BRTS In Pune

[Amey Naware]

Hello,

This is my first communication over this forum.
Please find the attached document FYI.

I have read the info exchanged during the past 5 days, gone thro' the URLs
and PDFs. But I think, the problem that we are facing is unique and we need to address
all the issues at once for better RTS.

These are some of my personal views on BRTS project.
I am interested in knowing the details of BRTS and the practical aspects
involved in implementation.
 
I am very sure that the problems of this Pune city are unique and
we will find out the solution which will suit the needs of this city,
rather than imposing projects just because the funds are available.

The public transport of this city can fulfill the needs of every commuter,
if there is a political will to accept the better solutions.

I would like to request the readers,
please correct me wherever I have stated wrong views and support my practical view point.

regards,
Amey Naware

---- Short Introduction ----

Amey Naware

Currently working with Jopasana Software & Systems Ltd.
Keen interest in Pune's public transport system
Working in IT field for more than 5 years
 

Education:
PG Diploma - Computers - Symbiosis
BSc - Chemistry - Fergusson College
Schooling - Jnana Prabodhini Prashala
--------------------------------------
ame...@gmail.com

[Shital Kanitkar]

Hi Amey,

Firstly you need to understand that it isnt THIS forum that is going to
implement the BRTS. The forum is made up of people like you who are
trying to get a people's representative into the actual implementation,
and only trying to make sure that the implementation takes into account
the best interests of the majority of the public. And the idea behind
the new system is to get people who do not use the public system today
into doing so, and so should be able to voice what would encourage them
into using public transport.

Secondly, before the BRTS gets established, there will be traffic
snarls arising out of 1 lane being out of use for the time being. Once
BRTS starts running this should ease up. Going forward, if people start
prefering BRTS over personal vehicles/autos, the congestion on the
other lanes should also reduce.

Thirdly newness of the road cannot be justification for not
establishing a better public transport system.

>From what I have understood:

To have a rapidly running bus system it needs to be exclusive: the idea
is to encourage people to use the public transport instead of other
means of transport. With mass capacity buses running frequently on this
lane(with 5/10 minutes between each bus), it most certainly would be
efficiently and effectively used. One chief grouse people have against
using existing bus system is the time it takes; with a rapidly moving
bus system, this grouse should be answered.

Bus bays will be near each intersection so that people will cross the
road only at the intersections in the zebra crossings.

Vehicles tend to park in the left most lane : they do not generally
park right in the middle of the road. Even Pune auto drivers have more
sense than that .. I hope. Of course the Pune traffic police need to be
more mobile and proactive in disuading parking along main roads. Pune
has more auto rickshaws than are necessary. If some of this force is
retrained into driving the BRTS buses, and rather than having privtely
owned autos, if the autos are conjoined into a mass public transit
system then the BRTS would be succesful in that the auxiliary people
movement would be resolved. Provision for orderly parking of autos
within walking distance of bus bays but away from main road would
actually be required for people requiring further travel. Rickshaw
drivers would also be ensured of a steady income, thus resolving their
need for crowding in wrong places and increasing traffic congestion.

The buses to be used for this system are supposed to be new ones (mass
capacity) so the question of alignement of exit doors should be
resolved.

Bus break down is common now due to age of the existing buses and lack
of proper maintenance. The new buses will ensure minimal breakdowns: in
the event of this happening, the bus would have to be towed by a
breakdown vehicle. The bogota and taipei systems should provide clues
on how this is presently handled.

Signals wouldl be changed to accomodate the BRTS. Additional signals
for the BRTS lane would be required. BRTS will have first right of way:
after the buses in both lanes have crossed the intersection, the
traffic movement left and right would be allowed.

If I'm not mistaken, it is actually easier to take a long curve for a
heavy vehicle than a sharp curve. Presently the existing traffic in the
lane left of the vehicle force the vehicle to take a sharp curve.

Regards,
-s.k.

[Ajay Phatak]

Amey,

 

Great to see your detailed note and serious interest in understandig BRTS…. There is substantial information available on BRTS --- and some of the implementations in equivaent cities in south america have been a major success … Curitiba in Brazil and Bogota in Colombia are excellent examples.  I wish you were present for the seminar in Feb… Nevertheless it is indeed good that you have started participating…. Ashok, could you share a few links for Amey to read thorugh?

 

Regards,

 

Ajay

_________________________

Ajay Phatak

CEO & Managing Director

Jopasana Software & Systems Ltd.

Addressing your REAL needs

www.jopasana.com |INDIA | USA | UK

+91 (20) 2422 8112  (O)

+ 9198220 99058 (C)

 

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[Anil Risbud]

Hi Ajay, Amey,

 

There are lots of links available on the BRT implementations happening around the world, a good starting point is the www.gobrt.org . A particularly noteworthy point is the zeal and focus with which the Chinese are going about piloting BRT in several towns.

