Case Study of Transport Analysis: Bus Rapid System in Ahmedabad, India
Case Study of Transport Analysis: Bus Rapid System in Ahmedabad, India
Case Study of Transport Analysis: Bus Rapid System in Ahmedabad, India
TRANSPORTATION ANALYSIS
1.0
INTRODUCTION
1.1
Introduction
Ahmedabad, India is filled with mixed land uses, high density development
and balanced street network system, thus, having compact characteristics. The
modern day traffic situation at the city is mostly dominated by two wheelers, both
motorized and non-motorized; where out of 2.2 million registered vehicles, two
wheelers are about 73%. The culture of organised public transport operations dates
back to pre-independence era. The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has
been running a well organised public transportation system known as Ahmedabad
Municipal Transport Service (AMTS). However, due to resource crunch and
operational inefficiencies of the system, the fleet size got reduced.to 450 in the year
2005. As a result, significant loss in patronage was experienced. Average daily
ridership in 2005 was 350, 000. While the share of public transport declined, the
share of Auto rickshaw increased. In the city, there were about 35, 000 auto
rickshaws operating catering to 10% of total trips. As most of these were using
adulterated fuel, air quality was affected significantly. As a result the city of
Ahmedabad figured as one of the top 3 cities in the list of 88 critically polluted cities
of India.
1.2
bridges to connect the eastern part of the city with west. Sixteen railover/under bridges enable crossing the railway lines at appropriate places.
Two wheelers, both motorised and bicycles dominate the traffic on the
streets of Ahmedabad. The city has 220, 000 registered vehicles of which two
wheelers are about 73%. As per the household survey (CEPT, 2006), 8 lakh
bicycles are in operation in the city accounting for 19% of the total trips. The
share of four wheelers is still low. They constitute to about 12.5% of the total
vehicles and 3% of total trips. The culture of organised public transport
operations dates back to pre-independence era.
The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has been running a
well organised public transportation system known as Ahmedabad Municipal
Transport Service (AMTS). However, due to resource crunch and operational
inefficiencies of the system, the fleet size got reduced to 450 in the year 2005.
As a result, significant loss in patronage was experienced. Average daily
ridership in 2005 was 35, 000. While the share of public transport declined,
the share of Auto rickshaw increased. In the city, there were about 35, 000
auto rickshaws operating catering to 10% of total trips. As most of these were
using adulterated fuel, air quality was affected significantly.
As a result the city of Ahmedabad figured as one of the top 3 cities in
the list of 88 critically polluted cities of India. AMTS with a fleet of about
1000 caters to about 82, 900 passengers every day. AMC undertook a
restructuring exercise during 2006 and invited private operators to operate on
gross contract basis leading to doubling of fleet size, with half owned by
AMTS and the remaining half hired on gross contract basis. Through
concerted efforts AMC undertook fuel switch operations. Today all buses and
auto rickshaws in the city are operated on CNG, contributing to significant
lowering of pollution load from transport sector.
The compactness of the city, mixed land use and balanced road
network appear to have succeeded in keeping trip length short (average trip
length in Ahmedabad is 5.5 kms). Further the balanced transport network and
predominance of two wheelers limits excessive concentration at any one part
1.3
Figure 1.1
BRT Stations:
38m long 3m wide median bus stations, closed with necessary access
controls, at level boarding-alighting, off-board ticketing system, IT enabled &
Passenger Information System, security systems & pedestrian crossings &
grade separated.
Bus Features:
Stylised buses designed for passenger comfort, wide central doors (1.2m+
1.2m- entry and exit), (900+/- 40 mm floor height), 90 personcapacity and
clean fuel Euro-III Diesel. Figure 1.2 shows the side elevation of the bus.
Figure 1.2
Operations Control
Automatic Vehicle tracking system
Electronic Fare Collection
Real-time Passenger Information System
Traffic Management (ATCS)
2.0
3.0
3.1
Janmarg, Indias first BRT system, began operations in 2009. It has significantly
improved the mobility of Ahmedabads citizens. It has gained fame as an exemplary
BRT system for developing countries, receiving national and international awards.
3.2
i.
Increase in Ridership
Ridership has increased consistently through eleventh month by 305%. Average daily
passengers have increased from 17,315 (first month) to 69,759 (eleventh month).
Frequency of service is at 2.5 and 4 minutes peak during weekdays at eleventh
month, up from 5 minutes peak at first month. Ridership has gone up to 8590,000/day.
ii.
iii.
