Conventionally,it is thought that a city needs high capacity corridors for transit and that is provided by rail-based technology.At least that is the perception of many,especially of those who have lived in Mumbai and also have gone abroad and seen advanced transit systems and desire to see them here.More so are the groups of realtors who consider development of such rail-based transit system,and in that the modern Metro Rail and Monorail,as business opportunities as the Real Estate prices appreciate with provision of newer and modern transit facilities.
Light purple-white coloured 12-coach new rakes of Mumbai suburban railways,which are gradually replacing the older designs and aging nine-coach rakes under the Mumbai Urban Transportation Projects (MUTP),are no doubt much superior,but the selling point for Real Estate is the Metro Rail and Monorail neither of which has yet become operational;realistically speaking,these are unlikely to be so anywhere in the near future.
While the new design rakes do provide better ventilation and lighting and they are much more comfortable from riding quality perspective,what makes Metro a much sought-after project is the fact that it will be air-conditioned,noise-free and it provides level boarding.Access to the Metro,and to that matter,Monorail will be friendly towards persons with disabilities,the elderly,expectant women and those suffering from arthritic ailments.It will also have passenger information system which is now being attempted to be provided in the suburban railway system.
If the Metro rail and Monorail are so good,then what is so good about Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) that one keeps hearing about its implementation Delhi,Pune,Indore,Jaipur,Bhopal,Vijayawada,Vishakhapattanam,Surat,Rajkot,Chennai,Bengaluru,and of course Ahmedabad Also,in many international cities,especially China and Korea,even though the Latin Americas have been pioneers in implementing and innovating BRTS for almost four decades,BRTS has been accorded greater priority over other modes.
The reasons are plenty,as many as the variety of BRTS in the world.But the commonest of all is that the system offers Metro-like service at one tenth to one twentieth cost and one fourth to one fifth in implementation time in comparison to Metrorail.BRTS constitutes a network of Trunk and feeder routes.While Trunk Routes may form the corridors,by virtue of its nature of network,development opportunities do not get concentrated along only the Trunk Routes.BRTS design as a whole is inclusive of not only pedestrian and bicycle users,but accommodates a whole set of stakeholders such as street vendors whose livelihood depends on vending to the needs of the commuters,the street-side shops and restaurants and cafes,elderly,children and expectant women.BRTS also provides space for emergency vehicles,which otherwise would get stuck in traffic congestion.It also provides space for parking of para-transits i.e.intermediate public transport like taxis and auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws in cities where they are permitted.
BRTS in short creates an ambience for relaxed and leisurely and yet quick commute.It would make after-workactivities pleasurable and create atmosphere for spending,giving impetus for a thriving economy.
The Feeder and Trunk service of BRTS,clubbed along with good pedestrian,cycle-ways,space for intermediate public transit (Taxis and Autorickshaws ) and other road users,whose livelihood is dependent on meeting the needs of the commuters can be very productive in not only meeting the commuting requirements,but will provide an enjoyable ambience.This leads to greater businesses and thriving economy.What could this mean to real estate development When spending is at economical and affordable scales,there is potential to have disposable incomes.Properly managed,it is bound to find an avenue in the real estate market.Thus,what is conceived as economy booster from Metro Rail and Monorail,the same is achieved at a much lower cost.
Mumbai has a unique problem.The suburban rail system that carries as much as 70 lakh commuters a day has a capacity of 1,50,000 person per hour and it carries as much as 3,60,000,resulting a fatality rate of nearly 4,000 per annum.It is imperative that as much public transport capacity has to be added as soon as possible if we value human life.This is possible only by adopting BRTS as priority one project.
Bogota,Columbia has achieved a performance of 45,000 persons per hour per direction (pphpd).Mumbai needs to provide four routes of that capacity or two of that capacity and three of 30,000 pphpd or six of 36,000 pphpd or any combination thereof.Since so many routes exist,they along with the railway lines will provide a very dispersed transit corridors,sufficiently close to every citizen to reach by walk,cycle or by taking feeder bus services or para-transits.Keeping BKC area as a transit hub for all the trunk routes of different BRTS routes as well as for the Metro Rail and Monorail,the city will be well served by a network of public transport.All this is possible in three to five years as against the Metro Rail's 20 to 25 years.
We already know how long the first of the nine routes,i.e.the Versova Andheri Ghatkopar line is taking.Even if finance were not to be a constraint,the problems due to dense underground utility services will ensure delays.We have recently experienced such problems in the current works of Metro Rail and Monorail and not too far back in the Metro Cinema pedestrian subway construction.Thus,hopefully sooner than later wisdom will dawn on the bureaucracy,technocracy and political incumbents to provide BRTS that reaches to the maximum,adversely affects the least and benefits all giving mobility to even the personal car users.
