Depots missing, so capital can’t buy more buses

July 30, 2014

Jayashree Nandi    New Delhi

DDA Delays Allotment Of Land

 Without public transport, Delhi may never be able to address its twin problems of air pollution and traffic congestion. But it has failed to meet its massive demand for buses simply because there aren’t enough depots.Millennium Park Bus Depot where 800 buses are parked will be moved in the wake of a high court order to relocate it from Yamuna riverbed. Meanwhile, Delhi Integrated MultiModal Transit System doesn’t have any parking space for 1,000 buses. Delhi Development Authority has not managed to allocate any land to them yet. After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power, the government decided in January to move the 50-acre Millennium Park depot to secure the Yamuna riverbed.“It’s a catchment area for water which cannot be meddled with,“ chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said. But now delay in providing adequate space for buses by DDA has irked a section of environmentalists. Their stand is contrary to other activists who have been pushing for the relocation of Millennium Depot.

Environmentalist Sunita Narain feels bus depots should be prioritized over other issues. “The Millennium Bus De pot should not be shifted. A bus depot is needed; adverse impacts on the riverbed can be mitigated,“ she said. DDA has identified three places in Rohini Sector 4, Karkardooma and Institute of Driving Training and Research in Sarai Kale Khan. But relocation has been taking very long.

DTC officials claim that developing infrastructure in these three newly-allotted areas will mean massive investment in terms of both money and time.

Meanwhile, DIMTS has not been able to procure 1,000 air conditioned and non-air conditioned cluster buses as DDA hasn’t allocated any land to them.

“They have been promising it but nothing has been handed to us even though buses should be a priority . It’s time we should start looking at multilevel parking options for buses.
Delhi should also pay attention to safe infrastructure for bus stops and traffic calming measures near them,“ an official from DIMTS said.

DDA claims it doesn’t have enough land for bus depots.
“Allocating land to DTC for relocating Millennium Depot is taking long as we have to change land use. As for more land for DIMTS, we can only look for small patches of land–not big ones,“ a senior DDA official said.

Anumita Roychowdhury of CSE’s Clean Air Programme said, “It’s a very serious problem. Delhi has to find a way to share depot space efficiently and develop infrastructure like some depots in Bangalore so that more buses can be accommodated in them. We also need to explore efficient parking structures,“ she said.

U.P. seeks funds for CCTVs in buses

July 17, 2014

Uttar Pradesh has sought Rs.30 crore from the Central Government to install CCTV cameras in 9,600 buses.

The State has sought money from the Nirbhaya fund, created in memory of the Delhi woman who was gang-raped in a bus two years back.

In a letter to the Union Transport Ministry, the State Government has said that incidents of crimes related to women needed to be contained in public transport. It proposed to install CCTVs along with digital video recording systems (DVRs) in its fleet of 9,600 buses running on State roads.

Officials say in case of an emergency such as molestation, the buses would be equipped with systems in which at the touch of a button, an alarm would be set-off at the transport head quarters and immediate action taken.

The State transport corporation also proposes to link this camera to the women’s powerline 1090, already functional in the State.

Mukesh Mesharm, managing director of the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC), confirmed the proposal to the Central Government and said all buses of the State have been connected to a GPS tracking system.

He said they are awaiting sanction of the funds by the Union Transport Ministry after which the CCTVs would be installed. IANS

Source – http://www.thehindu.com/

More Buses Under JNNURM Scheme

October 25, 2013

While presenting the budget for year 2013-14, Mr. Chidambaram proposed to allot Rs 14873 crore for Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). He made it known that the buses sanctioned during 2009 to 2012 which amounted to 14000 have helped a lot with the transport. As a result, most of the allotted money will result in buying of more buses. It is proposed to give the public transport a boost of 10000 new buses during 2013-14. These new buses are mostly to ply in the hilly areas providing better and timely service.

It is also seen that many of the cities have already started placing orders for low floor buses as well as semi-low floor buses. It is assumed that they were just waiting on centre govt to provide the funding. Through this announcement the govt hopes to connect more areas with JNNURM as buses are still the most preferred means of transport.

