 Last month, a private tourist bus speeding down the Bus Rapid Transport System corridor swerved off course, jumped the central divider, jumped the bus lane on the opposite side and killed four people. Automatically, the Delhi papers jumped past reasoned reportage to the foregone conclusion that this was one more fault of the damnable BRTS.
In contrast with Delhi’s system, which the editor of The Indian Express called “a cynical and expensive exercise in enforcing a new kind of ideological socialism”, the Janmarg BRTS in Ahmedabad is a globally celebrated success. Last month it won the 2010 Sustainable Transport Award, beating Latin American cities on whose systems it was modelled. Raghu Karnad spoke to Utpal Padia, executive director of Ahmedabad Janmarg, about how they got their system rolling.
What’s behind the success of Janmarg, compared to the public disappointment with Delhi’s pilot corridor?
Strategically, the success of the BRTS depended on a few factors: free trial runs of the BRTS buses to train the bus drivers for level docking at stations and to make the public understand the system and get feedback from them.
Before the start of the free runs, a part of the pilot corridor and a prototype station were constructed and demonstrated to let the public get an idea of the coming system. The BRTS had political will and support from all levels of government, and last but not the least, the discipline of Ahmedabad’s citizens.
The Delhi media began heckling the BRTS instantly. How did Ahmedabad’s media react?
The media in Ahmedabad played a very supportive role from the beginning, towards popularising Janmarg. Moreover, we strategically chose roads that are open even after the segregated corridor was constructed. Car owners have the same width to ply their vehicles, so they haven’t objected.
Segregated bus corridors are essential to a BRTS, but they reduce the space for private cars. Is it a zero-sum game?
The BRTS is fully meant for common people traveling in the city by bus, and providing segregated lanes to urban buses is what leads to rapid transit. Building bigger roads is not a solution for urban traffic congestion. The only solution is changing the attitude of car owners to public transport, for which the government has to provide easy, accessible, comfortable public transport. The BRTS is one part of that solution.
What’s your message to Delhi residents about the BRTS?
For Delhi residents, the only message which can be given from Ahmedabad is that the administrative body of any city, while providing better services to society, expects disciplined practices and co-operation from its citizens. It is their moral duty. This public transport is in their ownership and built from their tax money. So administrators should give good, affordable, comfortable service and citizens should make an effort to own the project. |
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