Prologue
- What is BRT?
BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) is not just high quality clean fuel buses moving in dedicated lanes at high speeds. Not just clean and well-designed bus stations, ticketing and passenger information boards, route maps etc. All these are of course important and need to be executed to the highest standard possible, but this is only part of the total picture. BRT (unlike PMT) will attract ridership that today refuses to get into a bus or has stopped doing so on account of switch over to personal auto mode.
Other than the passenger carrying component, cities where BRT has transformed the look and feel of cities and made citizens love their city instead of hating it, is the urban renovation carried out in conjunction with planning and implementation of BRT.
Examples:-
In Curitiba, Mayor Jaime Lerner linked the BRT to poorest localities of the city, introduced "food for garbage scheme" where the slum population get fruit and vegetables in exchange for segregated garbage collected each day by the municipal authorities. This has led to the slums becoming cleaner than the rest of the city. He also developed many gardens with water bodies (to counter the effect of perennial flooding), car free streets and public spaces especially for the poorer sections.
In Bogota, Enrique Penalosa is best known for creating the world's best BRT system - the TransMilenio, but lesser known is his contribution to promoting sustainable Urban Development. Some examples (list is too long to quote here) Led a massive effort to improve Bogota's neighbourhoods infrastructure and promoted high citizens involvement, created a successful Urban Land Reform Institution, large improvements to the city centre including the recuperation of plazas, creation of a large park in an area previously totally taken over by crime and drugs, turned one of the main downtown avenues under severe deterioration into a dynamic pedestrian public space. Built more than a hundred nurseries for children under 5 and assured resources for their operation, increased children's enrollment in public schools by more than 200,000 a 34% increase in four years, planted more than 100,000 trees. Promoted a city model giving priority to children and public spaces, restricting private car use; built hundreds of kilometers of footpaths, more than 300 kilometers of bicycle paths, pedestrian only streets - one of which is more than 17 kilometers long and 15 meters wide through some of the poorest neighbourhoods... created/resurrected more than 1,200 parks, introduced annual carfree days etc etc etc etc. - Promotion of BRT
Flowing from above, the promotion of BRT needs to go beyond just the technical details of lane widths, size and capacity of bus stations, distance between bus stops, ridership counts, origin and destination surveys etc. Again these are no doubt important and even essential but what’s really important is the need to include and spell out the benefits as enabling the creation of really good (wide, safe, smooth and uninterrupted) footpaths for pedestrians, citywide cycle tracks, creation of Public Spaces, gardens, parks, walkways with trees for shade, benches, cycle stands and public conveniences for those who walk (whether into a BRT bus or not). So also facilities for hawkers, rickshaws and vehicle parking at major stops (again) for making the life of the BRT user more comfortable and safe. Another key factor is the introduction of TDM (traffic demand management) measures. None of us is talking about this. On the contrary some are even talking about the need to protect the rights of personal vehicle users!!! - Criticism of BRT
If one believes in the above wider benefits, the criticism will not get stuck in technical engineering aspects alone. Whether side or median dedicated lane(*), whether split stations or common stations for two way flow of BRT buses, whether pre-board ticketing or given by the conductor inside the bus. Whether diesel or CNG, whether Rs. 70 lakh Volvo or Rs. 20 to 30 lakh Tata/Leyland? All these are again to a greater or lesser degree important. Neglect will make BRT unviable. However these are not make-or-break components, so while we should fight tooth and nail with PMC to ensure their inclusion, we should at the same time be
very careful to ensure that our criticism isn't misread as a verdict rejecting BRT itself on these grounds. - Projected impacts from a well executed BRT
Shift (at least partial) from personal auto use to BRT, opening up large spaces for public use, space for pedestrians, space and opportunity for citywide network of cycle tracks, space for parks instead of parking, reducing the danger to city's natural and built environment, reducing pollution (from decline in use of personal auto vehicles) and improving health and elevating the liveability index of the city.
(*) BRT was pioneered in Curitiba. It is one of the best systems in the world and it operates on side lanes, as in several other cities. However majority of cities subsequently going in for BRT (including the best in the world - Bogota's TransMilenio) have been opting for the median dedicated lanes.
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Q-set 0:
Main objectives of BRT: (Do read the Prologue)
Create a "metro on tyres" on the roads to increase throughput (no of persons carried per hour by the entire transportation infrastructure), to keep pace with growing needs while providing an alternative to discourage personal transport in order to prevent congesting the roads and reduce pollution. Provide footpath/cycle tracks in the road design to sustain/ encourage non-motorized transport. All in all, provide cost effective, sustainable transportation to all sections of society..
