Editorial: Get BRT right

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.