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The Delhi BRTS was a bus rapid transit system in
Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...
. The first route opened in 2008 ahead of the
2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...
, which were held in the city. The project was well used but was criticised for the difficulty of access to the bus platforms, which were in the middle of the road, for lack of enforcement and for the effect it had on other motor traffic. A legal challenge was defeated in 2012. The
Aam Aadmi Party The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP, ) is a List of political parties in India, political party in India. It was founded on 26 November 2012 by Arvind Kejriwal and his then-companions, following the 2011 Indian anti-corruption movement against then gover ...
Government had announced the scrapping of bus rapid transit system and it was dismantled in 2016, because of traffic congestion and accidents.


History


Context

The number of vehicles on Delhi's road increased from 3.3 million in 2000–01 to 7 million in 2010–11; however, less than 10% people in Delhi use private cars, with 33% traveling by bus and 30% walking to work. The length of roads in Delhi has increased by 17% between 1991 and 2008, with now flyovers and underpasses have been built to improve traffic flow; the Ring Road has been made completely signal-free with the construction of 15 flyovers. The
Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a rapid transit system that serves Delhi and the adjoining satellite cities of Faridabad, Gurugram, Noida, Bahadurgarh, and Ballabhgarh in the National Capital Region (India), National Capital Region of India. The system cons ...
opened its first section in 2002 and now carries 2.06 million passengers each day (as of 2011). Pedestrians became marginalised and journey times and
air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
both increased. In 2002, Supreme Court issued an order to convert all diesel buses to
compressed natural gas Compressed natural gas (CNG) is a fuel gas mainly composed of methane (CH4), compressed to less than 1% of the volume it occupies at standard atmospheric pressure. It is stored and distributed in hard containers at a pressure of , usually in ...
(CNG) to reduce
air pollution Air pollution is the presence of substances in the Atmosphere of Earth, air that are harmful to humans, other living beings or the environment. Pollutants can be Gas, gases like Ground-level ozone, ozone or nitrogen oxides or small particles li ...
; however, average total suspended particulate (TSP) level is still considerably higher than
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
’s (WHO) recommendations. There is little opportunity to build new roads or widen existing roads, which already make up 21% of the land area.


Planning and construction

The Delhi BRT system was inspired by a similar systems in
Curitiba Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Southern Brazil. The city's population was 1,773,718 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the larg ...
, Brazil which had been introduced a system in 1975, with similar systems being introduced in
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
, Colombia (
TransMilenio TransMilenio is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system that serves Bogotá, the capital of Colombia, and Soacha, a neighbouring city. The system opened to the public in December 2000. As of 2024, 12 lines totalling run throughout the city. It is pa ...
),
Guayaquil Guayaquil (), officially Santiago de Guayaquil, is the largest city in Ecuador and also the nation's economic capital and main port. The city is the capital (political), capital of Guayas Province and the seat of Guayaquil Canton. The city is ...
, Ecuador ( Metrovia) and the Eugene, Oregon ( Emerald Express (EmX)). GNCTD appointed RITES and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT Delhi) to design and implement a system for the city in 2004. TRIPP IIT Delhi were appointed as technical and conceptual advisors. GNCTD create the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) in 2006 to oversee the establishment of public transport systems in Delhi and operate it on a day-to-day basis. A trial run took place on 21 April 2008.http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/brt-corridor-to-be-opened-to-public-on-may-1/297272/ BRT corridor to be opened to public on 1 May


Operation

The first route, from Dr. Ambedkar Nagar to the south to Delhi Gate in the centre of the city, passed through some of the prime 'colonies' (urban districts) in South Delhi and was also on the main road from Delhi to the large commercial developments in Gurgaon. A trial section of the first route started in operation 20 April 2008 from Dr. Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand. Construction work for the full length started in October 2008.


