The Hindu : New Delhi News : BRT a necessary evil: study

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Saturday, Apr 26, 2008
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New Delhi

BRT a necessary evil: study

Staff Reporter

“It will provide buses necessary space to function in Delhi”

NEW DELHI: The much-maligned Bus Rapid Transit corridor is a necessary evil and will provide buses the necessary road space they need to function in the Capital, says a study by the Centre for Science and Environment.

Centre director Sunita Narain said on Friday that the only way out of the deteriorating traffic flow and increasing air pollution in the city was to reinforce and integrate various arms of the public transport system that included chiefly the bus service and the Metro rail.

Despite being tagged with the “old and disorganised” label, the Government and private bus services together account for around 90 lakh passengers on a day-to-day basis while the Metro rail carries over 5 lakh passengers daily, said Ms. Narain.

Shortage of buses

“Buses still move 50-60 per cent of Delhiites. This is why we need a system that can efficiently transport a bulk of passengers. The first step, obviously, would be to increase the number of buses. Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority studies have indicated a dire shortage in the 10,000-bus target the Supreme Court has set for the Capital,” she added.

Once the requisite buses are on the roads, the tricky thing is to grant them enough space for comfortable and uninhibited movement on paths that are now overrun by privately owned vehicles. The economic boom has resulted in vehicle registrations in Delhi doubling in the past five years. While the road length has increased by 20 per cent over the past decade, the number of cars has swelled by an unprecedented 132 per cent.

Adverse effect

The increase in private motorised vehicles has also had an adverse effect on the air quality and pollution, added Ms. Narain.

Though cars and two-wheelers occupy 75 per cent of the collective road space, they account for just 20 per cent of the commuter load. Buses, on the other hand, occupy just 8 per cent of the roads while transporting a substantial 61 per cent of passengers, she said.

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