DESARAJU SURYA
The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is getting ready to commence a trial run of the Bus Rapid Transit System in the city from November 15. The phase-1 of the project is expected to be fully commissioned only in December 2008. However, the project has not yet taken full shape – even the first phase of it which covers a distance of 15.5 km. The road – which is meant to be an exclusive BRTS corridor – connecting the GS Raju Road and Madhuranagar is not yet ready and it may take well over a month to be in full shape. About ten CNG buses of the APSRTC will be used on a trial basis for the BRTS operations from November 15. The first phase will have 31 bus stops – each at a distance of 500 mts and 17 traffic junctions. The signalling system which is the key to ensuring a smooth ride for BRTS buses is still not in place and this leaves one wondering how safe the experiment will be. Of the 15.5 km Green Corridor, only a 11-km has a clear way for BRTS buses while the balance portion will have mixed traffic. With many impediments, doubts are being expressed whether BRTS phase-I experiment from November 15 will be a success. If things are not properly planned and organised, the BRTS experiment may result in further troubles to the road-users.
The Rs 152.64 crore BRTS project, taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), will make Vijayawada the fourth city in the country after Indore, Pune and Ahmedabad and the first in south India to have such a better urban public transport system. BRTS, an environment-friendly and cost-effective urban public transport system, is an alternative between ‘unreliable’ conventional bus transport and the high-cost metro rail. Usually, it is also referred to as the ‘surface metro’ system that has a dedicated right-of-way on prime roads enabling high operating speeds. In Vijayawada, BRTS is being introduced on a pilot basis along the 15.5-km ‘Green Corridor’: from the police control room to the railway station, Satyanarayanapuram, Eluru Road, Ring Road, Benz Circle, Mahatma Gandhi Road and back to PCR. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation plans to introduce exclusive BRTS buses, each costing Rs 40 lakh, in the later stages. Though the state government approved the proposal to form the Vijayawada Metropolitan Transport Authority for operating the BRTS, it hasn’t been put in place.
The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation is getting ready to commence a trial run of the Bus Rapid Transit System in the city from November 15. The phase-1 of the project is expected to be fully commissioned only in December 2008. However, the project has not yet taken full shape – even the first phase of it which covers a distance of 15.5 km. The road – which is meant to be an exclusive BRTS corridor – connecting the GS Raju Road and Madhuranagar is not yet ready and it may take well over a month to be in full shape. About ten CNG buses of the APSRTC will be used on a trial basis for the BRTS operations from November 15. The first phase will have 31 bus stops – each at a distance of 500 mts and 17 traffic junctions. The signalling system which is the key to ensuring a smooth ride for BRTS buses is still not in place and this leaves one wondering how safe the experiment will be. Of the 15.5 km Green Corridor, only a 11-km has a clear way for BRTS buses while the balance portion will have mixed traffic. With many impediments, doubts are being expressed whether BRTS phase-I experiment from November 15 will be a success. If things are not properly planned and organised, the BRTS experiment may result in further troubles to the road-users.
The Rs 152.64 crore BRTS project, taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), will make Vijayawada the fourth city in the country after Indore, Pune and Ahmedabad and the first in south India to have such a better urban public transport system. BRTS, an environment-friendly and cost-effective urban public transport system, is an alternative between ‘unreliable’ conventional bus transport and the high-cost metro rail. Usually, it is also referred to as the ‘surface metro’ system that has a dedicated right-of-way on prime roads enabling high operating speeds. In Vijayawada, BRTS is being introduced on a pilot basis along the 15.5-km ‘Green Corridor’: from the police control room to the railway station, Satyanarayanapuram, Eluru Road, Ring Road, Benz Circle, Mahatma Gandhi Road and back to PCR. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation plans to introduce exclusive BRTS buses, each costing Rs 40 lakh, in the later stages. Though the state government approved the proposal to form the Vijayawada Metropolitan Transport Authority for operating the BRTS, it hasn’t been put in place.
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