Legal challenge and 'mixed-use'

The city delayed implementation of a further 14 fast-track bus corridors in response to the level of controversy created by the first scheme. The legality of the system was challenged in 2012. During the nine-month-long legal challenge the
Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi ( Hindustani: दिल्ली उच्च न्यायालय; ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') is the high court in Delhi, India. It was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966. ...
initially ruled that private vehicles should be allowed the use of the bus lanes on a temporarily basis and ordered the government to review the feasibility of the project. The Delhi government appealed to the
Supreme Court of India The Supreme Court of India is the supreme judiciary of India, judicial authority and the supreme court, highest court of the Republic of India. It is the final Appellate court, court of appeal for all civil and criminal cases in India. It also ...
against the ruling in July 2012, but was unsuccessful. The high court subsequently ruled in favour of the bus rapid transit system concluding that "a developed country is not one where the poor own cars. It is one where the rich use public transport".


Closure

After 8 years of operation, the system was dismantled in 2016 due to traffic issues for motorists and accidents.


Design and operation

The 14.5 km long corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to Delhi Gate ran along a
right of way A right of way (also right-of-way) is a specific route that people, animals, vehicles, watercraft, or utility lines travel, or the legal status that gives them the right to do so. Rights-of-way in the physical sense include controlled-access h ...
which varying from 28 meters to 51.5 meters wide. Buses used a
bus lane A bus lane or bus-only lane is a lane restricted to buses, generally to speed up public transport that would be otherwise held up by traffic congestion. The related term busway describes a roadway completely dedicated for use by buses, whilst ...
is in the middle of the road which is 3.3 meters wide with general purpose
motor vehicle A motor vehicle, also known as a motorized vehicle, automotive vehicle, automobile, or road vehicle, is a self-propelled land vehicle, commonly wheeled, that does not operate on railway track, rails (such as trains or trams), does not fly (such ...
lanes with a width of 6.75 meters to each side. Separate lanes were also provided for non-motorised vehicles, including pedestrians, cycles and rickshaws etc. Buses ran at the same level as normal traffic and share the same traffic signals. Bus passengers needed to access the bus platforms in the middle of the road by crossing the busy general purpose traffic lanes. Electronic
Passenger information system A passenger information system, or passenger information display system, is an automated system for supplying users of public transport with information about the nature and the state of a public transport service through visual, voice or other m ...
displays were available in all bus shelters with the new low-floor buses on four routes – 419, 423, 521 and 522 being fitted with
GPS tracking A GPS tracking unit, geotracking unit, satellite tracking unit, or simply tracker is a navigation device normally on a vehicle, asset, person or animal that uses satellite navigation to determine its movement and determine its WGS84 UTM ...
. The first route crossed 6 key intersections, including Chirag Delhi, which is one of the busiest in Delhi and also the congested Moolchand intersection. More than 1.35 million vehicles of all types cross the junction in a typical 16-hour day. Approximately 200-250 buses which cross the junction each peak hour carry some 11,000-12,000 passengers (which is 55-60% of the total people movements). A further some 15-20% of people use private vehicles including cars, two wheelers and auto rickshaws and make up 90% of the traffic. Cars/Jeeps constitute around 35-40% of total motorised vehicles. 180 road marshals were deployed on the corridor to guide bus passengers, help children and old people to cross the road, manage traffic, instruct people to follow traffic rules and perform other corridor management activities. The company employed
security guard A security guard (also known as a security inspector, security officer, factory guard, or protective agent) is a person employed by a government or private party to protect the employing party's assets (property, people, equipment, money, etc.) ...
s at the bus platforms on a 24-hour basis. The Operational Control Centre (OCC) at Kashmere Gate and a camp office at DTC Khan Pur Depot monitored the daily progress. A crane was available to remove disabled vehicles from the corridor. On average there were 3 vehicle break downs on the corridor each day. Disabled vehicles including buses were typically removed in about 10 minutes.