The author is Civil Engineer and committee member on BRTS for Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development for Government of Maharashtra
QUICK BYTES
BRTS CREATES AN AMBIENCE FOR RELAXED AND LEISURELY YET QUICK COMMUTE
BRTS CONSTITUTES A NETWORK OF TRUNK AND FEEDER ROUTES
While the new design rakes do provide better ventilation and lighting and they are much more comfortable from riding quality perspective,what makes Metro a much sought-after project is the fact that it will be air-conditioned,noise-free and it provides level boarding.Access to the Metro,and to that matter,Monorail will be friendly towards persons with disabilities,the elderly,expectant women and those suffering from arthritic ailments.It will also have passenger information system which is now being attempted to be provided in the suburban railway system.
If the Metro rail and Monorail are so good,then what is so good about Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) that one keeps hearing about its implementation Delhi,Pune,Indore,Jaipur,Bhopal,Vijayawada,Vishakhapattanam,Surat,Rajkot,Chennai,Bengaluru,and of course Ahmedabad Also,in many international cities,especially China and Korea,even though the Latin Americas have been pioneers in implementing and innovating BRTS for almost four decades,BRTS has been accorded greater priority over other modes.
The reasons are plenty,as many as the variety of BRTS in the world.But the commonest of all is that the system offers Metro-like service at one tenth to one twentieth cost and one fourth to one fifth in implementation time in comparison to Metrorail.BRTS constitutes a network of Trunk and feeder routes.While Trunk Routes may form the corridors,by virtue of its nature of network,development opportunities do not get concentrated along only the Trunk Routes.BRTS design as a whole is inclusive of not only pedestrian and bicycle users,but accommodates a whole set of stakeholders such as street vendors whose livelihood depends on vending to the needs of the commuters,the street-side shops and restaurants and cafes,elderly,children and expectant women.BRTS also provides space for emergency vehicles,which otherwise would get stuck in traffic congestion.It also provides space for parking of para-transits i.e.intermediate public transport like taxis and auto-rickshaws and cycle rickshaws in cities where they are permitted.
BRTS in short creates an ambience for relaxed and leisurely and yet quick commute.It would make after-workactivities pleasurable and create atmosphere for spending,giving impetus for a thriving economy.
The Feeder and Trunk service of BRTS,clubbed along with good pedestrian,cycle-ways,space for intermediate public transit (Taxis and Autorickshaws ) and other road users,whose livelihood is dependent on meeting the needs of the commuters can be very productive in not only meeting the commuting requirements,but will provide an enjoyable ambience.This leads to greater businesses and thriving economy.What could this mean to real estate development When spending is at economical and affordable scales,there is potential to have disposable incomes.Properly managed,it is bound to find an avenue in the real estate market.Thus,what is conceived as economy booster from Metro Rail and Monorail,the same is achieved at a much lower cost.
Mumbai has a unique problem.The suburban rail system that carries as much as 70 lakh commuters a day has a capacity of 1,50,000 person per hour and it carries as much as 3,60,000,resulting a fatality rate of nearly 4,000 per annum.It is imperative that as much public transport capacity has to be added as soon as possible if we value human life.This is possible only by adopting BRTS as priority one project.
Bogota,Columbia has achieved a performance of 45,000 persons per hour per direction (pphpd).Mumbai needs to provide four routes of that capacity or two of that capacity and three of 30,000 pphpd or six of 36,000 pphpd or any combination thereof.Since so many routes exist,they along with the railway lines will provide a very dispersed transit corridors,sufficiently close to every citizen to reach by walk,cycle or by taking feeder bus services or para-transits.Keeping BKC area as a transit hub for all the trunk routes of different BRTS routes as well as for the Metro Rail and Monorail,the city will be well served by a network of public transport.All this is possible in three to five years as against the Metro Rail's 20 to 25 years.
We already know how long the first of the nine routes,i.e.the Versova Andheri Ghatkopar line is taking.Even if finance were not to be a constraint,the problems due to dense underground utility services will ensure delays.We have recently experienced such problems in the current works of Metro Rail and Monorail and not too far back in the Metro Cinema pedestrian subway construction.Thus,hopefully sooner than later wisdom will dawn on the bureaucracy,technocracy and political incumbents to provide BRTS that reaches to the maximum,adversely affects the least and benefits all giving mobility to even the personal car users.
The author is Civil Engineer and committee member on BRTS for Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development for Government of Maharashtra
QUICK BYTES
BRTS CREATES AN AMBIENCE FOR RELAXED AND LEISURELY YET QUICK COMMUTE
BRTS CONSTITUTES A NETWORK OF TRUNK AND FEEDER ROUTES
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