Road Transports and the State Transport Undertakings have started procuring the buses under the JNNURM scheme for improving the structure of transport.
Ever since the Delhi rape case, there has been a need for better and safer public transport.

It has been asked by the centre govt to increase the number of state run govt buses. With this announcement the major manufacturers of buses like Tata Motors Ltd, Volvo buses India Pvt. Ltd and Ashok Leyland can expect an increase their sale of buses.

It is expected that besides centre govt providing Rs 15000 crore for this scheme, the state governments will invest Rs 10000 crore by themselves too.

 

Source-http://www.jnnurm.co.in

‘Speed up Vandalur bus terminus work’

September 19, 2013

By Express News Service – CHENNAI

 

State Housing and Urban Development Minister R Vaithilingam has urged the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) officials to speed up the Vandalur Mofussil Bus Terminus work, which was announced by Chief Minister at the Assembly.

The Minister interacted with the CMDA officials on the development schemes implemented by the authority, here on Wednesday.

The officials explained the Minister about the various schemes implemented by CMDA, including the Koyambedu food grain complex, additional two-wheeler parking facilities at the CMBT, storm water drainage work at the flower market in Koyambedu, a container terminus at Manjambakkam and the land acquisition process for the Outer Ring Road Project.

Vaithilingam also advised the officials to complete all the works within the stipulated time.

He further said that all the land records which were acquired by the CMDA for various schemes, should be transfered to the CMDA’s name.

Urging the officials to speed up the Vandalur mofussil bus terminus work, he also told them to intensify the land acquisition work at Vandalaur along with the work on the proposed container terminals at Karunagaraseri and Annambedu.

Thanga Kaliyaperumal, Secretary to Government, Housing and Urban Development Department, and vice-chairman of CMDA, R Venkatesan, member-secretary of CMDA, were among the officials who took part in the meeting.

Source-http://newindianexpress.com

RTC strike takes ‘toll’ on NHAI revenue

September 18, 2013

V Kamalakara Rao, TNN |

 

VISAKHAPATNAM: The ongoing Samaikyandhra strike by the employee unions of AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has made a dent in the revenues of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). With 2,849 APSRTC buses off the roads since the midnight of August 12 in the Vizianagaram zone alone, NHAI has lost out on toll charges of Rs 82.3 lakh from the state-owned transport corporation till August 26 in the four districts of Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari.

All the 27 depots falling under the Vizianagaram zone comprising Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts daily operate 2,849 buses, including 2,271 RTC-owned and 578 hired buses, to various parts of the state and other key destinations like Chennai and Bangalore. All these 27 depots pay Rs 6.3 lakh daily to NHAI towards toll gate charges.

APSRTC’s Vizianagaram zone pays Rs 1.9 crore monthly to NHAI towards the toll gate charges for their buses plying on national highways such as NH-26, 30, 40, 71 and even NH-16 from Chennai to Kolkata passing through parts of the north coastal districts. APSRTC’s Visakhapatnam region alone pays Rs 65 lakh per month to NHAI by way of toll charges, while East Godavari region pays Rs 71 lakh and Vizianagaram region (comprising depots of Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts) pays Rs 54 lakh monthly.

For instance, an RTC bus from Visakhapatnam is supposed to cross 12 toll gates to reach Chennai, 11 toll gates for Bangalore, 10 toll gates for Hyderabad and five toll gates for Vijayawada. Similarly, an RTC bus from Visakhapatnam to Srikakulam is supposed to cross two toll gates and three toll gates for Palasa or Icchapuram.

Confirming the revenue loss, NHAI project director, VK Vijaya Sri, who takes care of 7 toll plazas on the 330-km stretch of NH-16 from Icchapuram in Srikakulam (Odisha and Andhra Pradesh border) to Tuni in Visakhapatnam district, said that NHAI had seen its revenues shrink over the last 13 days due to the RTC strike. “We are losing around 30-50% of our tollgate collections every day since the strike, largely due to the lack of APSRTC buses,” Vijaya Sri said.

