As Delhi continues to grapple with the ill-conceived Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) System,  Jodhpur has decided to follow the foot steps of Ahmedabad to ensure successful implementation of the rapid mode of public transport.

Officials in the Jodhpur Development Authority (JDA) confirmed that plans are afoot to introduce BRT corridor across the district spread over 250 sq km including 29 revenue villages by 2014 to cater the transport needs of the population of 13 lakhs.

HL Atal, Secretary of JDA told The Pioneer on phone that the revenue  villages, which are likely to be covered under the proposed BRT corridor include Sangaria, Mandol, Digadi, Banard, Karuin, Thalamand to name a few. These are the main villages where lots of colonies have come up and are witnessing significant development in all these years, he added.

Atal further informed that the nitty-gritty’s of the project is being worked out with Detailed Project Report (DPR) to be prepared soon. The JDA has decided to purchase at least 38 buses from Jaipur City Transport to be deployed on the corridor. Presently, low-floor buses are being plied on the normal routes.

“The BRT project is in the nascent stage. We recently held a workshop in this regard with the Union Urban Development Ministry and Ahmedabad officials who shared their experience with our officials about the successful BRT venture in the city,” the senior officer maintained.

Though Atal refused to ascertain if the Ahmedabad BRT model will be finally adopted for Jodhpur, sources said it (Ahmedabad BRT) had to be a natural choice as amongst BRTS projects of Ahmedabad, Delhi and Pune (which are operational), it is the most successful corridor stretching over 16.5 km.

It recently got the Sustainable Transport Award by Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in Washington.

“For, we don’t want to repeat the mistake of the Delhi in executing the BRT which has been a complete disaster as has been evident with the frequent reports of utter traffic chaos,” another official said on the condition of anonymity. Delhi is the first city in the country to implement the BRT system.

Source : http://dailypioneer.com/nation/69699-jodhpur-to-take-brt-cue-from-ahmedabad.html