The Times of India            06.05.2013 

Civic bodies asked to make buses safer, more comfortable

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.

Recommendations made

* Make buses safer, user-friendly

* Make buses accessible to people with physical, sensory and cognitive impairments

* Make gangway wider for standing passengers

* Make buses attractive to encourage more people to use public transport

‘Few Indian cities have organized city bus service’

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.