The bus rapid transit (BRT) system introduced on a single stretch in Delhi has got off to a bad start, but over a dozen cities that are keen on it have already started to receive funding from the union urban development ministry. Hence, it is necessary to learn the right lessons from the Delhi fiasco so that the experience is not repeated elsewhere. It is not that simply being committed to the idea and committing funds to it mean that the system will work, it has to be implemented well too. BRT is a tried and tested mode of urban transport already, in cities as diverse as Jakarta, Bogota, Seoul and Paris, and is being planned for New York (Manhattan) and London. The Delhi project was in preparation for years and had been vetted by international experts. What needs studying is why execution failed. What does not need examining is whether buses are a good thing or whether giving them pride of place by adopting BRT is a good idea. To all the reasons working for buses have now to be added the current cost of fossil fuels and the issue of global warming. Metro rail is great but very costly, serves only a limited number of people, and you cannot have a metro rail line down every other road.
It would seem that the Delhi experiment has gone awry mainly because the police, who are to direct traffic under a new lane system, have not bought into it; the signage indicating which transport should take which lane has not been very helpful; and proper facilities for bus passengers to cross over to the centre of the road to the new bus stations have not been created, thus causing chaos as people try to scurry across moving traffic. A key mistake seems to have been to go in for BRT before getting the overall bus system right. Indore may have got the sequence right. It has first taken innovative steps to improve its bus system and then embarked on BRT on some arterial roads. The latter is in the execution stage and its launch is still some distance away. Indore has brought in private bus operators whose buses have to meet certain quality requirements, the movement of buses and therefore payment to operators is monitored by using an efficient IT-based, global positioning system, and part of the operators' revenue is guaranteed. Once buses are clean, comfortable and regular, people become much more open to the idea of travelling by bus.
It is at this stage that BRT can come in. Considering the space needed, it is possible only on arterial roads and buses from smaller roads have to work as feeders. BRT's additionality is that its dedicated lanes make bus travel faster and more attractive. It is at the heart of a different way of looking at who a city should serve. It goes along with dedicated space for cyclists and pedestrians, which emphasises a healthier and more equitable way of using public space. Since Indian cities are exploding with poor people coming in from the countryside to earn more, an efficient public transport system has to come first. Those better off will want and should be free to own a car, but what is not practical is for most people to drive a car to work every day. Very few do so in Mumbai, London or New York. Delhi's middle class should learn to think differently, and the BRT has to be made to work properly. |
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