‘BRT system only solution to traffic woes’

‘BRT system only solution to traffic woes’
Vijay Times

Bangalore: Traffic experts in the City are of the opinion that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is the better solution to the problem of increasing traffic congestion here, as compared to the Metro Rail project.

With the number of private vehicles increasing by the day and several fly-overs being converted into one-ways, the traffic engineers and experts maintain that the BRT system is the only viable option.

The Traffic Engineers and Safety Trainers (TEST) arrived at this conclusion on the basis of a study conducted by the New Delhi-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP).

Nalin Sinha, ITDP programme director, in a report on BRT submitted to TEST, says that in the absence of a fast and reliable public transport system, an increasing number of people was shifting to personal vehicles, resulting in a massive growth of automobile population on the City roads, especially during peak hours.

The rising income levels of a burgeoning middle class has also contributed to the increase in vehicles, he says.
The study says that apart from a rise in the levels of traffic congestion and air pollution, the rapid growth of automobiles has also led to a sharp increase in the number of road accidents, making the roads unsafe.

The study also points out that parking problems and rising fuel prices clubbed with road safety concerns would make the problem worse in future.

Sinha said that asking for more infrastructure was not the solution and suggested that a radically new traffic model be adopted to bring about a lasting solution.

This assumes significance as a high-level BMTC delegation, led by Transport Minister Mallikharjuna Kharge, recently undertook a five-nation study tour including Brazil, Sweden and China, for possible implementation of their systems in Bangalore.TEST chairman Prof M N Sreehari, while supporting the BRT system, told Vijay Times that mass transportation was the only solution to ease traffic congestion in the long run.