Coimbatore Corporation Study All the Possibilities to Decongest roads...
BRTS, monorail among options to decongest roads
Projected passenger flow too low for metro rail: consultants
COIMBATORE: A presentation on more public transport options here on Thursday focussed on the benefits of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for city such as Coimbatore. It also explained how a monorail or sky bus could help decongest the city roads.
Presentation:Wilbur Smith Associates, consultants for the Coimbatore Corporation on traffic management schemes under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, made the presentation to explain to Corporation councillors and representatives of the public what were the options to rid the roads of traffic jams.
The organisation's representatives said the city did not require a metro rail system because the passenger flow would not be huge. The passenger per hour per direction (PPHPD) rate should be 70,000 to a lakh. Coimbatore would not have this flow even in 2020. The metro rail here would be under-utilised, as the PPHPD rate would be only 10,000 to 15,000.
Metro rail needed large curves of nearly 300 metres. It was easier to have such a system in a linear city such as Mumbai where the rail routes were straight. A radial city such as Coimbatore would face geometric problems such as the curves.
Coimbatore city could look at other options such as skybus or monorail. In addition to these, the BRTS would be of immense help to reduce congestion. The BRTS services were buses exclusively made for this purpose and were run on rails. It was introduced at Bogota in Colombia. These could run along the pavement but at a slightly elevated level from the rest of the road that could still be used by other vehicles. The elevation was required to keep other vehicles from coming in the way of the BRTS services.
Digital display:The existing bus stops in the city could be used. The stops would have digital display of the location of the service. Intelligent Transport Systems network would help waiting passengers know from the board the location of the service and in how much time it would reach their stop.
On board announcements of the approaching stops could also be made.
The elevated monorail could run even above a median on the main roads. Passengers can reach the small stations above the road with the help of escalators.
Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy, Collector Neeraj Mittal, Mayor R. Venkatachalam and Corporation Commissioner P. Muthveeran attended the presentation.
The Minister said schemes would have to be speeded up and minor corrections in project reports even after their clearance.
Nothing should hold up funds sanction and rob the Corporation of the time needed for implementation, he added.
Mr. Palanisamy said the possibility of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi launching the scheme here during his visit on February 24 was being explored.
Source: The Hindu
