Project is further delayed as MMRDA is still to get a report from the consultants it had roped inThe Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority’s (MMRDA) plan to introduce the Bus Rapid Transit System in the city — which is grappling with urban transport dilemmas — is set to be delayed further. The MMRDA has been working on a pilot project to introduce this new system, which will have a dedicated lane for buses for speedy travel through dense corridors. But the agency is still awaiting a feasibility report to start the work on two corridors - Eastern and Western Express Highways. The consultants were expected to submit the report by November 15 in which they were to identify potential corridors and put an action plan into place for the experiment to begin. “The report is now expected to be in only by the first week of December,” said R Ramana, additional chief, transport and communication division, MMRDA.The MMRDA does expect initial opposition, especially from private vehicle users, to the project when it is eventually put in place. According to Ramana, after a concept plan is put in place, tailor-made designs can be worked out for different corridors. “It is necessary to make people realise the benefits of BRTS and market the two corridors.”The BRTS model has been chosen in Columbia’s capital Bogota and several other Latin American cities, as well as in places like Hong Kong City, which are built around public transport systems. The BRTS is expected to significantly augment the public transport capacity that would help reduce crowds in the suburban railways.Meanwhile, the MMRDA has not been able to set up the dedicated bus lane on the Express Highways, which was to run as a precursor to the proposed BRTS. Currently, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking (BEST) runs its BRTS buses originating from Backbay on the Eastern and Western Express Highways but the routes lack a consistent segregated corridor. “The segregation work has been put on hold due to construction works on the two highways,” Ramana said adding it would resume once construction work is over.