Q-set 1:
How is it different from good old PMT?
What are the advantages of BRT over the present PMT bus system?
BRT is not a replacement for PMT. PMT is not a scalable service, since it cannot reach higher throughput as the traffic needs grow. A faster & different type of service is needed to achieve high throughput. Such a service will naturally need dedicated lanes. A different infrastructure & modern systems (e.g. computer controlled signals, ticketing) are essential tools to achieve the desired throughput. All of this can be achieved in under/ over ground systems like metro/ skybus, however, they cost several times higher compared to BRT.
PMT will continue to exist, both for non-BRT roads as well as for serving as a feeder to BRT. BRT is essentially designed for bulk of your daily commute on arterial roads. You would typically use a PMT/ rick/ walk at either ends of your daily commute. Even then, it is estimated that your overall commute time (and hassle) will reduce.
PMT and BRT serve slightly different needs as explained above, hence both have advantages over each other depending on the target user. Needless to say, one cannot have a successful transportation for the city without a much-improved PMT supporting the BRT.
As per PMC's plans, BRT will be run under the same administration as PMT or later by the proposed PMT-PCMT corp.
Q-set 2:
Assuming that the BRT is a success on Satara road, how will it be implemented for narrow roads? (Satara road is probably the widest of all, what about Karve road, JM road, the old Mumbai-Pune highway, and so on.)
Is the BRT planned to let me get from anywhere to anywhere in Pune? Meaning how well covered is the network going to be that will not warrant me needing to take my vehicle out so I do not have to be at the mercy of rickshaw wallas?
Why waste money on a system when it cannot be implemented across Pune? Only 1-2 roads in Pune can support exclusive lanes, then why run a pilot project which anyway will be scrapped or limited to 1-2 roads? It is a waste of tax payers money.
A typical BRT road needs: a footpath, a cycle track, at least one "other vehicles" lane, one bus lane, a bus stop - all this on both sides, plus an optional bus lane for overtaking other buses. This infrastructure needs a road width of 30 m (100 ft) or more.
PMC has taken a policy decision to implement BRT on all roads with width of 30 metres (100 feet) or more. According to PMC, there are over 120 kms of such roads in the city and they cover all directions and major destinations.
These 120 km of roads form a largly interconnected network. BRT buses are expected to ply on various routes along these at a high frequency.
BRT will be accessible to a large % of the city population, especially when supported by feeder services such as PMT buses, auto rickshaws and offering connectivity to cycle tracks and pedestrian footpaths. BRT will thus have the capacity to radically transform the mobility conditions of the whole city.
Q-set 3:
Infrastructure/ implementation of BRT.
- I heard people cannot use the lane reserved for BRT. How will this be ensured (unless there is a divider on both sides of the lane)? If there is no divider, then I think its not possible to prevent people (at a basic level we have a problem people not obeying signals) from using this lane (at times of peak hours and traffic jams). How is this aspect taken into care?
- Are safe cycle stands planned at the bus stops so people can literally ‘get from anywhere to anywhere in Pune’?
- Now a days buses are flooded beyond their limits, is there any increase in no. of buses during peak hours?
- BRT lane is in the middle of the road, a person has to cross the road and come on the Bus Stand. Is't it risky?
Having signals etc is fine, but would the duration be sufficient for senior citizens and the elderly to finish crossing the road comfortably? - Now that the road is being dug up for expansion, any chance of having good foothpths at either end?
- What provision will be made to ensure that pedestrians can cross the road conveniently once BRT becomes operational? (Even without BRT, there was no place for people to stand half way through while crossing the road, at some places)
- If the bus lanes are going to be in the middle of the road, then what provision will be there for the pedestrians to cross the road? Are they providing overhead bridge or subways for crossing? If you look at the current condition of subways, the pedestrians don’t use these at all!! They still like to cross the road the conventional way. Can this attitude not result in lot of accidents with BRT system?
- Is there going to be a compound/fencing for the BRT tracks to avoid pedestrians crossing the tracks? If so, are those going to maintained?
The focal point is PEOPLE, not technology - hence many of the design aspects are not "foolproof". They are possible only when supported by public education and enforcement.
Yes, there will be a small divider to separate a BRT bus lane from other lanes.
Cycle stands near bus stops are planned **where possible**, but just stands won't be enough unless there is a citywide network of cycle tracks.
The frequency of buses on the BRT routes is supposed to be very high, say, a bus every 2-3 minutes (or even higher if supported by usage), thereby virtually eliminating waiting time. Only that will reduce the overall commute time, and encourage people to take a bus rather than their personal vehicle.
