SYMBIOSIS SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS

SWOT Pune BRTS

CE - I Assignment (Public Administration)
Akhil Kapoor 3/10/2012

BRTS Bus Rapid Transit stands for a bus based public transport system which is aimed at providing better services than an ordinary bus service model. To achieve this objective there are various additions made to the ordinary bus services model, these additions are -: 1. Exclusive right of way for buses 2. Pre Board method of ticketing where tickets are to be purchased before the passenger boards the bus. 3. Bus platforms are aligned with bus entry points for the ease of the commuters 4. Using improved buses which can carry more passengers at a time. Example Low floor busses 5. Use of intelligent transport systems for faster movement of traffic 6. In the case of pune there has been a further addition of a Cycle Lane which further helps to separate the different forms of traffic. Pune was the first Indian city where there was an attempt of setting up a system like the BRT corridor and this process was carried out of creating a pilot corridor of 13 Kms from Katraj to Hadapsar. But the project was not completed as there were some accidents on the road just after the construction and this lead to a lot of bad press which then lead to form pressure on the authorities to discontinue some major services though some services still run on that corridor. Now let us discuss the SWOT analysis of the Pune BRTS model -:

Strengths - :
The experimental corridor which was made during the pilot project has resulted in fastening the flow of buses on that route. The BRT corridor on that route has created an opportunity to increase the flow of traffic on the Katraj Hadapsar route as there is a separate lane for the PMPL busses which leads to the smooth flow of the busses on that route. The BRT also insured fewer chances of BUS accidents on that route as there is no obstruction on the way of the buses in the corridor system. BRT system also insures that there is a lower amount of inconvenience and threat to the commuters, pedestrians by providing for a separate cycle lane and footpaths where ever necessary on the route.

An increased level of commuter number has been observed on the routes using the BRT which indicates the improved level of services due to the BRT.

Weakness -:
The creation of the BRT corridor has fastened the flow of BUS traffic but it has created a lot of problems for the other vehicles on the road as it has reduced the space for these cars and two wheelers. The reason for this problem is that there are various fundamental mistakes in the BRT corridor in Pune. Like there are lot of place where the BRT lanes take too much space on the road leaving very less space for other vehicles. This again causes serious risks of accidents on the road for these private vehicles. Even though the BRT infrastructure is in place the PMPL has not increased the number of busses as per the need of the public. Many bus commuters still complain of extremely low frequency on various routes This again causes low commuter turnover even when the infrastructure is in place which leads to major losses to the authority.

Opportunities -:
Pune is city with a very large student population which will benefit a lot from the BRT system if implemented. And this system will be able to reduce the two wheeler traffic of the road. Mahesh Pathak the municipal commissioner of Pune made a statement giving a proposal on 27 new routes to be put under the BRT System The routes under consideration are FC road, Tilak Road, Bajirao Road, nd Jungli Maharaj Road There is a greater chance of economic viability of the BRT corridor in the city of pune as there is a large commuter base still left to be tapped.

Threats -:
Pune is planning a mixed form of BRT system. As per the proposal there will be only 40 % of the routes with a dedicated lane for Busses. This can be a major threat for the successful implementation of the project.

One of the major reasons for the halting of the pilot corridor were property accusation issues on the pilot route. Some of the difficult properties were, Kamte Garage, Kadam Property, Kalubai Mandir. Similar problems can arise on various other routes which can again cause problems.

out of the new proposed routes run through the central part of the city. A lot of these areas already face a lot of traffic issues the implementation of these routes in those areas will be problem which has to be tackled by the authorities.

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