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BRTS – Certainly Possible & Can be Seamlessly Integrated too !
Written By Naveen - 6 May, 2008
BMIC Traffic Bangalore CTTP BETL CDP BMTC BMLTA BRTS Analysis
At signals & intersections, narrow underpasses could be used exclusively to allow for through passage of buses as mentioned in previous threads. If underpasses are not feasible at some locations, narrow one-way 16-ft wide overpasses will need to be built to facilitate BRT routing. All road infrastructure developments must focus on priority bus routing options rather than cater to & promote private vehicle usage.
Five possible routes are mentioned below – more can be added, but many will have to be single lane & /or circular routes since road widths may be insufficient : 1.
Domlur-Koramangala- Electronic City /EC (along 100-ft rd, IRR, Hosur rd).
– Integrates at Domlur with proposed ph-2 Metro (Indiranagar to Whitefield), runs parallel with proposed ph-2 Metro on Hosur road (EC to Yelahanka), & also integrates with Route-2 below at Domlur.
This twin-lane route can be bifurcated whilst passing through Koramanagala, & rejoined on Hosur road at Silkboard junction.Whilst south-bound, the route can use one lane on the left along Koramangala 80-ft rd (from Sonyworld at IRR-80-ft rd junction), proceed on Sarjapur rd, turn right at Agara lake & use ORR to rejoin Hosur rd at Silkboard. On return to Indiranagar, the route can turn right on to Koramangala 100-ft rd from Hosur rd & use one lane of the road on 100-ft rd upto 80-ft peripheral rd at Sonyworld to rejoin the other BRT lane on IRR. This will provide coverage to HSR along ring road & also to inner parts of Koramangala.
If a commuter wishes to proceed to Domlur from Sarjapur road, he could do it by taking the south bound bus & changing over to a north-bound bus at Silkboard – there will be a slight delay, but it would be minimal since buses would run faster with priority corridors.
2.
Richmod Circle-Domlur (along Richmond rd, Victoria rd & Airport rd).
– Integrates with Route-1 above at Domlur, Metro (ph-1) at Trinity, Metro ph-2 (EC to Yelahanka) at Vellara Junction near Shoolay, Metro ph-2 (Indiranagar to Whitefield) at Domlur, & also with LRT /Mono, if the extension is planned /provided at Richmond circle.
This twin-lane route will need to be bifurcated at Richmond road-Victoria rd junction & rejoined at Victoria rd-Airport rd junction (near battle tank).
When east bound, this route can go along Richmond rd till almost Trinity junction, turn right on to trinity church road through defense areas, turn left & continue on airport road till Domlur. When west bound, branch off to Victoria rd near battle tank & rejoin other lane at Lifestyle. Thus, it will use only one lane on Richmond road past Lifestyle up to Trinity, Trinity church road & on Victoria road.
3.
Hudson Circle – KG Circle – KG Bus station – Railway station – Anand Rao circle – Seshadri Rd – KR Circle – Nrupathunga Rd – Hudson circle.
– Integrates with Metro (ph-1) at KG Bus station & at Mysore Bank & with Mono /LRT at Hudson (if extension planned /provided).
This is a circular route & will use up only one lane on all the roads mentioned. At worst, a commuter may need to spend a few minutes longer if his destination is closer in the opposite direction of the route.
4.
Magadi Rd-Dr.Rajkumar rd junction – Northwards all along Dr.Rajkumar rd – Soap Factory – CV Raman rd (through IISC) – Sampige rd – Swastik – Platform rd – Magadi Rd back to Dr.Rajkumar rd-Magadi rd junction.
– Integrates with Metro (ph-1) at Dr.Rajkumar rd-Magadi rd junction, Metro (ph-1) at Soap factory & Metro (ph-1) midway at Maharishi Kuvempu rd stn & at Swastik stn.
This is a another circular route aimed to service parts of Rajajinagar & Malleswaram that are not close to the Metro ph-1 route & will use up only one lane on Dr.Rajkumar rd, CV Raman rd, Sampige rd, Platform rd & Magadi rd. The Metro corridor provides inter-connectivity midway + Metro integration will be available at both ends.
5.
