New Delhi : BRT woes

The adjacent photograph of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system of traffic segregation and management is something the Shiela Dixit led Congress (I) government in Delhi would rightfully claim credit for in the forthcoming state assembly elections scheduled for end-November 2008.

An imported concept from the city of Bagota in Columbia which pioneered this idea, it is no doubt a beautiful visual message to send to the world at large to announce the coming of age of India.

During the construction of phase I of the BRT, a few young lives were lost in accidents due to haphazard construction and poor lighting. Residents of Delhi thought of it as an offering to appease the lords who would offer them some relief and 'Moksha' (salvation) from the eternal mess of road traffic in Delhi. What Delhi got after a patient wait was endless delays when the new traffic signals were instaled with timings that were faulty. To tide over the initial troubles the contractors were asked to provide a certain number of road marshals at every junction. Virtually one half of the traffic policeman descended on the 5 km route in the first 10-15 days when BRT stretch was opened to public.

When confronted with the situation on the ground, Mrs Shiela Dixit, Delhi Chief minister insisted that it was because the Delhites demonstrated poor road discipline. She said once they became accustomed to the BRT the commuting would become pleasant and shorter. She also explained that if the design was found to be faulty the whole BRT would be scrapped.

It has been over six months since I have been travelling on the BRT corridor twice or more per day. The 14 km ride to my office in Connaught Place that earlier took 35 minutes in the morning and 45 minutes in the evenings has become a 60 minute ride in the morning and a 75-80 minute ride in the evenings.

I always thought I was good at analysing problems so I decided to ask myself why BRT was not working as designed and the commutes were taking longer than they ought to. I am no expert at road design but to my mind the following are the major reasons why it is in the current mess:

• The trouble starts at the Chirag Delhi crossing itself. Now I have to wait for two if not three green lights before I can get on to the BRT. A loop over the flyover would have cost around 35 crores but given an uninterrupted flow-in to the traffic coming from Nehru Place / GK II. This would also make the movement of Shiek Sarai - Moolchand traffic smoother. All the resultant traffic chaos at Nehru Place / Savitri Cinema / Panchsheel side would disappear with the lop over the flyover for traffic wanting to turn right (which incidently would be atleast around 85% of the total traffic).
• All right turns from the BRT corridor at the Archana Cinema crossing should be scrapped or mandated to go underground to lead to a smooth traffic flow. In future too all right hand turns on BRT must be done away with.
• The road surface on any BRT corridor should be even and flat not undulating like one sees today. Such convoluted and undulating surfaces take longer to negotiate and also slow down all the vehicles.
• Even if one person decides to go slow it slows down the entire traffic. Thus minimum speed must be stipulated.
• Many Govt / Police vehicles are routinely seen flouting BRT discipline and driving in the Bus Lane since these are usually seen to be less crowded. The answer is CCTV cameras on the road, regular Police patrolling and Heavy fines for violators and not lowly paid Road Marshalls. I recommend a Rs. 10,000 rupee fine and a 5-year ban on driving in Delhi by someone violating BRT discipline.

The Congress (I) government of Mrs. Shiela Dixit deserves another term in office to rectify the mistakes made in the design and implementation of the BRT. I am sure the Delhites would show some more patience and oblige.