Hyderabad Transportation thread

[deepakhearthacker]

Aeroexpress facility from Uppal now

The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA), Shamshabad, is now connected with Uppal. The Aeroexpress facility till RGIA from Uppal will start from Tuesday, April 24 at the new Aeroexpress bus shelter at Uppal.


Passengers in the surrounding areas including Uppal, Ramanthapur, Nagole and others can avail the Aeroexpress facility at the bus terminus located at Uppal cross roads.


The route of the Aeroexpress bus service is Secunderabad – Tarnaka - Uppal - LB Nagar – Airport and vice versa and the one way fare is Rs. 180, a press release said. Presently, the Aeroexpress bus service is operating to RGIA eight different locations in the capital - including Secunderabad, LB Nagar cross roads, Begumpet, Mehdipatnam, Secretariat, Kukatpally, Tarnaka and Hi-tech city.

[Gudavalli]

RTC to run battery buses in Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Commuters get ready for a ride on pollution free battery-operated buses from China. The AP Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) will introduce the buses in a few days in the city which, later, would be extended to other regions also.
The APSRTC is contemplating to operate a non-airconditioned battery bus on an experimental basis. The RTC informed that the bus will be imported from Photon company in China with the cooperation of Deccan Auto works in Hyderabad, and would be delivered to the city in one month.
With two batteries, one for running the bus and another as back up, the bus can cover a distance of up to 200 kilometres for each recharge.
The gear-less vehicle can sit 46 people.
Spare batteries along with recharging equipments will be kept at charging depots where ground staff will take up the maintenance work.
RTC official said that pollution free battery buses would cost around Rs 1 crore.
And the Centre would provide a subsidy up to 50 per cent under Ministry of Natural Resource Management (MNRM)scheme.
The buses will be the first of its kind for public transport in the country as such vehicles, till now, were being used by companies like BHEL and other important installations like airports.
The officials said that it would also be cost effective as the organization had been spending Rs 2,000 crores towards diesel for 22,500 existing buses. Meanwhile, they are also contemplating to set up solar panels to recharge the batteries at every depot to further reduce the power costs.
It is learnt that Ashok Leyland will be launching its battery buses on a trial basis in three months. If they prove successful, they will be available at cheaper prices.
It is in stark reminder to the fact that the APSRTC is facing a financial loss of Rs 2,700 crores owing to various reasons.
Although the officials introduced many reforms, they failed to turn the deficit.
They are putting their hope on the buses, an official said.

[amby_1986]

Hi All,

Any progress seen related to MMTS phase 2.

[World8115]

Intelligent Transportation System proposed for city

Source: The Hindu

Hyderabad may well be the first city in the country to have the facility

Road conditions in different parts of the city at a click of mouse or status of traffic on a particular corridor just a SMS away.

Traffic snarls, water logging, road cutting or repair works on a stretch you have to travel can be checked before turning the ignition key of the vehicle.

A proposal to cover the entire city with Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) has been ‘agreed in principle' at the recent meeting of the Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA). And according to the officials, when taken up, Hyderabad would have the distinction of being first city in the country to have such concept.

The proposal by the UMTA committee chaired by the Chief Secretary, Pankaj Dwivedi looked at the ITS Master Plan duly integrating with the Hyderabad Traffic Integrated Management System (H-TRIMS) already initiated by the GHMC and the GPS project of the APSRTC.

Setting up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) for implementing the project has been suggested and the possibility of external funding including from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) was mooted.

For the Outer Ring Road (ORR), it was already being worked out.

“Now, we are looking at implementing the concept inside the ORR area and cover at least 70 to 80 per cent of the traffic,” the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) Commissioner, Neerabh Kumar Prasad said.

Under the ITS concept, data collection units such as probes, CCTVs, traffic-detectors, water-depth gauge and pollution monitoring equipment would be installed in different points to collect real time information on traffic volume, weather, accident and disasters.

The bus probe system would keep updating real time information on location and movement of buses in different parts.

The dynamic monitoring of the traffic movement in the city would be done at a control room and same made available for dissemination as required by the road-users. The facility could be connected to the website for browsers to check road condition, traffic situation, water logging, processions or other issues on a given stretch and also made available to the mobile phone users in the form of message alerts or enquiry responses.

Boards displaying road conditions ahead with variable message sign (VMS) would also guide the traffic on choosing their routes.

“Those driving along a route will know what is ahead for them and if required can alter their drive plan,” said an official.

[ygvjs2000]

It will be a great benefit to the citizens of Hyderabad.