Though NHAI garners revenue from the other transport vehicles like lorries, trucks and cars, APSRTC accounts for 50 to 60% of NHAI’s total monthly revenue through toll gate charges levied on various national highways in the state, said a senior NHAI official. “The RTC’s strike is having its impact on the Centre’s revenues through NHAI. If the stir continues like this for one month, NHAI will lose about Rs 25 crore across the state due to non-collection of toll charges from APSRTC,” the official said.

When contacted, APSRTC Vizianagaram zone executive director A Ramakrishna said that the zone was indirectly saving money by not paying toll gate charges to the NHAI because of the strike. The zone monthly pays about Rs 1.9 crore only towards tollgate charges. “Though we are able to save money due to non-payment of tollgate and fuel charges due to the strike, the zone is losing nearly Rs 2.8 to 3 crore on a daily basis due to all the buses not plying on the road. Overall, the zone has lost Rs 50 crore due to the protests and strike since July 31 following the Congress Working Committee’s announcement on July 30,” Ramakrishna told TOI.

JNNURM buses less popular with commuters in Coimbatore

September 11, 2013

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

One of the components of the Jawarhalal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) was introduction of attractive buses in a bid to make members of the public use the public transportation system extensively, but the manner in which the scheme was implemented proved to be counter productive.

The fares fixed for travel in JNNURM buses are 200 per cent more than the normal buses and this has discouraged people from using the facility.

In a memorandum to the Union Urban Development Ministry, Secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause (CCC) K. Kathirmathiyon, said that of the 2000 buses in Tamil Nadu, 1,064 were plying in Chennai, 213 in Madurai and 192 in Coimbatore.

In Coimbatore, the Ministry of Urban Development had approved Rs.44.39 crore in 2009, as its share (Additional Central Assistance – ACA) for purchase of 300 buses and an amount of Rs.22.19 crore was released earlier with 70 per cent of cost as Central Government assistance under JNNURM.

With the funds, the TNSTC purchased buses termed as “Luxury”, “Low Floor” and “Semi-Low Floor.”

But all these buses were operated with just ‘ordinary’ and not ‘luxury’ permits. These buses were in operation without the fare table approval by a competent authority. Ultimately, people from the middle-income and low-income group avoided travelling in JNNURM buses, as the fares were very high.

Interestingly, all private buses are being operated with ordinary fare only. The occupancy ratio of JNNURM buses compared to other ordinary buses (both private and State owned) could reveal the poor patronage for the former.

CCC has requested the Government to go in for ordinary buses only.

Since the cost of ordinary buses was lesser, more buses could be purchased with the funds. It would result in more buses for the people on different routes with ordinary fare.

Source-http://www.thehindu.com

 

HP to get 1,000 new buses under JNNURM scheme

July 29, 2013

PTI Jul 27, 2013,

(At least 1,000 new buses…)

DHARAMSALA: At least 1,000 new buses will be provided to Himachal Pradesh under the Centre’s Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission(JNNURM) scheme to strengthen the communication and transport facilitiesbetween its local and urban areas.

“1,000 buses are provided under JNNURM scheme by the Centre to promote public transport and to reduce traffic congestion and pollution,” state Urban Development ministerSudhir Sharma told reporters.

“Once the buses are handed over to Himachal it will cater to the local communication needs of the municipal areas and these will not be given to Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC),” Sharma said.

The Union government had provided few buses to Shimla a couple of years back but they were handed over to HRTC, the minister said.

“The Union government is spending more than Rs 4,900 crore to provide 14,695 buses for the various mission cities under JNNURM. The buses supplied to the cities and hill states are of mid-size category for an easier travel,” he informed.

 

Source-http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/

Travel on Delhi buses to get smarter

July 29, 2013

SPECIAL  CORRESPONDENT

 

With the intent of making travelling in public transport a smoother and more reliable experience for commuters, the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) has launched the Delhi Transit Bus Info application. Providing vital information on the estimated time of arrival of buses, routes and locations of bus stops, the application aims at helping passengers get all the information at the click of a button, all in real time.

