Bangalore BRTS

Bangalore BRTS
Overview
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
System length 282 kilometres (175 mi)

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.

Recommendations in CTTP, 2007

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 :

BRTS lanes under the flyover at the junction of Sarjapur Road and Outer Ring Road at Agara.

Other proposals

There have also been other proposals for BRTS routes, some of these talk of new routes, and some overlap with CTTP recommendations.

Radial Corridors

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.

Ring Roads

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

Status, issues and opposition

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.

Current status, CTTP or Ring Road recommendations

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]

Bus Priority System

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.

References

  1. ↑ "The CTTP Report".
  2. ↑ "Analysis of BRTS issues at Praja".
  3. ↑ "BDA team visits Pune for BRTS".
  4. ↑ "BDA taking up Bus Rapid System on Outer Ring Road". The Hindu (Chennai, India). 2 February 2010.
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