Very high frequency will need to be supported by offboard ticketing/smart cards, automatic signal priority and also flyovers/subways at select intersections.
Much debate has gone in on the "central lane" issue. Key factors are:
+ Dedicated lane is critical for reaching max. speeds without disturbance (e.g. access to roadside buildings). Heavier vehicles are safer (for all) in central lanes for various reasons. Even we prefer using a central lane while driving a 4-wh instead of a 2-wh.
+ Central bus shelters do not increase the amount of road crossing (and hence also the risk) when compared with the current situation in a round tour.
+ One needs to come to an intersection and cross the road at a zebra crossing upto the stop. Yes, the stop will be in the middle of the road, but right next to a zebra crossing. Assuming that other vehicles stop at the stop line before zebra crossing AND people also cross the road on zebra stripes when it is green for pedestrians, this is safe. Of course, implementation needs both public education as well as strict enforcement. [An organization like SPTM can play a vital role in it, but only if we are large in size.]
Signal duration: if we have issues with signal duration etc., yes, they can be raised & resolved. [Again, SPTM can play a vital role (as above).] Subways/ overbridges are discouraged for pedestrians, since they are both expensive as well as inconvenient esp for the elderly/ handicapped.
The BRT design includes wide and walkable footpaths. The whole idea is to discourage personal vehicles & encourage shared as well as non-motorized transportation.
Though there will be lane separators, there won't be any fence to prevent people from crossing the road in the middle. High frequency of buses will discourage not only people from running after a bus, but also other vehicles from encroaching in BRT lanes.
Q-set 4:
What will happen when a new telephone line is to be laid across the road where a BRT track is setup? Is that track to be dug like the way the existing roads are currently? If so, whether the buses will be in a position to run “rapidly” after the patches applied on the road?
Any road work will be handled the way it is today - In any case this is not a problem exclusively applicable to BRT.
Most (if not all) the BRT-worthy roads are already concretized, and should be having conduits that can accomodate such new telephone lines etc., without need of digging the road.
Q-set 5:
Would the old PMT buses continue to operate on the BRT routes? If yes, would they now occupy whats left of the road, or can they travel on the BRT lanes?
Whether BRT and PMT will continue to share the road/ physical lanes/ routes is not yet clear. It will depend upon various factors like whether the ticketing system will be common, whether PMT will continue to have any long distance routes or will morph into a "feeder" service as far as the BRT corridor goes.
Ideally only BRT buses should travel on the dedicated tracks because projecting BRT as a preferred high quality and speedy option is part of its image and marketing, and this will suffer if PMT buses ply on the BRT tracks.
However if during the pilot phase adequate number of BRT buses are not plying on the corridor, the likelihood of private vehicles encroaching into the dedicated track increases. It is therefore better to permit PMT buses on these bus lanes as a temporary measure, than allow the lanes to remain unoccupied.
Within a predefined period, there should be adequate number of BRT buses plying at high frequency, which will have a demonstration effect and attract growing ridership from present personal vehicle users.
Q-set 6:
What are the plans to manage and control the enemies of Pune roads, the ‘don’t care about anyone except myself’ drivers, especially the 2 wheeler riders from disrespecting, disobeying and helping collapse another public system
What is stopping authorities from ‘heavily fining’ traffic offenders? Is it just a ‘don’t care’ attitude? Let’s at least not do this for the BRT.
What if any other vehicle, like two wheeler or car comes on this lane, will police charge the person?
These questions are applicable to not just BRT, but traffic in Pune as a whole. SPTM can play a major role here, buy creating a united force of responsible citizens who follow traffic rules. If this force is strong, it can make the traffic police enforce rules.
Join SPTM, and have your friends join too!
Q-set 7:
Are the authorities ready to commit a completion time-frame for BRT? And the mother-of-all:
Before embarking on the BRT project, was "fixing the existing infrastructure" considered an option?
Is it practical to charge the same as PMT for BRT? Last thing we need to see is Nitin Kareer’s pre-election popularity by declaring same fares for PMT and BRT and then 3 months later, yet another mismanaged system where we see daily reports and cribs in the paper about BRT running at a loss!
If there is going to be no break-even possible then what are the other factors which are dominating for going ahead with the project?
When this will be going to complete?
The BRT is supposed to be a costly project. Is there any cost analysis done on this project? If so, by what time frame the PMT is going to achieve the break even of cost?
What is the tariff per km, the passengers will have to pay? Are the people ready to pay that tariff? Has any study done in that direction?