Dependable Service/Reliability
Over 95% of departures are on time (+/- 90 sec time). 65% of arrivals were on time.
22% arrived before time and 13% delayed.
iv.
Increase in Revenue
As a result of increased numbers, with 23 buses operating, revenue per bus increased
from 4500 to 8700 per bus per day during the first four months. This covers the
entire sum paid to bus operator and leaves a small surplus. However, the costs
towards ticketing, administration are yet to be recovered. These are expected to be
covered through revenues from advertisements and parking facility revenue.
v.
Modal shift
Every month after the implementation of BRTS in Ahmedabad about 300 passengers
are interviewed to assess the satisfaction level. During the first month, of the total
BRTS users, 57% were AMTS bus users. Now this has come down to 40%. Major
shifts are from 3-wheelers (25%), 2 wheelers (20%) and cars (10%).
vi.
vii.
Socio-Economic Impacts
Two types of social impacts are visible. The routes of BRT network went through the
areas inhabited by the poor. Improved accessibility would not only contribute to
widening of the employment market of the poor and also add to physical upgradation
of the area. There are visible signs of these impacts in certain localities. System wide
impacts, to become visible, will take some more time. Land value impacts are also
visible. Several project schemes now advertise their location in the BRTS corridor as
major marketing strategy.
viii.
User Satisfaction
Every month surveys are collected and user satisfaction rating is calculated. BRTS
got average rating of 9.0 out of 10 in the eleventh month from its users, which is in
tune with the past months of commercial operation. Survey asks for input on safety
while crossing the streets, operator driving, frequency of service, ease of fare
payment and cleanliness at stations.
ix.
Information Availability
The passenger information is also made available at the stations where the
announcements are in English and Gujarati.
x.
Other co-benefits
It has been observed that on the BRTS corridor, there has been only one fatal
accident and significant reduction in serious accidents has been observed. There have
been 6 incidents involving BRTS bus of which one was fatal.
4.0
4.1
The BRT system as a new urban traffic solution has many advantages, and some
successful BRT systems can be as effective as metros. But when looking at other
conditions such as system cost, the BRT system is much better than metros. Within
four months of start of operations, positive impacts of the system have been visible.
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
Modal shift: Every month about 300 passengers are interviewed to assess the
satisfaction level. During the first month, of the total BRTS users, 57% were
AMTS bus users. Now this has come down to 40%. Major shifts are from 3wheelers (25%), 2wheelers (20%) and Cars (10%). Shifts from bicycles are
not significant.
vi.
vii.
Economic Social Impacts: Two types of social impacts are visible. The routes
of BRTS network went through the areas inhabited by the poor. Improved
accessibility would not only contribute to widening of the employment
market of the poor and also add to physical up gradation of the area. There
are visible signs of these impacts in certain localities. System wide impacts,
to become visible, will take some more time. Land value impacts are also
visible. Several project schemes now advertise their location in the BRTS
corridor as major marketing strategy.
viii.
User Satisfaction: BRTS User surveys are taken every month by distributing
surveys at the station. Every month surveys are collected and user satisfaction
rating is calculated. BRTS got average rating of 9.0 out of 10 in the eleventh
month from its users, which is in tune with the past months of commercial
operation. Survey asks for input on safety while crossing the streets, operator
driving, frequency of service, ease of fare payment and cleanliness at stations.
Fares are affordable: the distance-based fare structure ranges from Rs 2
($0.02) for a 1.5-kilometer trip to Rs 5 ($0.09) for a 5.0-kilometer trip.
ix.
Other co-benefits: It has been observed that on the BRTS corridor, there has been
only one fatal accident and significant reduction in serious accidents has been
observed. There have been 6 incidents involving BRTS bus of which one was fatal.
Other impacts such as supporting compact city, reduction in travel effort (trip length).
Ahmedabad BRTS was awarded the Best Sustainable Transport Award, 2010 and was
adjudged the Best Mass Rapid Transit System by the Government of India, 2009.
4.2
BRT, in general, has more advantages than disadvantages. And each BRT system has
its own shortcomings, which is a result of different preconditions that decide how a
BRT system was designed. In another word, each unique BRT system in each city
has different characteristics that might result in that BRT, as a whole system, will
perform differently from each other. Therefore to evaluate the shortcomings of each
BRT system should be done according to urban situations.
i.
ii.
