BRTS must for public transport improvement, city’s development: PMPML

The workshop was organised with technical support from city NGOs Parisar, Save Pune Traffic Movement and Centre for Environment Education (CEE) along with urban transport expert Pranjali Deshpande and Yogesh Dandekar of Sarg Design Studio at the Pt Jawaharlal Nehru Hall at Ghole Road. It was attended by engineers and staff of PMPML, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), and Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad Traffic Police.

Of the 145 km BRTS network planned under JNNURM, only 70 kms was completed. Of this, currently only 45 kms is operational. Many of the corridors have been impacted by the ongoing Metro Rail work.

The BRT corridors serve more than 4 lakh commuters daily.

A survey conducted by the bus service provider also highlighted the poor state of the BRT stations, especially the sliding doors which have become almost in-operational. Likewise, the ITMS system is also dysfunctional now.

“Bus Rapid Transit is essential for public transport improvement and for the city’s development,” said PMPML CMD Om Prakash Bakoria.

The PMC and PCMC participants confirmed that while no new corridors were being planned, the corridors impacted by Metro would be reinstated. “However, it was felt that certain corridors needed to be completed to ensure connectivity with the existing PCMC corridors, which include Aaple Ghar to Wagholi extension, Wakdewadi Dapodi on old Mumbai-Pune Highway and the Aundh Road (Pune University to Rajiv Gandhi bridge) corridor which has been stalled by the Traffic Police. Existing BRT stations in Pune are in bad condition and need renovation to ensure comfort and safety of passengers,” said Ranjit Gadgil of Parisar.

One key message from the workshop was that the BRTS network needs to be complete and comprehensive to provide seamless connectivity on a dedicated right of way, irrespective of whether it overlaps with a Metro corridor or not. It was reiterated that buses do not cause congestion, but can, instead, help reduce vehicular traffic by inducing a model shift.

The workshop participants worked in groups on four key characteristics that are needed to induce the shift, namely reliability, connectivity and convenience, affordability, and universal availability.

“Based on the recommendations of the workshop, a budget requirement for the upcoming year was proposed and will be submitted to both the Municipal Corporations,” Gadgil added.