 

However, I liked Amey's independent approach and his urging that we should find the appropriate solution for Pune, not just copy others without due thinking. Hence, the more critical questions we ask about the pilot, the more value we could add, in PTTF playing a watchdog's role too.

 

I recently registered as a volunteer with PTTF and have studied the why and what of BRT, though finer details about the PMC's plans are not fully available. As Sujit advised I will send a point-by-point answer to Amey by tomorrow. (It is my son's birthday today, so I am busy !).

 

Most of Shital's responses are valid, though to the best of our knowledge, PMC plans to have bus stops on the normal, left side and split across intersections, to avoid the issue of left/right sided buses etc. Also, since the BRT would run mainly on arterial roads which are sufficiently wide (when fully implemented), the need for Autos and indeed the PMT service (in an improved form) will not go away.

 

best regards,

 

Anil Risbud

 

[Amey Naware]

Hi,

 

Thanks a lot.

I am very much relieved to as I read your encouraging responses.

I have also composed another document on PMT and its state and how to ease

traffic snarls at Swargate PMT stand. I shall mail them one by one.

 

Anyways thanks and waiting for Anil Risbud's mail.

 

regards,

Amey

 

ame...@gmail.com

[Anil Risbud]

Hi Amey,

 

A detailed point-by-point response to your queries is attached.

 

It has been prepared based on the documents studied including those available with PTTF, as well as on the valuable inputs provided by Ashok, Mr. Sujit Patwardhan (one of the PTTF founders and a trustee member) and Ranjit. The queries you asked are quite sensible - these are the natural questions that come to mind when one imagines buses running in the central lanes in Pune. The BRT concept is much more that, however - it is a metro running on tyres!!

 

Hope you find the document useful.  Do circulate it to your friends, who may have similar queries, if you feel it will useful for them too.

 

Please feel free to ask, if you have additional doubts or queries. Also, do send the other documents, too.

 

p.s. Hope you had a look at the www.gobrt.org site.

(There are many BRT sites, if you check on Google ! )

 

best regards,

 

Anil Risbud

PTTF volunteer
 

[Anil Risbud]

Responding to Amey's point on the bus stops on the left side of the central lanes and their possible interference, with the innermost (fast) lane. I believe the inconvenience at present would only be temporary till the construction is complete.

 

To get an idea of how the layout might look like, read on:-

 

A schematic of a possible design for the split bus-stops situated on either side of the junctions in Pune, is attached. This may not be exactly the same design at Satara road, which could vary due to an additional overtake lane for the "Express" BRT buses, etc. (Hope we'll get information about the actual designs on Satara road, soon). The railing between the "bus-stop lane" and the lane closest to it, is important to prevent any interference. Similarly, a railing could be provided along the footpath (common in South Mumbai) so people can't cross the road at a point in between.
 

A photograph (in .jpg to reduce file size etc.) from a similar implementation in Taipei, Taiwan since 2001, is also attached.

 

The Taipei BRT: Information sources

===========================

Pl. see: http://www.brtchina.org/ReportC/Taibei.pdf  for a complete presentation (large: 7MB) which includes many more photographs (this was circulated earlier).Also, see the progress report on Taiwan's BRT, dt. Dec'04: www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia/1412/articles-59549_BRT_Taiwan.pdf  (1.2 MB). It contains a section on how BRT is evolving in Taipei (incidentally, it has a population and area closely matching that of Pune.) Read section 3 carefully: it seems we have a lot to learn from them. Starting from a semi-BRT implementation, they are now adding features such as "truely exclusive lanes - even the old buses not allowed" and "off-board ticket purchase and validation at bus-stops" like in Bogota ( i.e. zero time spent in buying a ticket on the bus). So, the choice faced by PMC is similar - to implement the system incrementally, or with several key BRT features at once for a maximum throughput.

 

Interestingly, at Taipei, the accident rate reduced drastically, after the buses in the central lane were deployed !!

 

From the available information on the net, it seems Taipei is a more like-to-like comparison with Pune, rather than Bogota. But I am neither a transportation expert, nor been to either of the places myself !

 

p.s. Will include the diagram/photo in the Q&A and re-send to Amey separately, to avoid clogging everyone's emails further!

 

best regards,

 

Anil Risbud

[Shital Kanitkar]

Anil,

Thanks for the detailed response.

I have a doubt: both the Katraj-Swargat and the Hadapsar-Swargate BRTs
terminate at Swargate: how are these buses in the middle lane going to
turn around? They are going to increase the mess at Swargate.

I've heard that Nitin Kareer is holding an open house on November 3rd
re the BRT. Is the venue and time known yet? People should come out
with all their doubts and queries before then so the open house can be
made more fruitful. One of the warnings given in the detailed project
report on BRT was to not jump into granting contracts left right and
center without proper thought and planning, and that is exactly what
has been with 8 contracts propsed without any plan ready and approved.
Thanks to the opposition parties personal agenda, this has been
currently blocked.

Regards,
-Shital