It’s about traffic management, not buses

Work on the BRT corridor has been in progress for more than a year, but most motorists using the road everyday are clueless about how the system works, reports Sidhartha Roy.

Work on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor has been in progress for more than a year on JB Tito Marg. But most motorists using the road everyday are clueless about how the system works. The yellow boards that just say HCBS (and now re-christened BRT) do not help them either.

HT Image

BRT, as many believe, is not about high-capacity buses (a confusion that arose because of the earlier name — High Capacity Bus System). On the contrary, it is the segregation of different type of vehicles in order to reduce accidents by eliminating friction between them.

The project involves reorganisation of the road to create two dedicated corridors for buses on the central verge. These lanes will be physically separated from motorised vehicles like cars and two-wheelers by dividers.

Next to the lanes for motorised vehicles is a separate lane for slow-moving vehicles like bicycles and cycles rickshaws. This lane will be slightly raised. The last lane on the section will be for pedestrians.

Bus stops on the corridor will set up near traffic signals. This has been done is to enable pedestrians to reach the stops by using zebra crossings on the intersections. As stoppages are planned at a distance of 500-800 metres, some traffic signals will be set up at the ‘mid-block’ bus stops, where passengers will be able to cross the road.