National College flyover /circle – Vanivilas road – Vasavi Temple rd – Pass adjacent KR park on the east side – turn right at Gunasheela nursing home – turn left on to Kanakapura road – to Banashankari temple /bus station. When north bound, proceeds along Kanakapura rd for a short distance & then along KR Road throughout (parallel & close to Kanakapura rd), past Gandhi bazaar back to National college.
– Integrates with Metro (ph-1) & Mono /LRT at National College & with Metro (ph-1) at Banashankari bus station.
This is a circular route for most part (with corridors close to one another) & is aimed to provide service for Basavangudi & Banashankari areas not serviced by Metro. Metro will be available at both ends.
Priority for buses & BRT now does seem more & more of a necessity with each passing day in the city & needs to be considered foremost. Providing priority of passage for buses appears to be the only way to put an end to the relentless increase in personal modes for mobility with increased traffic volumes.
To be successful & effective, the corridors must not be discontinuous & must provide interfaces with Metro & other modes of rapid transit/s to make the whole travel package faster, reliable & efficient. If they do not provide options for onward journeys, there will be few takers, not serve the purpose & will fail financially.
The CTTP report has not considered the SE quadrant of the Core area, though this had previously been considered for the ELRTS project that had been abandoned. The Mono /LRT recommended from Kathriguppe to National College needs to be extended to pass through JC Rd, RRM Rd & Residency Rd to integrate with the Metro Ph-2 corridor at Rex Cinema This will provide far more convenient options & help greatly.
Check this link: http://bangalore.praja.in/part-iii-south-east-cbd-areas-not-connected.
COMMENTS
idontspam - 16 August, 2010 - 13:14
Compare this with Hyd MMTS of 47km that cost 500 crs.
This came with railway land & tracks. We have the same costs for the commuter rail in Bangalore. As far as I know there are not railway tracks on Airport road or IRR
Not if bus bays are designed & built properly for handling articulated /double-articulated buses, & drivers are trained to stop within busbays as a routine. This can all be possible only when all of the infrastructure is planned well & is in place: sentries at bus stops to prevent parking & also to prevent pedestrians /commuters from stepping out of bus shelters, median barricades with no breaches, good facilities for crossing streets close to bus stops, with escalators at high pedestrian density points, etc. & cops monitoring buses when they halt at busbays.
Known issues and quite theoritical. So why havent we had any success with the current buses which are already on mixed mode? Shouldnt we get this right before we think of BRT at all then?
IRR already has 6 lanes & no signals (except the koramangala-madivala stretch) & is as good as a signal-free road. So, where is the need nor the justification for elevated bus lanes on top of it ?
I think we are trying to create a conflict zone by trying to share scarce mobility resources. airspace & underground are under exploited in the city. And road medians offer captive space for going elevated. We have seen NHAI exploit it for their interstate purposes in 3 directions. While I theoritically agree on this particular stretch of IRR we need to look at the details of how the bus stand will be created near EGL and how it travels further.
FYI, flyovers or underpasses are a mere 220-350mtrs (with both, up & down ramps).
Not if it has to go over domlur flyover and come back down with a decent gradient.
domlur flyover has no such issues, silkboard flyover is another good example.
Good examples, Do you know why? At BDA, there is a bus bay on the left most lane like your proposition and they have to merge to the center to get on the signal free magic box that was built. Whereas in Domlur there is no such issue and in Silkboard the buses stop at the foot of the bridge like in KR puram. So there is concrete proof of how bus bays are not working the way you are intending in signal free corridors or mixed traffic.
At an additional 40crs/km in addition to costs for signal-freeing, it cannot be considered cheap.
Compared to exploiting underground and the unsolved problems on the surface. It cannot be considered expensive at all. More importantly it is implementable within the existing road sense & democratic cultural ethos of our citizens.
Naveen - 7 May, 2008 - 02:19
Sri,
a) I had’nt mentioned extending to Shantinagar TTMC from Richmond Circle as the road widths adjacent the ramp of the flyover on Richmond rd are narrow. Also, it’s narrow under the flyover on the stretch between Richmond circle towards double rd. Thus, providing bus lanes may not be feasible beyond Richmond flyover ramp, unless the entire road below flyover in both directions is made bus exclusive – this may not be feasible as other traffic movements will be effected.
