Another deadline has been set for plying the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) buses on the road. The officials are planning to ply the BRTS buses from December 10. The officials, earlier, thought of running the buses from Ugadi, Telugu New Year. But, their plans could not take off for various reasons.
At a review meeting of Vijayawada Urban Transport Company Limited, a special purpose vehicle to manage the BRTS, here on Friday, Company chairman and district Collector M. Buddha Prakash Jyothi asked the VMC, VGTM UDA, and APSRTC officials to chalk out an action plan for the implementation of the BRTS project.
Now, if their efforts were fruitful, the BRTS buses will be plied between Railway Station, Bus Station and Benz Circle. The BRTS buses will run on C. K. Reddy Road, Meesala Rajeswara Rao Bridge, BRTS Road, and cover areas like Padavala Ravvu Junction, Eluru Road, Ramavarappadu Ring Road and National Highway.
The BRTS should have been launched in early 2009 as per the original schedule. It was in August 2007 that the Centre had cleared the project to overcome the growing transport needs and reduce traffic congestion in the city.
Working capital
The SPV will have to float a working capital of not less than Rs.1 crore. It is estimated that at least Rs.25 lakh per month was required to run the BRTS buses. A working capital of around Rs.1 crore is essential. Corporation will construct a control room near six-lane Bridge on Ryve's canal. The SPV is formed and the RTC would fix the rates for the BRTS buses. The VMC has readied 40 buses specially designed for the BRTS. Of this, 10 buses are Air Conditioned. An operation plan is being prepared for plying the BRTS buses. The missing link, bridge on Ryve's Canal, is also complete.
The RTC would take up the responsibility of providing the Bus Terminal and Bus Depot for the BRTS buses. The RTC would make use of the Pandit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) as Bus Terminal, and Governorpet-II, Vidyadharapuram, and Ibrahimpatnam bus depots for the BRTS fleet and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project buses. The first phase of the BRTS project covers a distance of 15.5 km.