The application will provide details on the estimated time of arrival, route details, track location of a bus, bus schedule, location of bus stop, and trip planner.

“The Delhi Transit Bus Info application will be available both on the Internet and on android-based devices. Bus passengers can either go on to the DIMTS website www.dimts.in and click on ‘Bus information for orange-coloured Delhi transit buses’ or view the application on the beta version ‘Delhi Transit Bus Info’, which can be downloaded from Google Play Store,” said a DIMTS statement.

Stating that “the beta version of the application is currently available for devices working on the android platform,” the statement said: “It will be extended to other platforms like iOS, Blackberry and Symbian.”

The application is currently available for only orange-coloured Delhi ransit or cluster buses, except for the trip planner feature, which gives data on DTC bus routes also. However, DIMTS added that the information for DTC-operated buses for the rest of the features will be integrated into the application soon.

Under the project, bus users will also be able to give their feedback on the system through a feedback form that is available both on the website as well as the phone application. DIMTS has launched the test version to invite a candid feedback from the public and further improve the application.

 

Source - http://www.thehindu.com

Civic bodies asked to make buses safer, more comfortable

May 29, 2013

Manish Umbrajkar, TNN | 

 

PUNE: New buses that will be introduced on city roads will be safer, more comfortable for both passengers and drivers, and will be equipped with in-built ITS technology, if the municipal corporations of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad act on the recommendations of the union ministry of urban development. The ministry has recommended these features to 61 municipal corporations that come under JNNURM.

PMPML, the city public bus transport company has already procured 650 buses under JNNURM funding. However, officials say it plans to make a fresh proposal to procure additional buses that would conform with the new specifications.

Officials of the Pune-based Central Institute of Road Transport(CIRT), which was one of the institutions that made suggestions on urban bus specifications, said they took into account requirements of urban commuters while making them. Specifications have also been listed for Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) buses.

According to the report on urban bus specifications, buses plying within the city should also be made more attractive so as to encourage more people to use them. They should also be made accessible to people with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments, it states.

Prashant Kakade, coordinator of the management development centre and a specialist in traffic engineering solutions at CIRT says urban public transport is different from state transport and that make these urban bus specifications significant. In cities, a large number of people, including senior citizens, children, women and even those with physical impairments use public transport. “All these factors have been taken into account while drafting the specifications. For example, the width of the gangway is wider in urban bus specifications because the number of standing passengers is quite high,” he said. Another factor taken into consideration is the insistence on low floor buses to help senior citizens board the bus. For BRTS buses, level boarding facilities have been recommended.

The report lists specifications for various types of buses based on the city’s requirements. Besides specifications for standard size normal and BRTS buses, mini and midi buses, there are specifications for standard size premium segment, and intelligent transport systems. Kakade said that the specifications are compulsory for JNNURM buses, as there will be a third party inspection when the buses are delivered to the cities by suppliers. The third party inspection will be done by institutions such as CIRT and Automotive Research Association of India, he said.

The cost of travel in these buses would be more than in normal buses, but their performance would be better in terms of fuel efficiency and would be safer, more comfortable for passengers and drivers. Buses will be able to move at improved speed, while noise levels in the buses will be less, Kakade said. Instead of using metal which adds to the dead weight of the buses and affects speed, the buses would be made of fibre, he added.

Incidentally, PMPML has planned to install intelligent transport system requirements in the 650 BRTS buses it has already procured under JNNURM. The undertaking has recently called for offers from private contractors for installation of the ITS requirements. For BRTS operations, the buses have level boarding facility, officials said.

The high powered expert committee on urban infrastructure and the ministry of urban development has estimated that cities in India need about 1.5 lakh buses that would cost approximately Rs 60,000 crores in the next 20 years. The report further cites that only 20 of 85 cities with over 5 lakh population (in 2009) offered an organised city bus service. The recommendations of the working group on urban transport for 12th five year plan includes introduction of organized public transport in all two lakh plus population cities and state capitals, as one of its goals. The report asserts that city bus services have been the major mode of public transport, and this will continue.

 

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