To decongest city, focus turns again on decade-old BRTS plan

It will be a 30-km dedicated line with passenger capacity of up to 30K/hour

The Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS), which promises to ease traffic congestion on the Outer Ring Road (ORR), has come to the fore again.

The decade-old proposal got a shot in the arm during the first meeting of Vision Group (industries), chaired by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, recently.

With an aim to boost public transport, the BRTS lane was designed between the split flyovers on the ORR – from the Central Silk Board to Hebbal via KR Puram. The 30-km BRTS would also feature a dedicated bus lane, 37 bus stations, two terminals and 240 specially designed buses with a passenger capacity of up to 30,000 per hour (in one direction). It’s the same lane on which even BMRCL proposed to construct a metro line from Silk Board to KR Puram.

Batting for the BRTS’s implementation and metro in a phased manner, Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, who is also the member of Karnataka's Vision Group said, “We need both metro as well as the BRTS on ORR. Since the BMRCL might need another five years to start works on metro, the state government should take up BRTS in the first phase,” she said.

The informal committee, which the chief minister constituted recently to study the merits of the project, has also pushed for its implementation at the earliest.

Urban mobility expert R K Mishra said, “Nine lakh people work along the Outer Ring Road. The stretch is an economic hub of the city. Mass rapid transport system is the need of the hour to improve commuting experience.” He added that the discussion on BRTS would come up in the next meeting with the chief secretary.

Urban expert V Ravichandar prefers BRTS to Namma Metro on the ORR. “BRTS could be realised in just two years, it would take another ten years for the metro to come up on the ORR. The buses on the proposed dedicated lane would move much faster and this would force private vehicle users to switch to public transport”, he said.

Pawan Mulukutla, a transport expert, said BRTS could be implemented in less than two years. “The project would cost around Rs 1,000 crore, which includes 240 BRT buses (Rs 384 crore), construction of intersections, signals and junction. BRTS is able to redefine the way we commute in the city and it’s possible”, he noted.