By Apurva Bhatt
In February, this year the Chinese city of Guangzhou inaugurated a dedicated bus lane on a 20-km stretch of road. Today, the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) — which allows buses to travel faster, with fewer stops — is used by more commuters than most of China’s metro lines.
Compare that to what happened in Mumbai. The BRTS was first mooted in 2003. Twelve years later, there is no sign of the bus lanes.Over the next five years, Maharashtra plans to spend over Rs 10,000 crore on bridges that will serve two lakh vehicle owners. However, the BRTS, that would benefit 45 lakh bus commuters every day and cost only ` 1,300 crore, is on the backburner.
But now the MMRDA plans to have an elevated corridor for the BRTS on the Western Express Highway from Bandra to Dahisar. Informs Sanjay Sethi, Additional Commissioner MMRDA, “The corridor will be elevated as we won’t be able to decongest the roads and have separate bus lanes. The estimated cost of the project would be Rs 2,000 crore.” While the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the nodal agency for most major infrastructure projects in Mumbai, said it was up to the civic body to implement the project, the civic bus service said it was for the government to decide. The MMRDA will soon call for tendering and other work.