Usage and performance

More than 60% of commuters used BRT Corridor mainly for work. Most of the respondents showed their discontent with the previous public transportation system. Respondents preferred to use their private vehicles due to inflexibility and unreliability of the bus system (according to a DIMTS commissioned socio-economic survey at BRT Corridor ). More than 50% of respondents desired ''timeliness of bus service'', ''clean bus and well behaved staff'' and ''certainty of bus service''. 85% of the respondents, who were currently not using public transport system, showed their willingness to use new BRT system if it is good. In 2012, it was reported that 70% of users were moving faster and there has been a 32% increase in bus ridership.


Criticism


Lack of enforcement

While the system was under operation, frustrated vehicle owners chose to violate rules with impunity by using the bus lane, defeating the very purpose of BRT. With negligible prosecution, the entire concept of a BRT falls flat. "''BRT as a concept is good, but the success of the corridor depends on how it is implemented. In its present form, it is congested and a large number of violations occur on the stretch that are not punished. This compromises the sanctity of the corridor. People have to be prosecuted on the spot to discourage violations. We have received complaints of pile-ups on the non-BRT lane and the long signal cycle adds to the delay in smooth crossover on the stretch,''" says joint commissioner of police (traffic) Satyendra Garg.


Difficulty accessing bus platforms

Along with private car owners, bus users also complained about bad planning. Despite the claims of DIMTS, the agency in-charge of the stretch, bus users say they are forced to scamper across the stretch to cross between the bus stands and the pavement. Without proper underpasses from the central median, where passengers get down or board the bus, a passenger does not know how to reach the bus stop as it's in the middle of the road. Not only are there no proper pedestrian crossings for road users on the BRT, the maintenance of the stretch is so poor that most of the safety markers, like bollards and speedbreakers, are broken and in a state of severe disrepair. Explains KK Kapila, Chairman of International Road Federation (IRF), a Geneva-based global body for road safety: "''At present the buses run in the middle of the road with cars and motorised traffic on narrow left lanes. Since the bus stands are in middle of the road, the scurrying passengers have to board or get off the bus in the middle of the road and have to scuttle to safety towards pavements through the regular traffic lane. This is not the full-scale BRT system followed abroad.''"


Longer traffic signal cycle times

At regular traffic intersections, commuters have to wait for transit of traffic along the three other arms of the intersection before getting a green signal. On BRT, the signal cycle was far more convoluted and, as a result, much longer. "''As opposed to normal traffic intersections, there are six different movements of vehicles along the arms of the intersection. The two extra movements are that of the buses on the BRT lane, which means that all commuters using the BRT or even passing through have to wait much longer. As the waiting time increases, the traffic tail lengthens much more than it normally would and there is a corresponding ripple effect on traffic,''" points out a senior traffic police officer. This means that commuters have been unable to cross the intersection in one signal cycle. "It takes me at least three green lights to cross each signal of the BRT. Even during non-peak hours, I am stuck in a never-ending jam. Sometimes, I feel like banging my car in frustration. I can walk faster in this corridor," says a much hassled Ratika Dang, an interior designer. The BRT had created further choke points creating almost half km long backups since 2008.


Future

After the system was dismantled, there have been plans to implement a new BRT in east Delhi along with five other corridors across the city.


See also

* Delhi Monorail * Delhi Light Rail Transit * Indore BRTS *
List of bus rapid transit systems The term ''bus rapid transit system'' (''BRT system'') has been applied to a wide range of bus, trolleybus, and electric bus systems. In 2012, the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) published a BRT Standard to make it ea ...
* Ahmedabad BRTS * Jaipur BRTS * Rainbow BRTS


References


Sources


DIMTS-Bus rapid transit

Private vehicles may ply on BRT bus lanes

Road rage: Rogue bikers beat up judge, driver on Bus Rapid Transit corridor

Supreme Court rejects govt’s plea on BRT

Petitioner demolishes dividers on the bus rapid transit corridor

Traffic jams back on BRT

The Big, Bad BRT

Shorn of its halo, BRT works better for cars



External links


DIMTS
{{Greater Delhi transit Transport in Delhi Bus rapid transit in India 2008 establishments in Delhi 2016 disestablishments in India