28 March,2011 07:57 AM IST | | Surender Sharma
That'll be the choice for commuters in several parts of the city, if a proposal by RITES to popularise the BRT network is accepted by Delhi government
If the government has its way, you may end up paying Rs 500, instead of Rs 50, as parking fee in Connaught Place and Walled City in the coming years.
Jam sessionu00a0: View of a road in south Delhi with the BRT corridor in the
middle. File pic
With the traffic mess reaching alarming proportions, the government is planning more Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridors and to ensure you only ride a bus, parking charges could become almost ten times what you pay now along with congestion charges, and higher fuel charges. Bottom line:u00a0 The government wants fewer cars in your garage, and certainly on the roads.
If you have been a Delhiite for a few years now, you must have observed several of the city's streets change character over time - becoming increasingly difficult to negotiate, given the remarkable upsurge in the volume of traffic. In case you have just arrived, you must have read about this problem in newspapers. This familiar perplexity arises out of the nearly 68 lakh registered vehicles in Delhi, more than the figure Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai can put up together. And the number is going up every day. Some drastic measures are needed, and it seems they are on their way.
RITES, a government of India consultancy firm, recently made a presentation before the Delhi government in which it proposed that 38 corridors of BRT be constructed in the next ten years and to ensure that people use public transport only, higher parking charges are levied.
"To get a public transport speed of 25 km per hour and increased ridership on BRT corridor and other public transport modes, the parking fee of business districts like Connaught Place and Chandni Chowk be Rs 500 (for up to four hours), while in other business areas it should be Rs 250 and Rs 100 in other areas," the report has said.
The report also says, there will be 174 lakh trips per day in the city in 2021, including car trips at 29.83, 34.90 trips by two-wheelers and 104.09 public transport trips. "If the high parking charges are levied, the two-wheeler trips would get reduced by almost half to 14 lakh trips per day, car trips will come down to 25 lakh trips per day and public transport trips would increase to 126 trips per day, which will result in an average vehicular speed of 25 km per hour," it says.u00a0 Currently the figure is 12 km per hour.
Delhi government in its budget this year has already approved construction of 14 more BRT corridors at a cost of Rs 4000 crore. Per kilometre the construction costs would be about 18-20 crore. Delhi Chief Secretary, Rakesh Mehta refused to comment on the issue. When contacted, Delhi Transport Secretary RK Verma said, "It is true that the presentation was made by RITES. They have proposed this model. It is being deliberated upon. Nothing has been finalised as of now,"
When it was pointed out that both experts and commuters have panned the BRT system in the Capital, he said: "It is their opinion. As per whose standard has the BRT failed in the city? Who will decide the failure of the system? Vehicular traffic in Delhi has reached alarming proportions so something has to be done. If the situation was better nobody would go for such measures."
PK Sarkar, a transport expert with School of Planning and Architecture, said: "It is not necessary to have BRT for an efficient public transport system. Integration is the main thing. I think even a proper integration of transport modes and congestion pricing could be more useful. I have apprehensions about the sustainability of the system unless the arterial roads get proper integration and feeder system," he said.
Longu00a0 road ahead
38 BRT corridors covering a total length of 641 km have been planned in Delhi. These are to come up by the year 2021.
Parking in Delhi: Ground realities
MCD which manages parking lots in most parts of Delhi had recently proposed that one lakh rupees be levied on every vehicle which is registered in the city as Delhi is heading towards a disastrous situation.