Originally Posted by World8115

Intelligent Transportation System proposed for city

Source: The Hindu

[strike2]

The above article says Hyderabad may be the first city in India to implement it...But in Mysore 80% work has been done wrt to ITS and in a few months it will be in operation

[Prodigist]

Originally Posted by strike2

The above article says Hyderabad may be the first city in India to implement it...But in Mysore 80% work has been done wrt to ITS and in a few months it will be in operation

By ITS its not just integrating the public transport(buses) but also all the traffic signals will be connected along with CCTV's across the city in such a way that people from a control room can direct traffic and people movement.

This ITS is better version of Bangalore's Traffic Management Centre.. Only its much more connected and more interventions are possible because traffic lights and their timings can be controlled from here.. Much like how Londons traffic lights were manipulated to convince the Olympic VIP's to win the bid for 2012 olympics. Link

[engineer.akash]

Originally Posted by Prodigist

By ITS its not just integrating the public transport(buses) but also all the traffic signals will be connected along with CCTV's across the city in such a way that people from one control room and direct traffic and people movement.

This ITS is better version of Bangalore's Traffic Management Centre.. Only its much more connected and more interventions are possible because traffic lights and their timings can be controlled from here.. Much like how Londons traffic lights were manipulated to convince the Olympic VIP's to win the bid for 2012 olympics. Link

ITS in bangalore is yet to be implemented by BMTC,first would be Mysore.BTW Bangalore already has CCTVs monitoring traffic signals...

http://www.btis.in/

Mysore also has signals which operate on traffic density using sensors

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...&postcount=302

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpo...&postcount=303

Any DPR available on the Hyd ITS?

[Prodigist]

Originally Posted by engineer.akash

ITS in bangalore is yet to be implemented by BMTC,first would be Mysore.BTW Bangalore already has CCTVs monitoring traffic signals...

http://www.btis.in/

Mysore also has signals which operate on traffic density using sensors

Any DPR available on the Hyd ITS?

Isn't btis.in just a private website integrating information from all sources.. They have a http://www.htis.in/ is as well that shows info on Hyderabad traffic signals. They maintain info on other cities as well

There are CCTV here also that catch people and fine people.. But all these things are being integrated for more benefits. There is already a project by Traffic Police called H-TRIMS in progress that aims to replace all the major signals in Hyderabad. This ITS is an extension of that,

Cant find any DPR... Basically they are bringing all the departments together(Bus transport, GHMC, HMDA,Traffic Police to bring about more meaningful road transport system)

[Prodigist]

H-TRIMS

About 233 Junctions (Old+New) in Hyderabad are being replaced by new signals that are connected centrally to a control room from where they can be operated. New cameras are also being set up to help in the management. Apart from core city ORR is also connected


Postnoon Article: http://postnoon.com/2012/03/12/smart...your-day/36746

Tender Document-Link

ITS- The news article from The Hindu has everything about ITS that is available to the public

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle3429879.ece

[engineer.akash]

thanks for the info

[Gudavalli]

RTC boss inspects Jubilee bus station

HYDERABAD: AP State Road Transport Corporation vice-chairman and managing director AK Khan made surprise visit to the Jubilee Bus Station in Secunderabad on Friday and checked the punctuality of bus services, amenities to passengers and cleanliness of the premises.
He also interacted with the drivers of Indra, Vennela and some other services, and passengers and enquired about their problems. Later, he inspected the staff rest rooms, platforms, stalls and canteens.
Speaking to reporters later, he said Jubilee Bus Station was the biggest in the state and he wanted see the facilities available there. He said he would visit all important bus stations and terminals in the city soon before turning his attention to bus stations in districts.
He said he would make special efforts to improve the financial condition of the corporation.

[Gudavalli]

More buses for Group-I exam

HYDERABAD:� APSRTC’s Greater Hyderabad Zone has decided to operate additional buses for the convenience of candidates appearing for the AP Public Service Commission-1 Prelims written examination to be held from 10.30 am to 1 pm on May 27. According to executive director A Koteswara Rao, the additional buses, apart from the regular buses, will touch all the examination centres and appealed to Group-1 candidates to avail the transport facility.
The APPSC has made all arrangements for the smooth conduct of� Group-I preliminary exam on Sunday across the state from 10.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. About 3 lakh candidates are competing for 314 posts at 740 centres. The results would be announced in the last week of June. APPSC had also announced the schedule of Group-I main examination which would be held from September 3 to 12.

[dineshpkm]

New Service
Apsrtc introduces new service between koti-kandi via patencheruvu.

