| Bangalore BRTS | |
|---|---|
| Info | |
| Locale | Bangalore, India |
| Transit type | Rapid transit |
| Number of lines | 14 |
| Operation | |
| Began operation | Phase I: 2011 Expected |
| Operator(s) | Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Bangalore Development Authority Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Government of Karnataka |
| Technical | |
Starting with a comprehensive report in 2007, and even earlier, several proposals have been made to implement Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) in Bangalore. There is lack of clarity on status of these proposals, and many government agencies themselves are not sure if BRTS will be an effective solution for Bangalore.
Contents |
A transport survey carried out in 2007, referred to as CTTP[1], recommended Bangalore BRTS, with 14 routes totaling 282 km. CTTP recommended following routes :
There have also been other proposals for BRTS routes, some of these talk of new routes, and some overlap with CTTP recommendations.
In 2009, on recommendation from Agenda for Bangalore Infrastructure Development (ABIDe), City of Bangalore started investments to enhance 12 radial corridors for land based public transport. A distinctly branded bus service called Big10 was started by BMTC as part of the project. There are proposals to consider some of these corridors for BRTS.
CTTP and few other proposals have talked of implementing BRTS on two large ring roads in Bangalore. BRTS was considered by BDA for Outer Ring Road, but the road has instead been taken for conversion to a signal free corridor. BRTS has also been talked about for the Peripheral Ring Road (PRR). However, since PRR itself is still in design and planning stage, there has not been much progress regarding BRTS
Some local public transport observers and citizens feel[2] that most road corridors are too narrow for developing dedicated lanes for BRTS. Further, enforcement of traffic is generally seen to be weak, and many doubt if the city will be able to enforce dedicate lanes. Last, many feel that city is not mature yet to accept dedicated lanes, and private vehicle users may not like the proposal.
However, many feel that despite public statements of support for the concept, BRTS implementations have not made big progress due to lack of clear ownership between BMTC, BBMP, BDA and City Traffic Police.
The State Government has not taken up all recommendations from CTTP. BDA has been working on parts of the proposal since 2008[3]. More recently, in early 2010, BDA had started on a detailed project report to implement BRTS on the eastern loop Outer Ring Road[4].
To work over the perceptions against BRTS, Praja Bangalore, a citizen advocacy group is pushing for Bus Priority System, wherein there would be dedicated lanes, specialized signals, underpasses for the buses only at the critical choke points on critical radial corridors. Bangalore could move towards full fledged BRTS once the benefits of Bus Priority help work over the negative perceptions.
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