By IANS,
New Delhi : The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), considered a high-quality transit system, needs to be re-looked at and more research done before creating these corridors in more cities for our roads to become safer, experts said at a conference here Monday.
“BRTS is considered a high-quality transit system that delivers fast, comfortable and low-cost transport world wide. It is faster than the regular bus service due to its dedicated tracks. But the biggest challenge of BRTS is whether it should be in the centre of the road or nearer to the footpath,” K.K. Kapila, chairman of the International Road Federation (IRF), said at the conference.
In Delhi and Ahmedabad, the BRT corridor has been developed with its bay towards the centre while in Pune and Kolkata its bay is towards the footpath, he said.
“If the bays are towards the road divider, passengers can meet with accidents if they cross the road in a hurry. Bays towards the footpath are considered safer. So it would be more prudent and useful to provide footpaths and designated cycle tracks next to the footpath,” Kapila said.
“More research needs to be done to make BRTS commuter friendly and safe,” he added.
Apart from having a re-look at the BRTS system, experts attending the conference, like Samir Brahmchari, director general of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and S. Gangopadhyay, director of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) stressed on using environment friendly raw materials for road construction.
They also said that providing effective drainage system on both sides of the road and better road designs can prevent accidents.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), India has one of the worst road traffic accident rate in the world.