A recent MCD report says 9-10 per cent of the geographical area in the Capital is needed just for parking vehicles. The city has over 68 lakh vehicles. MCD has proposed that the city be divided into different zones, congestion charges be introduced, the rule of one family one car be enforced and if a car owner buys a second car, the owner should be charged a fee of Rs 1 lakh per car and underground parking in places like parks, race course and stadiums be introduced. The report says congestion and heavy traffic results in the loss of fuel worth Rs 1,000 million annually.u00a0 "Daily registration of cars (as on 2005) generates demand for 2.5 million sqm - roughly equivalent (to the size) of 310 international football fields," the report says. There are approximately 150 parking sites in Delhi. The MCD is working on providing parking space at 15 more sites by developing multi-level automated parking lots.u00a0
These lots are being developed at M-Block market in Greater Kailash-I, South Extension Part I and II, Rani Bagh, Defence Colony, Shastri Park, Karol Bagh and Lajpat Nagar. The upcoming multi-level parking lot at Ramlila Maidan, which is will provide a space to 700 cars is also under process.u00a0 MCD has further identified 24 underground parking sites. The NDMC is constructing three multilevel parking projects at Baba Kharak Singh Marg (1,400 cars), Sarojini Nagar (more than 700 cars) and KG Marg (1,500 cars).
Prime numbers
'u00a0Even as the national average figure is eight private cars per 1,000 population, In Delhi the number is 85.
' Delhi and NCR lose nearly 42 crore man-hours every month while commuting between home and office through public transport, due to the traffic congestion.
' During the past decade the city has added 3,500 km of road length, but the number of vehicles has increased from 33.7 lakh in 2000- 01 to 68 lakh in 2010-11.
' A total of 1087 vehicles are registered every day In Delhi, of which 1021 are personal vehicles. Nearly 3, 65,000 vehicles are registered annually.
' Around 45 million sq m of land is needed for parking of already registered vehicles in the Capital.
Past Impardect
In 2004, Delhi government appointed RITES and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi for designing and implementing the first BRT corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to Delhi Gate. In October 2006, construction work on the corridor started. The trial on the stretch from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand started on April 20, 2008 which caused heavy traffic jams resulting in widespread public outcry and the government came under serious criticism. The bus lane is in the middle of the road with a width of 3.3 meters. Other motor vehicle lanes are on the side of bus lane with a width of 6.75 meters. Separate lanes are provided for non-motorised vehicles and pedestrians. Traffic volume on the BRT corridor is very high as it traversed through upscale colonies on posh south Delhi.
Later on the project was extended to Delhi Gate also but the middle lane rule was not enforced for the buses.
The government says, there is not other alternative to the system and it has not failed. "Don't judge the entire system from one particular point of view. When there is a proper system all across the city and it is integrated with other modes, what is being seen as a problem will become the solution," said RK Verma, Commissioner, Transport.
'Modi scores over Sheila'
A senior BJP leader who had been critical of BRT in Delhi told MiD DAY, it is not a BJP versus Congress thing. "In Ahmedabad, it was planned properly. It gave space to all stakeholders on the road. The bus lane was a side lane. During the time of construction the general public was not affected. We did opposite of it in Delhi. That is why we failed miserably," he said.
Transport expert PK Sarkar said: "BRT is not a mass rapid transit system. It is meant for cities where volume of traffic is not much. In cities like Delhi we can have MRTS like Metro with a strong integrated bus system for feeder but not necessarily a BRT. Ahmedabad has 2 million vehicles while in Delhi the figure is over 6.5 million."u00a0 Another transport expert, Nalin Sinha said: "In Ahmedabad right from the beginning, all stakeholders were consulted at every stage of planning, execution and operation. But in Delhi we did not do so, which is why we failed. This is where Narendra Modi scored over Sheila Dikshit."
BRT in bogota
Bogot 's TransMilenio, which inspired the Delhi government, has been described as a "model BRT system" in the National Bus Rapid Transit Institute's May 2006 report. TransMilenio serves Bogot with high-capacity articulated buses, which passengers can board through three doors. Bi-articulated buses are also now used on the busiest routes. A smart card system is used for off-board fare collection. Nevertheless, despite moving 45,000 ppdph, Transmilenio faces huge problems especially during peak hours.
Straight talk
RK Verma
Transport Commissioner, Delhi
When there is a proper system all across the city and it is integrated with other modes, what is being seen as a problem will become the solution.
Nalin Sinha
Transport Analyst
I think before going ahead with the BRT expansion we need to consult all the stakeholders, public, experts and also review the existing system. The model has to
be city specific.
