23.2.09

Two routes identified for Hyderabad BRTS project


Stateowned Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has identified two routes for implementation of the bus rapid transit system (BRTS) pilot project in Hyderabad. However, only one route will be taken up on a pilot project basis soon. According to APSRTC officials, a route study was conducted ten days ago along with Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC). During the study, the officials identified two routes for implementation of BRTS. In all likelihood, one route might be taken up as a pilot project before the election code comes into effect. “During the study, we identified two routes. The project will be taken up under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM),” APSRTC ED P V D Jayashankar Prasad said. APSRTC officials said the two routes identified are the 21-kilometre Mehdipatnam-Miyapur stretch via Gachibowli crossroads, Botanical Gardens, Kothaguda crossroads and the 18-km Mehdipatnam-JNTU, Kukatpally via Malaysian township. APSRTC and GHMC officials would zero in on one of the two routes at their next meeting in a week. According to officials, the BRTS project in these routes would model on the Bogota model, where two dedicated lanes of 20-feet each for buses would be separated by a median. “The width of the bus will be eight and half feet, so the BRTS path should be 10 feet and to overtake a bus it should have 20 feet,” a senior APSRTC official said. APSRTC officials had earlier identified 2 routes in the core city for BRTS, but that proposal has been put on the back burner as these routes pass through trafficdense areas. With this, transport officials claim citizens would at least save a minimum of 15 minutes travel time. In the given routes, 60 buses would ply on the BRTS path. In the soon-to-be identified route, 11 bus stops would come on the median of the road.

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