Bus rapid transit system for 4 cities okayed

The Centre has approved the operation of a bus rapid transit system (BRTS) in four cities "" Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur and Indore "" in an effort to improve urban transportation.

BRTS is a new concept of the urban transportation system being promoted by the New York-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) under which high-speed luxury buses ply on dedicated lanes to connect cities with their outskirts.

Beijing, Jakarta and Bogota have BRTS. In India, Ahmedabad is in the process of implementing the BRTS.

"BRTS is a good model for public-private-partnership (PPP) programmes. Wherever it has been implemented, public transportation has improved dramatically. The system will reduce the stress on the cities' transportation infrastructure," urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy said in his keynote address at the SumInfra 2007.