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First bus corridor in September
July 01, 2007
With the commissioning of the 6-km long section of the first corridor
for High Capacity Bus System
(HCBS) from Ambedkar Nagar till Moolchand
in September, the city will be witnessing a new traffic arrangement
which could work as a model for transport planning in future.
Once the entire 14.5-km corridor is completed, it will stretch right
upto the Delhi Gate crossing with 21
bus stops on the way, located mostly at traffic intersections.
The main feature of the project is a dedicated corridor for buses
in the extreme right lane - the fast lane - of the carriageway, both
ways. These lanes will be physically segregated from the rest of the
traffic through medians. "Lane segregation for different types of
vehicles has been done to increase the passenger carrying capacity
of the corridor, making it a mass transit system for buses. It also
facilitates smoother movement for cars, with the main nuisance creators
- Bluelines - out of the way," explained Dr Geetam Tiwari of IIT Delhi's
Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP),
which has designed the corridor.
The bus stops will be located at the intersections, before traffic
lights, to facilitate commuter access to and from the bus shelters.
The concept hinges on the fact that people should be able to use
the red light to get off from the buses. After the traffic signal,
a setback of 30 m will be provided before lane segregation starts
again.
To prevent long queues of buses at intersections, the bus lanes
will be split into two and a bus shelter will be provided for each
of the lanes. By doing this, the corridor can be used to run fast
buses, which don't stop at every bus stop.
To prevent accidents, the bus shelters have been designed to ensure
that people getting out of the buses cross the road only at the
zebra crossing. Pedestrian signals will be installed at all intersections
to facilitate this. The bus shelters will be enclosed by railings
and openings will be provided for bus doors and at the zebra crossing.
The signal cycles at the crossings will be re-done using a special
HCS2000 software, so that the stoppage time is not more than 120-140
seconds. The bus lanes will have separate signals.
On stretches where the distance between two intersections is very
long - like before the Press Enclave crossing - bus
stops will be constructed midway. Pedestrian signals, with a 20-second
waiting time for cars, will be provided for people to cross the
road to reach the shelter.
The route has several flyovers which the corridor will be skipping.
"If the buses go over the flyover, the bus stops will be at a distance
from the intersection and signals will have to be provided at the
locations for people to reach the corridor," Tiwari added.
Three lanes for private motorised vehicles, such as cars, will be
provided alongside the bus lanes right through the corridor. This
will be followed by a lane for cycles and then a footpath. The system
will also be integrated with other modes of transport like Delhi
Metro, which is passing through south
Delhi, and the monorail system being considered for Delhi Gate.
As for the buses, though the government has already got the first
lot of low-floor buses plying on the Hauz Khas-Shivaji Stadium route,
all buses on the route will run in the corridor to start with. "Half
the corridor, till Moolchand,
will be ready by September-end and the rest till Delhi Gate will
come up by April next year. Initially, all existing buses on the
route will use the corridor. But as more low-floor buses are procured,
the old ones will be replaced," said BI Singhal, officer on special
duty, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd.
At present, construction of a dedicated bus lane made of concrete
has been completed till Chirag Dilli crossing. After that, the dedicated
lane will have an asphalt surface because the traffic police have
opposed the construction work on the ground that there isn't
enough space available on the road for construction. Further, there
are several underground utilities which if shifted will delay completion
of the project. Officials said the project was on schedule.
Source: TNN
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