However, if the flyover itself is made exclusive for buses, the extension may be easily possible. On double rd, one lane only would be better for direction towards Shantinagar TTMC in order not to use up too much of the road width & save trees. On return, a bus lane can be provided along Siddiah rd (or road over drain, if one is built – there is a wide drain opposite Shantinagar TTMC coming from City Mkt side), thence on Lalbagh rd, on Mission rd, on to flyover & rejoin the other lane on Richmond rd.
Commuter facilities (bus stops) can be developed a short distance from the foot of the flyover of the ramp on Richmond road – the road width is quite sufficient. However, sidewalk width is narrow, & this will need to be addressed. Pedestrian road crossing can be arranged under the flyover (currently, this is a landscaped area).
Proceeding east on Richmond road, it’s best to carry the bus lane all the way till Trinity (since it will provide an interchange with Metro), & then turn right towards airport rd, instead of going via Mayo Hall-Garuda Mall-HOSMAT-Lower Agaram rd, where road widths are narrower.
I did not use Residency rd as the road had already been ear-marked for guided rail mass transit when the erstwhile ELRTS routes were planned – in fact the flyover does not have a landing ramp on RRM rd for this reason. As I mentioned, I am for extending the Mono/LRT from National college along Sajjan Rao circle-JC rd-Town hall-Hudson circle-RRM rd-Residency rd-upto Rex cinema, where it should integrate with ph-2 metro route (EC-Yelahanka). It confounds me as to how they overlooked this important line – they may suddenly realize that they do not have a connection past corpn & plan it sometime later – if so, it will have to follow the above routing, or deviate towards Mysore bank (District office rd).
b) Shantinagar to City Station to Shantinagar – this is already well serviced by buses operating in mixed traffic conditions, & I feel dedicated lanes may not be required. One also has the option of using Metro (from Vidhana soudha or Mysore bank) & the other line mentioned above, passing corpn.
c) Feeder routes for Metro – around Jayanagar, Banashankari & Kanakapura rd – these will be done, I am sure when the Metro is finished as patronage for the Metro & it’s financial well being all depend on this !
d) Key shopping areas:
Commercial Street – Metro ph-2 line (EC-Yelahanka) is planned to pass through Kamraj road.
MG Road – Metro ph-1 covers this.
Brigade Road – Metro ph-1 provides a stop at plaza, close to Brigade road. Also, Metro ph-2 line (EC-Yelahanka) is planned underground along Brigade road. If the line passing corpn extends to Rex, then we will have one more connection here.
Jayanagar Complex – Feeder buses will be operated to Metro Jayanagar stn (near Nanda, on RV rd).
Forum – Metro ph-2 line (EC-Yelahanka) is planned to pass through Hosur road.
Garuda Mall – Metro ph-2 line (EC-Yelahanka) is planned to pass through Brigade road. If the line passing corpn extends to Rex, then there will be one more link.
What about North-Eastern areas – HRBR, etc. ? I am not very familiar with travellers’ habits in those areas, & hence had’nt mentioned any there.
Transmogrifier - 14 June, 2008 - 22:47
Naveen/TS and others,
While a BRTS that takes up a maximum of one lane on a few of our many 1-ways to minimize discontent among other road users and increase feasability, it also diminishes its effectiveness. One way to combine the best of both- take up one lane worth of space and yet provide a bi-directional BRTS- is to go vertical. My take on the pros and cons of an elevated BRTS:
Cons
- It's significantly more expensive than a surface BRTS
- It could be argued that Metro/Mono would work better if investment is that high
Pros
- Skips major intersections and the numerous side roads that often plague traffic planners in Bangalore
- Facilitates the R in BRTS.
- Integrates easily with a surface BRTS thus permitting only sections to be elevated.
- Skywalks/escalators can facilitate easy access from ground level and would also encourage footpath upkeep and use.
- Bus stops need much less room than LRT (Metro) stations.
- Rolling stock exists or can be obtained at a fraction of the cost of the Metro/Mono.
- Permits customers to patronize businesses on either side of the road (a problem that might arise with a BRTS along the central median in the CBD).
I've worked on a preliminary sketch (click here) of an elevated BRTS. The sketch is based on road widths of Field Marshall Cariappa/ Residency Rd measured from Google Earth. Specifications of bus lane width, bus stop width are based of DFID-UK's design guidelines of a BRT (Support columns were drawn significantly larger than required by the guide).
Comments? Thoughts?
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