The Hindu : Front Page : World Bank to fund BRTS project

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Wednesday, Apr 09, 2008
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World Bank to fund BRTS project

A. Saye Sekhar

Most of the buses to be air-conditioned and WiFi-enabled

— Photo: Satish. H

Striking a chord: Director of APSRTC T. Krishna Prasad (left) talking to a team of World Bank officials after a presentation on the BRTS scheme in the city.

HYDERABAD: World Bank has come forward to fund the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) project in the twin cities, which is estimated to cost over Rs. 600 crore, complementing the proposed metro rail project.

A team of nine officials led by Senior Urban Transportation Specialist Ke Fang visited the city on Friday and discussed the project with the officials of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC).

RTC Managing Director V. Dinesh Reddy recently announced that BRTS would be introduced to ensure smooth and comfortable journey to commuters in the city.

The corporation would implement the scheme in Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam also.

RTC Director T. Krishna Prasad explained the intent behind the conception of the project and its requirement for the city in his presentation to the bank’s team.

A detailed project report (DPR) was under preparation, he said here on Tuesday.

Five principles

The BRTS was successful in Latin American countries which had conditions similar to those in India like warm weather, high density of population and low affordability of transportation.

It was thriving even in East Asian and some European countries. Mr. Prasad said that the BRTS was designed on five basic principles.

A dedicated lane for the movement of the bus, low-floor vestibule buses to facilitate easy embarking and disembarking of travellers to accommodate more passengers, electronic display boards within and outside the buses, development of bus shelters on a public-private partnership mode with pre-ticketing facility and feeder vehicle system to connect the passengers’ colonies to BRTS shelters and from there to workplaces. The corporation proposed to issue passes or integrated tickets to commuters. Most BRTS buses would be air-conditioned and WiFi-enabled, said Mr. Prasad.

Two major routes were identified as of now -- Lakdikapool-Mehdipatnam- Tolichowki-Gachibowli- IT hub-Kondapur-Hafeezpet-Miyapur and L.B.Nagar-Uppal-Tarnaka-Secunderabad Station.

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