[sriece19]

RTC seeks government nod to hike bus fares

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) is contemplating to seek clearance from the state government to hike bus fares as and when the prices of diesel goes up.
Karnataka Transport Corporation has obtained such clearance from their state government.
Citing this, the APSRTC also wants to plead with the state government to allow them to hike fares commensurate with the hike in prices of diesel.
The APSRTC is facing severe financial crisis and its losses have touched Rs 2,700 crore mark apart from liabilities and bank loans.
The reason for incurring huge losses was increase in employees’ salaries, maintenance cost and diesel prices.
According to officials the diesel prices have increased 13 times in the last six years and that left a burden of Rs 550 crore on the stateowned corporation.
When SSP Yadav was the vice-chairman and managing director of the APSRTC, bus fares have been hiked netting an additional revenue of Rs 550 crore.
But at the same time the RTC has also hiked employees’ salaries as a result what it earned by hiking the fares compensated the hike in salaries.
In 2011, the APSRTC had proposed to hike bus fares due to increase in diesel prices but the government restricted it to a very marginal hike.
According to information oil companies were planning to hike diesel prices in the near future which has become a cause for worry for the RTC.
There are 22,000 buses in the corporation and the diesel consumption is 5 crore litres per month costing about Rs 44.50 crore.
The RTC officials expect Rs 1,000 crore gap between income and expenditure in the 2012-2013 budget, though bus occupancy ratio was 72 percent.
One official said if the government gives the nod to hike the fares as and when there is a hike in diesel price, it would be major relief to the corporation.

[World8115]

Lakdikapul bridge work


End of the road for Lucky restaurant

Another one bites the dust. Lucky restaurant, a favourite hang out for many citizens in the past, is being razed.

Though it has been a while since the eating joint, well known for the ubiquitous biryani besides the regular Irani café stuff like tea-biscuits, small samosas etc - was shut, it did revive some old memories as the structure was pulled down to facilitate road widening on Thursday.

The erstwhile café along with five other properties were taken over by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) as part of its long standing plan to widen the space on the left splay of the congested junction leading to the Lakdikapul road over bridge.

The site has become major traffic bottleneck in the last few years because of the delay in taking up the second bridge atop the railway tracks beneath beside the old one.

Bridge nearing completion

The new bridge constructed jointly by the municipal corporation and the South Central Railway (SCR) is nearing completion.

Roads leading to the new bridge on both sides too are getting ready.

While the land belonging to the Intelligence Wing was taken over long time ago, the civic body has managed to pay compensation to the property owners on the other side after many months of delay, awaiting the standing committee clearance and the government. “We are also planning to acquire five to six properties after the Lakdikapul junction to widen the main road so that there is a uniform width of 120 ft. Public representatives too have agreed to the proposal as the road for a small stretch is about 70 ft on either side,” explained Additional Commissioner (Planning & Projects) K. Dhananjaya Reddy.

GHMC had originally made plans to widen the road from NMDC junction to S.D. Eye Hospital uniformly for 120 ft. The width on this stretch varies between 80ft-100 ft and the work was proposed to tackle the expected increased flow of traffic on the road once the P.V.N.R. Expressway was thrown open. It did not happen for various reasons including funds crunch and continues to be put on hold.

[ygvjs2000]

http://www.asianage.com/hyderabad/tr...e-it-voice-497
Transport plan to have IT voice
The new transport plan for the Hyderabad metropolitan area spread over about 7,000km will be drawn after information technology companies, industries, builders, developers, and educational institutions have had a say in it. The projected economic activities of these companies and institutions will be taken into account in the finalisation of the plan, which focuses on the roads, the integration of bus and rail routes, connectivity to the IT corridor from various parts of the city, link roads to the Outer Ring Road, Inner Ring Road and radial roads, besides shuttle services to workplaces.
Greater Hyderabad needs a transport plan that meets the requirements of the IT sector, according to Hari Kumar, executive director, IT and ITes Association of And-hra Pradesh. IT professionals prefer MMTS trains to buses, even though the link services from rail stations to the workplaces are non-existent. There are 2 lakh people working in various IT and ITes companies located in the Madhapur, Hitec City and Gachibowli areas. They come mainly from Uppal, LB Nagar, Vanasthalipuram, and ECIL.
There is neither a direct bus service nor a railway line to the IT corridor from these areas. Mr Hari Kumar pointed out: “The transport plan should introduce shuttle services from the Hitec city railway station to a main centre suitable for IT company employees, with direct bus services from all corners of the city.” It is imperative to decongest the stretch from Punjagutta to Hitec city and Gachibowli via Jubilee Hills.
The IT companies apart, Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy district are a hub of engineering and other professional colleges, many of which are located on the city outskirts, says K.V.K. Rao, secretary general, Consortium of Engineering and Profes-sional Colleges. Both bus and railway services cater to less than 20 per of the students from these colleges, whereas direct transport services from an epicentre in the city would help dramatically, Mr Rao notes.
Unplanned growth in the city has made transportation a major problem, according to Ch. Shekhar Reddy, of the Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associ-ation of India. He pointed out that the city had some laudable features, like the 160 km Outer Ring Road (ORR), a 56 km Inner Ring Road (IRR), and 30-odd radial roads connecting the two, which ought to be optimised.
The Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, in association with LEA Associates, is putting together the new transport plan. It has conducted meetings with the stake holders besides conducting a survey of 30,000 households. HMDA commissioner Neerabh Kumar Prasad asked LEA Associates to have wider consultations with stakeholders with economic activities in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Area.
As per HMDA records the city’s transportation requirement is now largely met by: bus transport (42 per cent), rail-based Multi Modal Transport System (MMTS) (1.5 per cent), three-seater and seven-seater autos (8 per cent), private vehicles (48.5 per cent).

