Metro plus rapid bus transit

Metro plus rapid bus transit
Deccan Herald

Curitiba, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, has one car for every three inhabitants — the second largest car per capita figure in Brazil. But its auto fuel consumption per capita is the lowest among Brazil’s cities, thanks to the integrated BRT which transports 23,000 commuters per hour.

You start work. You cannot have answers to all questions at the beginning. People will help you if there are mistakes. We improved the quality of life in this city because there were no experts to advise us. Cars should not dictate a city’s life. And, the future life is on the surface.

These statements sum up the approach of Jaime Lerner who transformed a highly polluted, unplanned Curitiba, the tenth largest city in Brazil, into a model city. Today, urban planners from all over the world visit Curitiba to study urban governance. Sixty-four-year-old Lerner, an architect by profession, was three-time Mayor of Curitiba, which was earlier a byword for chaos and poverty. He found a solution to Curitiba's traffic congestion – in buses. Over 80 cities worldwide have emulated this measure and now have some kind of bus rapid transit system (BRT). Curitiba, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, has one car for every three inhabitants – the second largest car per capita figure in Brazil. But its auto fuel consumption per capita is the lowest among Brazil’s cities, thanks to the integrated BRT which transports 23,000 commuters per hour.

There were many questions which came to my mind during a recent visit to Curitiba: If the BRT can bring about such orderly growth and prosperity to Curitiba, why can’t it serve as a model for Bangalore? Why, unlike Curitiba, is Bangalore not maximising its road use for public transport? Why does Bangalore not have dedicated lanes for buses, safe bus-stands and good footpaths? Can the use of CNG – announced recently by Chief Minister H D Kumaaraswamy– alone help to bring down air pollution?

When Mr Kumaaraswamy feels that the Metro Rail cannot meet the mass transport needs as it will run only for 38 km criss-crossing Bangalore, then what is the solution? Should the City get more choked with cars? Or should the public rely on the mercy of autodrivers? Karnataka’s transport officials have no answers. They admit however that there is no integrated approach.

They support a BRT system in addition to a Metro Rail, so that there are fewer personal vehicles on the roads. For an efficient BRT system, the City should give top priority to dedicated lanes. The BMTC, years ago, proposed exclusive ways for buses. But nothing has been done so far. Now, under the proposed Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission, there are plans to develop dedicated lanes for BMTC buses along the Outer Ring Road (ORR).

A top transport officer who visited Curitiba, Mexico and Santiago to study the BRT, says unlike these cities, Bangalore has too many narrow roads. When Curitiba was rebuilt in the 70s, Volvo, the bus manufacturing company, largely helped to put the BRT in place, he points out. Going by this logic, the 70-km stretch of the wide ORR should have had dedicated bus lanes by now. Why are there are no exclusive roads for buses or cycles or for walkers in the BDA’s new layouts? Mallikarjun Kharge, transport minister in the Dharam Singh Cabinet, was very ‘impressed’ by the BRT when he visited Curitiba to study the transport system. But back home, nothing has been done, official sources point out. But BMTC officials hope that if the present chief minister studies an ideal BRT in any foreign city he will be able to appreciate its merits.

According to the BMTC, 56 to 60 per cent of the total travelling public in Bangalore depend on public transport, while 20 to 24 per cent are pedestrians. The rest use personal cars and two-wheelers.

But the road occupancy by BMTC buses is just 7 per cent, while private vehicles use nearly 80 per cent of road space. Buses cover not less than 8.8 lakh km per day in the city with more than 32 to 35 lakh commuting by bus on any given day.

The BMTC's fleet strength is 4,000 but there is no priority for buses. The diverse control over roads adds to the problem. The BDA, BMP, PWD and the National Highway Authority have their roads in the City, while the police handle traffic management. BRT can succeed only if all these agencies dovetail their work.

In the given situation, what can be done to lower the number of private vehicles on Bangalore’s roads?

The proposed Metro Rail has to be put in place. In addition, transport experts feel the BMTC should ply more buses which are comfortable, affordable and attractive. The network should cover the entire City to attract personal vehicle owners, they say. After putting a good bus network in place, the government should take up road widening by exercising its authority under the Transfer of Development Right Act, they add.