Now move freely, BRT opens for all vehicles on trial basis

As part of an experimental trial run being conducted by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), all vehicles will be allowed to move freely on any lane including the dedicated bus lane on the Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand BRT corridor from Saturday onwards. The trial run will continue till May 17. 

The CRRI officials working on the survey said all the required changes in the corridor like metal barriers on the bus lane to demarcate the traffic along with road signage and markings will be made by Friday. 
“For the first two days, issues like movement of vehicles in all the lanes will be monitored. 
From Monday, the entire survey would focus on three things – length of queue on different lanes, speed of vehicles and the delay and level of fuel consumption as per the new traffic plan,” said Dr S Velmurugan, senior scientist at CRRI heading the BRT study team.   
According to the new traffic plan on the 5.8 km BRT stretch, all straight and left turning traffic will travel on the extreme left and the lane adjacent to it, while the right turning traffic will travel on the next lane, during the course of the pilot study. 

The cyclists and other non-motorised vehicles will continue to use the existing cycle and pedestrian lane.
Velmurugan added that the new traffic plan on the BRT corridor would be in place round the clock and his team will conduct the  survey at different locations on the stretch from 6 am to 10 pm.
The six-week study is being undertaken by the CRRI after the Delhi High Court ordered a feasibility study to ascertain if vehicles other than buses can be allowed to ply on the exclusive bus lane permanently. 
Though the court deadline to complete the study is May 16, CRRI officials said the report is likely to be submitted before the court by June 14.