Dedicated bus lanes will be a boon, says study

Mumbai: Commuters will get Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) on Western Express Highway (WEH) if the dedicated bus lane is taken seriously, a study says.

Activists who were a part of the experiment have readied a report on the BKC dedicated bus lane results and said that if implemented, on WEH and Eastern Freeway or the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR), the bus l lane will be a boon to Mumbaikars.

The BKC experiment was shut down after construction work of the Mumbai Metro was taken up and officials felt that traffic problems would eventually be resolved by this.

Activist Ashok Datar, who monitored the 3.-6 km stretch from MTNL Junction to Kala Nagar and was part of the team that conducted the study, felt this needs to be aggressively pursued as a viable alternative.

 “During peak office hours, in the morning and evening, we saw 150 buses travel in this lane, which was beyond our expectation,” Mr. Datar said.

He added, "That means that every 2.5 minutes a commuter could access a BEST bus. Imagine the success rates of the system if used on the WEH, Eastern Freeway or even JVLR."

Another reason that the BKC dedicated bus lane plan lost steam was complaints from motorists who felt that it was not helpful at all.

Activist Sudhir Badami feels this is because apart from a dedicated bus lane, a well-planned Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) should also be looked at.

“There is a need to change the way we look at BRTS, people have developed an aversion to the system through half-baked information.” When asked about the failure of the Delhi BRTS, Mr. Badami was quick to point out that only 5 per cent of the work was completed and people opposed before experiencing complete benefits. “The Delhi BRTS was going to be a 20-km stretch and the full benefit was yet to be realised, but such propaganda was spread that they withdrew the work only after 5 km was completed.”

Success and failure

• Delhi BRTS was completely scrapped after a public outcry
• Pune has seen partial success
• Ahmedabad BRTS is the only success story in the country