Time frame: All said & done, BRT is like any other project. Timeframes are committed, in theory, for all projects. The more vigilant the citizens are, the better are the chances of them being followed. PTTF has been insisting that they should, but their past record of completing any project on time is extremely poor. That applies to "fixing the infrasturcture" also - BRT will face these problems like any other project and all of us should follow up these matters with PMC with greater vigour.
Financial viability cannot be the sole objective of any Public Transport operation, since it touches the very fabric of the city life as explained in the Prologue. Yet, even from a purely financial perspective too, BRT is becoming an attractive public transport option due to its much lower capital cost and its potential to reach operational profitability much quicker, as compared to options like skybus, metro, light rail etc., especially for medium throughput requirements as in Pune.
Fares: Not sure. In any case, a good public transport will have far more benefits that will more than compensate higher fares (if at all they are higher). For the record, PMC has been saying that the fares will be at par with PMT fares (maybe higher if any AC buses that might be introduced).
Q-set 8:
The Pune roads are in a very bad condition now with the current infrastructure of PMC. What is the guarantee that the quality of BRT project will be good?
Whether these roads will be built by PMC or by MSRDC? If PMC, then who is going to take the guarantee of the project quality (considering the past experience of PMC road building quality)?
As explained in the Prologue, "quality of BRT project" depends on many factors - not just the roads. All of those need to be of good quality, and it is upto all citizens to put pressure on PMC to ensure quality.
In most cases, no road needs to be built for BRT. Most of the BRT project (not just the pilot) can be executed by managing the available road surface by marking lanes, installing lane separators and redoing the footpaths. All BRT work is being executed by PMC. As said earlier, it is upto all citizens to put pressure on PMC to ensure quality.
Q-set 9:
Considering the growth Pune has experienced in the last 4 years, is BRT a long term (read: 20 yrs atleast) solution?
Is Metro a better solution than BRT? (Especially because it can be long term, and it is non-invasive for the present roads).
Let us first see what we mean by growth of Pune: In the last 40 years Pune city's population has grown 4 times, roads by 5 times but the number of personal auto vehicles by 106 times. A large part of this growth in vehicles is because of poor public transportation.
There is another common misconception: This is the assumption that once the population of a city crosses the 50 lakh mark, nothing short of a Metro Rail will suffice for providing a public transport with adequate capacity and speed.
Metros have a capacity of 40,000 to 60,000 passengers per hour per direction (pphpd). This kind of capacity is needed for:
a) cities with predominantly high rise structures leading to very high population densities or
b) cities with unidirectional layouts like Mumbai.
Cities with medium height structures grow horizontally, and seldom need corridors that need to carry more than 15,000 pphpd. This capacity can be adequately served by bus based rapid transport systems, even till the city's population touches 80-90 lakhs.
Both Curitiba and Bogota were considering Metro Rail but due to its high cost and long construction period rejected the option in favour of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). Bogota's population is more than 70 lakhs.
Apart from the cost factor, a good BRT system can be constructed in a matter of months, whereas a good metro will take 5-8 years.
What are the drawbacks (if any) of BRT?
Drawbacks of BRT: One could think of several "potential" drawbacks - see below. Many are actually "risks" and could be mitigated to a large extent:
: Mitigation: fences for footpaths/bus tracks, traffic discipline, overbridges/underpasses.
: Mitigation: modern, Euro IV (in future V) compliant buses, better maintenance. Comparison with Metro is partially correct, though overall greenhouse gases are similar on both. (Electric vehicles like trams merely shift consumption of fossil fuels from cities to power generating stations.)
: Mitigation: Overbridges/ Underpasses as required.
: Virtually a non-issue in crowded Indian cities except at late hours maybe. Applies to metro as well.
There should be a plan for any propsal to be implemented across Pune, like overground/underground Metro or BRT. There is no point in first running a pilot project and then seeing (already it is clear to any person with basic IQ) that it can't be implemented across the city as a whole.
Yes, PTTF has have been demanding a plan from PMC. A detailed plan for BRT Pilot would have enabled PMC to present BRT as an attractive mode of Public Transport. Had this been done, PMC would not only have won support from harassed commuters but also learnt a great deal from the Pilot Project which would make the implementation of a citywide BRT network far easier.
Having said that, it is important to understand that we must not see PMC's failure as a failure of BRT. On the contrary they must press even harder for the defects in the BRT pilot to be overcome and corrected.
As explained earlier, BRT can be implemented on more than 100 km of roads all over the city.
End of FAQ on BRT!