To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often - Winston Churchill
Changes are expected soon in the city’s Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS). The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) is all set to provide speedy and efficient transport system with better connectivity. This project of route rationalisation will kick off by September end.
As part of the project, a few of the AMTS routes will be removed, while a few others will be extended to newer areas so as to avoid Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) routes. AMTS will also venture into 15 new areas in and around Ahmedabad, covering schools, colleges and hospitals. Over the past 7-8 months, Cept University conducted a survey on AMTS routes running parallel to BRTS. Explaining the modifications, municipal commissioner, Guruprasad Mohapatra said: “The idea is allow AMTS to explore new areas. We want to link both the transport systems (AMTS and BRTS).” Mohapatra had earlier sent a team to Hyderabad to study how the city has adopted route rationalisation in its transport system.
The plans are to begin the first phase from Lal Darwaja to Astodia, where presently there are 46 routes, 220 buses and 2,716 bus trips. But since BRTS has been started on Astodia route, 19 routes will be modified, 19 will be curtailed and eight will be retained. The 61 buses from the curtailed routes will be used for other new routes. Similarly, 635 buses on 18 routes presently run from Astodia to Sarangpur. As per the new proposal, three routes will be modified while 15 routes will be retained. AMTS will operate in 15 new areas including Rabari colony, Uttamnagar in Nikol, CP Nagar, Naroda-Galaxy cinema road, Vinzol to Ayojannagar, Bopal to Sindhu bhavan and other exterior parts. Also, presently AMTS buses cover 181 schools, 93 colleges and 264 hospitals. In all, there are also plans to cover 211 schools, 40 colleges and 84 hospitals.
Chairman of AMTS committee, Babubhai Zadaphia said: “Main roads have BRTS while AMTS buses will cover interior areas. We will begin implementing the project by September end.”
