "experiments" that UTTIPEC is carrying out with integrated multi-modal surface transport at metro stations is a great idea, and initial failures should be treated as learning experiences.

Of course BRT in it's current form is not completely dead yet, and experiments in east Delhi etc might turn out to be successful if implemented in the coming years!

To be fair to Shekhar Gupta though, he was taking about Delhi BRT's failure in comparison to Lahore's BRT, and his main gripe was that road space was taken away from cars (in Delhi) instead of creating more lanes (in the form of elevated BRT etc). Elevated/partially-elevated BRT might yet turn out to be the solution for Delhi, as has been discussed earlier.

[Euromast]

Gurgaon city buses to get CCTV cameras

Gurgaon: All Gurgaon city buses will be fitted with CCTV cameras and 100 new buses, including 50 air-conditioned ones, will soon join the fleet, an official said in Gurgaon on Sunday. Bus terminals across Haryana will also get electronic eyes for security.

Director General of State Transport Arun Kumar told reporters that an air-conditioned bus stand will be constructed in Sector 29 in Gurgaon to cater to city bus service and luxury Volvo buses.

CCTV cameras will be introduced at a cost of Rs. 4 crore to prevent mischief in moving vehicles and bus terminals, he said.

He said CCTV cameras will also be fitted in city buses in Faridabad. Latest GPS system would also be introduced in the city buses in Gurgaon and Faridabad.

The intra-city buses in Gurgaon carry about one lakh passengers daily, covering 22,000 km and collecting Rs.4.5-5 lakh fare.

In the next four months, Gurgaon city bus fleet will get an additional 150 vehicles and out of these 50 would be air-conditioned, Kumar said.

The official said five super luxury Volvo buses would be added to the fleet of the existing 15 buses on the Gurgaon-Chandigarh route.

An inter-state bus terminal will also be constructed at Rajiv Chowk near the Delhi-Jaipur highway, he said.