Separated bus lanes/corridors: Bus lanes have many disadvantages that need
to be overtaken.
Since extra space on roads are needed for bus lanes, bus stations, bus terminals and
so on, the already limited road space will be even more limited. BRT systems with
median layouts will either occupy the space of other vehicle lanes or green zones.
And shoulder located BRT systems will take much spaces from pedestrians and
cyclists.
As soon as a bus is broken somewhere on the road, bus lanes with a single lane for
each direction, will be even more difficult to drive on, since there is not enough
space on the bus lane for other buses to drive by. At the location of the broken bus,
buses from both directions will have to share the same lane and take turns to get
through until the broken bus is taken away.
iii.
iv.
Unstable BRT performance in some cities at peak hours: Take China for
example, the efficiency of the newest built BRT systems is not high at peak
hours. There are too many passengers, however, limited bus units cannot
meet the demands of waiting passengers.
When buses cannot deliver passengers fast enough, stations will be overcrowed. In
Guangzhou City, sometimes the number of passengers released into stations must be
controlled within a certain amount at peak hours. And since drivers have not gained
the skill yet, it has happened that bus doors did not match platforms at station zones
properly.
v.
Table 4.2 shows the most common advantages and disadvantages of a BRT system.
In order to understand them easily, conventional bus is also listed to show the
difference.
Table 4.2 BRT advantages and disadvantages comparing with conventional bus.
5.0
5.1
5.11
Regulatory problem
In Ahmedabad, government Policies and regulation adversely affect transit
and land use integration by causing an under or oversupply of urban land. Besides
that, the policies and regulatory were delaying urban development regeneration
opportunities. In Ahmedabad, the FAR is kept at a very low ratio of 1.80 throughout
the city, although developers can purchase an additional 25 percent which is, they
can increase the FAR from 1.80 to 2.25 if a property is located on a street that is
more than 18 meters wide, including BRT corridors. According to Ahmedabads
planners, allocating moderate FARs citywide is intended to disperse travel demand
and thus decongest the city. Their approach is based on the fact that the majority of
citizens in Ahmedabad travel less than 5.4 kilometers per day by walking, bicycling,
or using a two-wheeler and that this dispersed population density contributes to
relatively smooth traffic movement
Solution
In Ahmedabad cases, Cultural sensitivities and political considerations
approach is partly account for the practice of uniformly distributing FARs in
Ahmedabad. Landowners who are allowed to increase FARs stand to reap huge
financial windfalls. The desire to avoid any appearance of favoritism by granting
higher FAR concessions has prompted local government officials to assign the same
FARs to everyone, regardless of whether or not a parcel is near a BRT station.
5.12
Financial problem
The project of BRT in Ahmedabad facing a problem to find ways for finance
an investment to meet competing funding demand for infrastructure investment and
urban services. The main issue local governments face is finding ways to finance
these investments
environmental benefits when they are struggling to meet current demands for public
services and investments.
Solution
Yet Ahmedabad have strong financial management capacities, including
innovative infrastructure financing tools, such as municipal bonds, public-private
partnerships, Town Planning Schemes, and land value capture. They have also
secured strong financial support from higher-level governments for their BRT
investments. In order to upgrade their transit systems as their populations continue to
grow, they will need to mobilize more resources. Partnering with the private sector to
share the rewards and risks of TOD through various value capture approaches.
5.13
Retrofitting Problem
Retrofitting built-up areas is complicated for two reasons. First, private
businesses or households own most of the property in TOD areas, leaving the
government with little control. In comparison, the government can control the
construction of transit once it secures the right of the way and construction funds.
Second, as its name indicates, the redevelopment of built-up areas requires the
demolition of physical assets, such as infrastructure and housing stock, and their
reconstruction. Such decisions have both economic and social implications, including
the need to resettle displaced residents.
Solution
In Ahmedabad, there are the area redevelopment for example, closed textile
mill sites near BRT stations is taking place mainly under the initiative of private real
estate developers. Given the scarcity of large vacant land parcels in central cities, the
local government could be more aggressive in converting former mill parcels into
vibrant new activity centers, such as multipurpose cultural and sport complexes that
are well integrated with BRT. In this condition, Large-scale urban regeneration can
have a transformative impact on economic efficiency, environmental improvement,
and social conditions. Such projects require close collaboration by the city
administration, private developers, and citizens.
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