Desaraju Surya
Looks like the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) will become operational in Vijayawada only early 2010.
Necessary infrastructure for the BRTS like roads and bridges is still being built and many structures will be ready only towards the end of this year, if everything moves in accordance with the plans of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.
Initially, the VMC wanted to operationalise the first phase of BRTS in February 2009 but necessary infrastructure was not ready by then, forcing the authorities to put off their plans.
Now, a new bridge is under construction at Seetannapeta across the Eluru canal while one more bridge is coming up at Madhuranagar on the Ryves canal. The Madhuranagar bridge will be ready only next year and from there a 90 feet road will be laid connecting the Eluru Road.
A subway has been planned at Krishna Lanka beneath the National Highway-9 connecting Raghavaiah Park on the Mahatma Gandhi road. A foot-over-bridge will be built at Veterinary Hospital junction and another at the Ramavarappadu Ring Road for the convenience of passengers.
The VMC is planning to buy 10 specially-designed air-conditioned buses and 30 normal buses for BRTS operations. A model bus stop is being built at Satyanarayanapuram which will have an automatic ticket vending machine installed in it.
For now, the VMC authorities are tightlipped about the exact date from which the BRTS buses will start running.
Plans are also afoot to float a Special Purpose Vehicle for the BRTS operations. The SPV will be headed by the district Collector with Vijayawada police commissioner, municipal commissioner, Urban Development Authority vice-chairman and other officials as members.
The first phase of the BRTS project covers a distance of 15.5 km. The road – which is meant to be an exclusive BRTS corridor – connecting the GS Raju Road and Madhuranagar is almost ready now. The old Satyanarayanapuram railway track has been converted into the BRTS road now.The first phase Green Corridor will have 31 bus stops – each at a distance of 500 mts and 17 traffic junctions. The signalling system which is the key to ensuring a smooth ride for BRTS buses is still not in place. Of the 15.5 km Green Corridor, only a 11-km stretch has a clear way for BRTS buses while the balance portion will have mixed traffic. The Rs 152.64 crore BRTS project, taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), will make Vijayawada the fourth city in the country after Indore, Pune and Ahmedabad and the first in south India to have such a better urban public transport system. BRTS, an environment-friendly and cost-effective urban public transport system, is an alternative between ‘unreliable’ conventional bus transport and the high-cost metro rail. Usually, it is also referred to as the ‘surface metro’ system that has a dedicated right-of-way on prime roads enabling high operating speeds. In Vijayawada, BRTS is being introduced on a pilot basis along the 15.5-km ‘Green Corridor’: from the police control room to the railway station, Satyanarayanapuram, Eluru Road, Ring Road, Benz Circle, Mahatma Gandhi Road and back to PCR. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation plans to introduce exclusive BRTS buses, each costing Rs 40 lakh, in the later stages. Though the state government approved the proposal to form the Vijayawada Metropolitan Transport Authority for operating the BRTS, it hasn’t been put in place.
Looks like the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) will become operational in Vijayawada only early 2010.
Necessary infrastructure for the BRTS like roads and bridges is still being built and many structures will be ready only towards the end of this year, if everything moves in accordance with the plans of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation.
Initially, the VMC wanted to operationalise the first phase of BRTS in February 2009 but necessary infrastructure was not ready by then, forcing the authorities to put off their plans.
Now, a new bridge is under construction at Seetannapeta across the Eluru canal while one more bridge is coming up at Madhuranagar on the Ryves canal. The Madhuranagar bridge will be ready only next year and from there a 90 feet road will be laid connecting the Eluru Road.
A subway has been planned at Krishna Lanka beneath the National Highway-9 connecting Raghavaiah Park on the Mahatma Gandhi road. A foot-over-bridge will be built at Veterinary Hospital junction and another at the Ramavarappadu Ring Road for the convenience of passengers.
The VMC is planning to buy 10 specially-designed air-conditioned buses and 30 normal buses for BRTS operations. A model bus stop is being built at Satyanarayanapuram which will have an automatic ticket vending machine installed in it.
For now, the VMC authorities are tightlipped about the exact date from which the BRTS buses will start running.
Plans are also afoot to float a Special Purpose Vehicle for the BRTS operations. The SPV will be headed by the district Collector with Vijayawada police commissioner, municipal commissioner, Urban Development Authority vice-chairman and other officials as members.
The first phase of the BRTS project covers a distance of 15.5 km. The road – which is meant to be an exclusive BRTS corridor – connecting the GS Raju Road and Madhuranagar is almost ready now. The old Satyanarayanapuram railway track has been converted into the BRTS road now.The first phase Green Corridor will have 31 bus stops – each at a distance of 500 mts and 17 traffic junctions. The signalling system which is the key to ensuring a smooth ride for BRTS buses is still not in place. Of the 15.5 km Green Corridor, only a 11-km stretch has a clear way for BRTS buses while the balance portion will have mixed traffic. The Rs 152.64 crore BRTS project, taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), will make Vijayawada the fourth city in the country after Indore, Pune and Ahmedabad and the first in south India to have such a better urban public transport system. BRTS, an environment-friendly and cost-effective urban public transport system, is an alternative between ‘unreliable’ conventional bus transport and the high-cost metro rail. Usually, it is also referred to as the ‘surface metro’ system that has a dedicated right-of-way on prime roads enabling high operating speeds. In Vijayawada, BRTS is being introduced on a pilot basis along the 15.5-km ‘Green Corridor’: from the police control room to the railway station, Satyanarayanapuram, Eluru Road, Ring Road, Benz Circle, Mahatma Gandhi Road and back to PCR. The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation plans to introduce exclusive BRTS buses, each costing Rs 40 lakh, in the later stages. Though the state government approved the proposal to form the Vijayawada Metropolitan Transport Authority for operating the BRTS, it hasn’t been put in place.