Bus Rapid Transit System at Coimbatore
Coimbatore:A vehicle user's frustration does not end when the signal turns green at the Cross-Cut Road Junction. In fact, it has just begun. Buses rushing towards the Sathyamangalam Road or the 100-Feet Road leave a host of other vehicles at their mercy.Buses, cars, two-wheelers and pedestrians clash for moving space at this point. Each section points out through this chaos the need for various facilities in a city poised for growth and the attendant problems if safeguards are not thought of early.The pedestrians' tangle with the vehicles point to the need for subways and the frustration among the long distance bus drivers and private vehicle owners' emphasises the need for flyovers.These apart, the rising number of private vehicles on the roads and the chaotic town bus flow bring into sharp focus the need for a mass rapid transit system in the city.The Coimbatore Corporation has planned a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission. It stands to get 50 per cent of the project cost as grant from the Central Government and 20 per cent from the State Government. According to the Corporation, this is the best bet yet for the city to have in place a mass rapid transit system that can handle the rise in passenger flow over the next three decades.Consultants have suggested the BRTS that runs on exclusive lanes. Though some sections of the public wonder whether the Corporation is rushing into having a new transport system without addressing other problems such as sanitation, the civic body says that there are schemes to deal with these issues also.
The Corporation has already appealed for the take over of some major stretches belonging to the national and State highways to enable a single agency control on roads ideal for operating the proposed bus system.At presentations on the system held by the Corporation, Mayor R. Venkatachalam and Commissioner P. Muthuveeran have warned of the congestion worsening and choking various points within the city and also on roads leading to the outskirts if the bus system is not introduced and also if flyovers are not built.The Corporation has identified Avanashi Road and Mettupalayam Road for the bus service. Councillors have asked for the inclusion of Tiruchi Road also.
"The Corporation can maintain and improve 19 km of national highway stretches if they are handed over to us," says the Mayor. "The handing over is necessary so that we can prepare these roads for the new bus system.""There is no doubt that we need such a modern bus service that will facilitate smoother travel," says All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam councillor P. Rajkumar. "Students and teachers of institutions on Avanashi Road can take this more reliable and hassle-free service instead of battling it out by driving their own vehicles," he says.Residents' Awareness Association of Vilankurichi president N.R. Ravishankar feels that the proposed bus system is needed so that the city can have a smooth public transport mode. "We need to think now for the times ahead and provide a system that will help decongest the roads and also ensure order in our traffic."
The Mayor contends that the bus system will help wean private transport users to a modern public mode and reduce the number of vehicles. Quoting transport experts, the Corporation says that at present only one person uses a car most of the time on a day on the city roads. If this person also uses the public transport, the road becomes that much less congested without that car.
