Blueprint ready after 8 years, but BRTS remains in limbo

At long last, the city has a blueprint for the first two corridors of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), which is seen as the quickest and cheapest mass transport solution for the city’s traffic woes.
The blueprint has come almost eight years after the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) began working on a plan to implement BRTS in the city.

But the project itself is no closer to seeing the light of day. The MMRDA has now backed out, saying it needs to concentrate on big-ticket projects like the metro railway, monorail, and the various sea links, and passed the baton to the BEST, which says it will need central assistance to run the system.

Consulting Engineering Services (CES) India Pvt Ltd, which was appointed by the MMRDA to plan, design and implement the BRTS, has said dedicated bus lanes could be set up between Bandra and Dahisar along the Western Express Highway and between Sion and Cadbury Junction along the Eastern Express Highway.

CES has proposed a 25km BRTS corridor on each highway, with dedicated bus lanes on either side of the median, at a total cost of around Rs1,312 crore.

R Ramanna, additional chief, transport and communications division, said on Tuesday that a steering committee appointed to oversee implementation of the project had decided to hand it over to the BMC.

The announcement came at a round-table conference organised by the Observer Research Foundation on roadblocks faced by the BRTS. “The BEST, which will play a crucial role in the project’s implementation, is with the BMC,” Ramanna said, justifying the MMRDA’s decision.

BEST committee chairman Dilip Patel, however, said the municipal corporation just does not have the money to take up the project and central funds would be needed. MMRDA officials said they were willing to help the BMC arrange funds.

The MMRDA’s decision has attracted sharp criticism from citizens and transport experts. Ashok Datar, a transport planning expert, did not find any reason for the MMRDA to assign lower rating to the BRTS compared to high-cost projects like the sea link. “A network of dedicated bus lanes will give maximum relief against current congestion levels,” Datar said. Another expert, Sudhir Badami, said the change of hands will further delay the project. The BMC, he said, does not have the expertise necessary to carry out the project.