[World8115]

Finally, footpaths to pedestrian freedom

Source: postnoon

Road No11 and 12 Banjara Hills, Road No 36 Jubilee Hills, the road opposite Salar Jung and the Himayatnagar road — will have model footpaths in accordance with international standards

After facing many years of discomfort, the pedestrians of Hyderabad have a reason to cheer. The GHMC decided last year that five roads —Road No11 and 12 Banjara Hills, Road No 36 Jubilee Hills, the road opposite Salar Jung Museum and the Himayatnagar road — will have model footpaths in accordance with international standards. With the designs and budget in place, the real question is when will the project be completed and become functional.

The details are currently being ironed out at present and work has begun on Road No 36 Jubilee Hills. The work has begun on the other five roads as well. While constructing these footpaths, special interest has been given to conserve biodiversity. Attempts have been made to include the flora in the areas where the footpaths are being constructed.

R Dhan Singh, Engineer in Chief for GHMC, says, “The work has just begun; we are doing a stretch at a time so that the quality of work will be effective and long-lasting.”

Along with the five main roads that are scheduled to get footpaths, the already-existing footpaths are being revamped and all manholes, and other potholes are being smoothened out.

Sakina Hamza, a student, sa*ys, “It’s a good thing that these footpaths are being made, but what I am curious to see is if the footpaths are going to be used by pedestrians or will hawkers enc*roach. I guess the only thing is to wait and watch.” Another student, Ravi M, is happy, and says, “I am happy that people will get a proper place to walk, especially in places like Banjara and Ju*bilee Hills where the traffic does not slow down and give way.”

These standard/model footpaths are going to prove a boon to pedestrians of the twin cities and many accidents can be avoi*d*ed thanks to these footpaths.

Who foots the bill?

The location of sidewalk construction should be based on pedestrian needs, safety and affordability. With limited resources available for construction and maintenance, the municipality needs to optimise available funding to meet the greatest needs in the community. Once a sidewalk has been constructed within the public right-of-way, the municipality assumes the maintenance, rehabilitation, and replacement costs.

Importance of sidewalks

Safe, accessible, aesthetically pleasing sidewalks are an important component of the municipality’s urban infrastructure. It is important to provide sidewalk users with safe accessible areas for walking outside of the traffic area. Deteriorating sidewalks can create hazards that affect public safety and liability.

Service life

The average service life of a sidewalk depends on a variety of factors including environmental conditions, materials, design standards, construction quality, and maintenance standards:
Concrete – 80 years
Interlocking paving stones – 80 years
Asphalt – 40 years

Benefits of good sidewalks

Attractive and functional sidewalks promote the healthy exercise of walking and reduce reliance on vehicular transportation.
Appropriate design and construction facilitates the use of sidewalks by mobility and visually impaired users.
The use of strollers, and other wheeled family recreational equipment can be comfortably accommodated.
The risk of injury to users is reduced.

Factors to be considered

Addition of transit or school bus routes
Providing access for the elderly and persons with disabilities
Continuity of sidewalks (avoid missing sections of sidewalk where possible)
Increased pedestrian volumes
Addition of new facilities including schools, institutions, parks, and sports complexes
The presence of other pedestrian generators (library, community centre, place of worship, hospital, shopping precinct or mall)
Vehicle speed, traffic, and truck volumes
Collision data related to pedestrians
Existing sidewalk on the other side of the street
Weather implications
Type of roadway shoulder and width
Population density
The projects that are likely to come up in the area and their possible impact on sidewalks.

[Naga_Solidus]

The picture shown in the baove article is really encouraging. BTW, what approach will they take to build those sidewalks on J Hills Rd #36? The road is already a 3+3 surface street with two ~10t sidewalks as of 2009 (last time I was there). Will they double the width of the sidewalks and reduce the road to a 2+2, or will they use eminent domain to demolish buildings and expand the sidewalks?

[Vara123]

Originally Posted by Naga_Solidus

The picture shown in the baove article is really encouraging.

+1