Ahmedabad BRTS gets silver rating

Ahmedabad is lauded for effective implementation of BRTS and has also won awards for it. The experts give it silver rating on international level, second only to Transmilenio in Bogotá and Guangzhou BRT in Guangzhou, China, which are considered to be gold standards. Walter Hook, executive director, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), was on a visit to the city and was impressed by what he saw. Hook was one of the earliest transportation experts who got involved in BRTS projects the world over. The ITDP team in Ahmedabad was involved in designing the corridor. He said that the planning has worked wonders for the city. “I would give Ahmedabad Janmarg a silver rating on international standards. ITDP is developing a rating system for BRT systems worldwide. The best systems get gold. Ahmedabad has achieved what many have not in terms of public support and infrastructure,” he said. Hook said there was lot of apprehension when the project started, whether it will work in Indian context and whether people will accept it. “Now we see more than one lakh people commuting in it. I believe that the system is still underutilized and the frequency can be increased, especially during peak hours. I am sure that with the BRTS riding in old city areas and developing areas, the passenger traffic is bound to increase,” said Hook. Talking about the changes he would like to see, Hook said that there should be a holistic approach to design. “When we construct a corridor and don’t think about other factors, it does not help the cause. Parking has to be made paid so that more and more people get encouraged to board public transport. It should be easy and along the corridor. Second factor is to encourage bicycle track. It is not implemented well. There should be bicycle rent availability like what they did in Guangzhou. It will do wonders for the traffic,” said Hook.