URBAN TRANSPORT IN OUR SUB-CONTINENT : DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS

Vipul Thakore has contributed this post:

All large and expanding cities in our sub-continent have huge transport problems and there is not one standard solution. Without good and economic transport, our economies can not progress

In Indian capital  Delhi, Metro trains have been successfully introduced and the system is now slowly expanding. Similar Metros will be introduced in Bangalore, Chenai  and other cities in due course.

I think Pakistan authorities had some discussions with Delhi Metro Management for introducing Metro System in Lahore. I do not know the result.

I am detailing introduction of a different system, High-tec rapid bus services, in Ahmedabad, Gujarat State. It may be suitable for introduction in some Pakistani cities, with necessary ‘local’ adjustments.

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ECONOMIC TIMES  21 JANUARY 10

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) are dreaded words in the capital ( Delhi ) but the urban transportation concept has become immensely popular in Ahmedabad since the pilot corridor is nothing like its Delhi counterpart. In fact, they have learnt from Delhi’s mistakes to make it a successful venture. The three-month-old corridor introduced all that Delhi lacked — it was started with Global Positioning System (GPS)-enabled buses, a passenger information system (PIS) and closed bus shelters with smart-card based ticketing at the bus-stops and not inside buses. The first corridor was planned in “lowdensity areas” and operated free for people for the first two months. In Ahmedabad, the BRT corridor stretches over 16.5 km in an area which, unlike congested south Delhi, is still being developed by the government. “There are large tracts of open space along the corridor and offices are being developed along them. This is a transit-oriented model of development where transportation has come first and development later,” said an official. The buses are fitted with devices which signals can read and give them free passage. The Intelligent Traffic Signals (ITS) system planned for the Delhi corridor is yet to come up. The bus-stops are located 200 metres before the intersections and have platform screen doors operated by sensors to prevent people from getting hit by buses passing by. The doors open when a bus arrives and all buses, standard floor ones, stop in perfect alignment with the bus shelters. It recently got the Sustainable Transport Award by Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in Washington. “We started with a ridership of 17,000 people daily in October last year. This has grown to 35,000 in three months,” said Prof Shivanand Swamy of CEPT University, Ahmedabad, which conceptualised the BRT model.

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