Title - ‘BRTS will do better with Metro in Ahmedabad’

The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) may not have achieved all that was expected of it in the three years of its existence but experts insist that it has had a positive impact on transportation in the city.

Earlier this week, DNA carried a two-part series on Janmarg (the official name of the BRTS) based on the findings of a study done by two researchers of CEPT University.

The researchers had found that the Janmarg had not only failed to attract commuters from the affluent section of society but was also too expensive for low income groups. It had also failed in cutting pollution levels in the city as people using private vehicles had not made the switch to its ‘swanky and swift’ buses.

On the contrary, the number of private vehicles in the city had gone up. The complaints against the BRTS are now familiar. It is not affordable enough for the low income groups nor was its pedestrian space and bicycle lanes free from encroachment by other vehicles.

DNA talked to authorities and experts to understand the problems the BRTS faced and find out whether there are any solutions to the problems.

Associate director at CEPT University, HM Shivanand Swamy was a consultant for the BRTS project. He quoted figures from another CEPT study which had surveyed 300-400 BRTS commuters. The study had concluded that the major shift to Janmarg was from the AMTS (48%) followed by ‘intermediate public transport services’ (30%), two-wheelers (13.5 %) and then from cars (1.6%) and other modes of transportation.

Swamy said that given the rate at which new vehicles (mainly cars) were being added to the city’s roads, traffic congestion will increase. However, he insisted that many roads had got upgraded because of the BRTS and this had benefited other traffic as well.

The upgrading process had given the city cycle tracks, pedestrian space and even parking space at many places along the BRTS routes. City-based architect Yatin Pandya said that having any public transport system in the city is always welcome.

“But the infrastructure and working of the system should also be efficient so that people can use it. Recently, I was travelling by IIMA Road and it took me no less than 40 minutes to cross the traffic signal. While waiting in the traffic, I noticed that cycle tracks, pedestrian space and parking strips were being used by two-wheelers to get ahead in the traffic lane,” Pandya said.

He further said that the design of the BRTS corridor where buses ply in the middle of the road was also not the best one because, after some distance, the buses had to join mixed-vehicle traffic.
Has the BRTS promoted low-carbon mobility or has it made any positive impact on pollution levels in the city?

Municipal commissioner Guruprasad Mohapatra, said that BRTS on an average had helped reduce the carbon footprint of 1.25 lakh passengers a day. He further said that many more people will be using public transport in the future once the city has a metro.

“Pollution levels can definitely be cut by having more public transport systems and greater coordination between them. Ahmedabad will have a metro soon. The AMTS is being upgraded as we have ordered new buses for it. The BRTS is also to get new, improved buses in a few months,” Mohapatra said.

About the fare structure, both Mohaptara and Swamy said that the city has the lowest fare structure. The ticket for the shortest stage of Ahmedabad BRTS is priced at Rs 3 and it increases with distance. The minimum fare for ordinary bus services in Delhi, Mumbai and Nagpur are Rs5 and in Jaipur it is Rs 6, they said.

Shreya Gadepalli, regional director, Institute for Transportation & Development Policy (ITDP), was involved in the initial stages of the BRTS. She said that a BRT system is only the first step towards making a city sustainable and it should be complemented by a high-quality city bus service that is reliable, comfortable and affordable. Walking and cycling are the most common forms of transport and easiest for reaching public transport points.

“Use of personal motor vehicles has to be dis-incentivised. A progressive parking policy that limits parking supply, charges market-based parking fee and ensures strict enforcement is the first step in this direction,” she said.