Pune becomes the first city in India to have BRT system - Easy Drive Forum

motorbike · 04-12-06, 04:32 PM

Pune become the first city in the country to have the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, a current public transport plan to beat traffic chaos… Currently, the BRT system would be operational only on a 12.2 km long Hadapsar-Swargate-Katraj corridor, to be complete within three months.

Quote:

In most Indian cities, the same road space is used by modern cars, buses, three-wheelers, scooters and motorcycles, bicycles, rickshaws and animal- and human-driven carts. Good work by Pune Authorities...Keep it up

A Joglekar · 10-04-07, 03:12 AM

BRT is an excellent form of public transport, no doubts about it. The questions I have always had is - is it right for Pune, are there simpler ways out? If we had a chance to build a brand new city, yes we would make sure roads are wide enough. Also all big engineering projects are implemented with a view of serving the population for at least 30 years, but what if the project takes 30 years to finish (Mumbai's metro is heading that way).

Having read the IIT/CIRT report on Pune's BRT, my thoguhts are as under -

It is tragic that the average total passenger trips across all these different (BRT) routes is just 8170 / hour.

Peak hour is not defined any where. It is vital to know this, as it may differ for different routes.

Average lenght of BRTS routes = 2.8 miles or 4.5 km. Points 1 and 3 suggest that BRTS on such a massive scale is not required for the city.

Still worse is the fact that Passenger Trips on Buses / total passenger trips for several roads is above 50% already!!

Bibwewadi Road = 69.75
Saswad Road = 68.46
Satara Road = 66.78
Ahmednagar Road = 66.31
Sangamwadi to Kharadi IT Park = 66.31
Yerawada to Bhairoba Nala = 61.63
Paud Road = 60.83
Solapur Road = 57
Old Mumbai Road = 56.88

The above data suggests that existing service of PMT (however poor it may be) is doing a reasonable job. BRTS will only add speed on these short stretches, but by how many minutes? Now to travel 8km at 30 km per hour it takes 16 minutes or 8 minutes at 60km / hour. Simple maths will tell you that for short distances speed never matters. So for 4.5 km by buses travelling at 60 and not 30 we will save 4 minutes.

Instead there is a strong case made by above figures for -

Strengthening the PMT on these routes
Improving bus priority with simpler methods such as bus lane enforcement during peak hours only
Discouraging use of private 2 and 4 wheel drives by adding a toll of some kind. A simple way is - pay a monthly fee if you travel during peak times on these roads, put a sticker on windscreen as proof of payment (similar to road tax disc that all car have to have in UK).

Unfortunately the reports from PMC, Delhi IIT and CIRT - all focus on BRTS. Not one of them compares potential benefits and dis-advantages of BRTS against other forms of Bus based public transport with improved priority.

In many ways Sachin Tendulkar can find it easy to turn around and say I use a Master Card and not Visa. If you challeneg him by saying 'but you are on TV adverts propogating Visa' - He will turn around and say - Yes but that's because I got paid for it.

In contrast those who have been sold out to the BRT idea have not been paid to accept this position publicly. The theory of cognitive dissonance explains why such people will find it difficult to accept any other position.

For more on this visit http://mysite.orange.co.uk/better-pune

manoj · 10-04-07, 11:45 AM

Nice post...

mayank · 10-04-07, 03:49 PM

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/ sky-bus, 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/ rickshaw/ 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.

A Joglekar · 15-04-07, 12:14 PM

Here is more on the complexity of the problem. Read -

Pune Caught in a Whirlpool - Can a Modern Public Transport Rescue it

All this talk about Sky BUs and Metro: Read -

Why Metro (underground rail) is a bad idea for Pune

Why we must Oppose the Sky Bus in Pune

Ethics and City Planning

Sadly, a PMT similar to BEST would do fine. But PMC and its leaders see things differently.

Adhiraj

10-04-07, 03:12 AM	#2
A Joglekar Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 17	Pune's BRT and its poblems. BRT is an excellent form of public transport, no doubts about it. The questions I have always had is - is it right for Pune, are there simpler ways out? If we had a chance to build a brand new city, yes we would make sure roads are wide enough. Also all big engineering projects are implemented with a view of serving the population for at least 30 years, but what if the project takes 30 years to finish (Mumbai's metro is heading that way). Having read the IIT/CIRT report on Pune's BRT, my thoguhts are as under - It is tragic that the average total passenger trips across all these different (BRT) routes is just 8170 / hour. Peak hour is not defined any where. It is vital to know this, as it may differ for different routes. Average lenght of BRTS routes = 2.8 miles or 4.5 km. Points 1 and 3 suggest that BRTS on such a massive scale is not required for the city. Still worse is the fact that Passenger Trips on Buses / total passenger trips for several roads is above 50% already!! Bibwewadi Road = 69.75 Saswad Road = 68.46 Satara Road = 66.78 Ahmednagar Road = 66.31 Sangamwadi to Kharadi IT Park = 66.31 Yerawada to Bhairoba Nala = 61.63 Paud Road = 60.83 Solapur Road = 57 Old Mumbai Road = 56.88 The above data suggests that existing service of PMT (however poor it may be) is doing a reasonable job. BRTS will only add speed on these short stretches, but by how many minutes? Now to travel 8km at 30 km per hour it takes 16 minutes or 8 minutes at 60km / hour. Simple maths will tell you that for short distances speed never matters. So for 4.5 km by buses travelling at 60 and not 30 we will save 4 minutes. Instead there is a strong case made by above figures for - Strengthening the PMT on these routes Improving bus priority with simpler methods such as bus lane enforcement during peak hours only Discouraging use of private 2 and 4 wheel drives by adding a toll of some kind. A simple way is - pay a monthly fee if you travel during peak times on these roads, put a sticker on windscreen as proof of payment (similar to road tax disc that all car have to have in UK). Unfortunately the reports from PMC, Delhi IIT and CIRT - all focus on BRTS. Not one of them compares potential benefits and dis-advantages of BRTS against other forms of Bus based public transport with improved priority. In many ways Sachin Tendulkar can find it easy to turn around and say I use a Master Card and not Visa. If you challeneg him by saying 'but you are on TV adverts propogating Visa' - He will turn around and say - Yes but that's because I got paid for it. In contrast those who have been sold out to the BRT idea have not been paid to accept this position publicly. The theory of cognitive dissonance explains why such people will find it difficult to accept any other position. For more on this visit http://mysite.orange.co.uk/better-pune

10-04-07, 11:45 AM	#3
manoj Easy Drive Forum Veteran Join Date: Aug 2006 Posts: 355	Nice post... __________________ Nothing is fool-proof to a talented fool.

15-04-07, 12:14 PM	#5
A Joglekar Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 17	More on Pune's Public Transport Here is more on the complexity of the problem. Read - Pune Caught in a Whirlpool - Can a Modern Public Transport Rescue it All this talk about Sky BUs and Metro: Read - Why Metro (underground rail) is a bad idea for Pune Why we must Oppose the Sky Bus in Pune Ethics and City Planning Sadly, a PMT similar to BEST would do fine. But PMC and its leaders see things differently. Adhiraj

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10-04-07, 03:49 PM	#4
mayank New Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Bangalore Posts: 21	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/ sky-bus, 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/ rickshaw/ 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.