It beat four of the world’s prominent cities in Washington DC to be judged the world’s finest when it bagged the 2010 Sustainable Transport Award.
The Ahmedabad Janmarg Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) has been hailed as the best mass transit system in the country. On Tuesday, it beat four of the world’s prominent cities in Washington DC to be judged the world’s finest when it bagged the international transport honour - the 2010 Sustainable Transport Award - and proved right the boast made by chief minister Narendra Modi and municipal commissioner IP Gautam that it was a vehicle ‘to move people and not traffic.’ IP Gautam and standing committee chairman Asit Vora received the award from former mayor of Bogota and current president of the Institute of Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), Enrique Penalosa.
Chief planner of the project CEPT associate director Shivanand Swamy, also attended the event. Interestingly, Bogota developed the first BRTS, which was the brainchild of Penalosa. A’bad Janmarg BRTS is modeled after the Bogota BRTS. In a talk with DNA, Penalosa had said recently that the A’bad BRTS has the potential to set an example for other Indian cities.
“Most important thing is that the project is in the right direction. This is the first BRT project in India. It has the potential to become an example for other India cities,” Penalosa had said.
“The BRT is not only about creating bus infrastructure, but also about enhancing the quality of commuting with dedicated bus lanes, cycle tracks, pedestrian facilities, personalised vehicles and optimum parking,” said Gautam.
The first 12.5km of the Ahmedabad Janmarg BRTS - from RTO to Chandranagar -was inaugurated on October 14 and received overwhelming response. Initially, BRTS ferried around 24,000 passengers with an average income of Rs1.20 lakh a day. After the extension of the BRTS in the 17 kms stretch from RTO to Pushpkunj, the swift model of transport is carrying around 30,000
passengers a day.
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