Babus quite happy not implementing BRTS

Transport expert and Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) campaigner Sudhir Badami delves into the problems of Mumbai’s public transport system. While talking to DNA, he ponders over solutions which could make travelling in the city comfortable.

Mumbai never tires of its strikes. After the unions, now the commuters have begun to strike in exasperation. Can we ever go beyond these clashes and negotiate solutions amicably?
Generally, such clashes bring problems to the forefront.  Then people start searching for solutions and something good follows.

Unfortunately, knowledge about the BRTS is not as widespread as it should be. Therefore, the demand for the system is not as high as it should be. The authorities and vested interests are quite happy not to implement BRTS. Their attention is towards the big-ticket projects like the Mono rail and the Metro rail.

What, according to you, is the problem with Mumbai’s public transport system?  
Broadly speaking, there are two crucial problems with the public transport system of this city — inadequacy and quality. Consider the problem of inadequacy: The present requirement of the city is (to transport) two lakh persons per hour. Once MUTP is completed in 2015, this need will come down to 1,80,000 persons per hour.

The population growth of the city is also just about 20% per decade. MUTP, however, should have been finished by now. It has not been finished because the coaches are not arriving fast enough as we have not invested in augmenting the capacity of coach manufacturing facilities. We must invest in building such factories. We can have a coach-building factory in the city itself. And we can do that without using any foreign technology.  

The quality of transport is also important, otherwise people will opt for private transport. Presently, the riding quality for passengers is poor. BRTS could solve the problem. You need quantity first and only then the quality could be improved. For example, the new train coaches introduced in the city have considerably improved the quality of travel in local trains.   

You have been advocating the BRTS over the much-hyped Metro rail and Mono rail projects for a long time now. Could you briefly explain the benefits of BRTS over the other two?  
There are three crucial reasons to implement the Bus Rapid Transport System in Mumbai. First, the cost factor.  Mono rail will cost about Rs150 crore per kilometre and Metro rail Rs415 crore per kilometre, 25% of which is underground. BRTS, however, will cost only Rs15 crore per kilometre.   

Second, the time taken for implementation. In Mumbai, for the completion of the Metro rail and Mono rail projects, it will take about 20-25 years. While, the BRTS equivalent can be completed in just 3-5 years.

Third, capacity addition. The Metro rail and Mono rail together, on completion, will add a capacity of 72,000 persons per hour. The present need itself is 2 lakh persons per hour, something which the BRTS can fulfill.     

The taxi unions are complaining that since the transport department has not released permits for the past 13 years, there is a dearth of sufficient taxis on the city streets. Ideally, the number of taxis should be less. Consider the case of New York, for example. That city has only about 20,000 taxis. Sixty percent people there use subways (underground metros railways are called subways in the US). They also have very good footpaths. Here, we do not bother about footpaths at all.