BRT a failure in New Delhi

[Dan416]

I think the "rapid" part of "rapid transit" is always lost on the TTC.

EDIT: I see we think alike Scarberian LOL.

 

[nfitz]

Because the whole system would be crippled on a day like today if you're trying to run tight headways and rapid service. Unless the R in BRT is not important.

Well let's look to Ottawa then. I've only ever lived there in the Spring and Summer. Does their BRT grind to a halt with 20 cm of snow?

 

[CDL.TO]

The subway was running slower today as well, as were the streetcars.

But yeah, it seems pretty absurd to write the whole BRT thing off because the buses will have to drive slower in snowstorms.

 

[doady]

Some people criticism of BRT don't really make sense. BRT taking away regular traffic lanes? BRT requiring snow clearing? You can say the same things about LRT. Should all all rapid transit be underground then? I don't think so.

 

[adma]

The subway was running slower today as well, as were the streetcars.

You're telling me. One of those days when in mid-afternoon, if you're thinking of boarding the tube anywhere north of Queen or Dundas or so, you would have been better off walking to Bloor...even against the blizzard conditions...

 

[wyliepoon]

Some people criticism of BRT don't really make sense. BRT taking away regular traffic lanes? BRT requiring snow clearing? You can say the same things about LRT. Should all all rapid transit be underground then? I don't think so.

It's one reason why the Montreal Metro is built entirely underground or covered. With rubber tires for wheels, the Metro might be part BRT.

 

[doady]

It's one reason why the Montreal Metro is built entirely underground or covered. With rubber tires for wheels, the Metro might be part BRT.

I am pretty the real reason is that the metro trains are not weatherproof.

Yesterday many GO train trips were canceled due to the snow. Perhaps it is a legit concern that snow can cause many problems for surface transit but I don't see why this criticism is only directed towards buses.

 

[Archivist]

There's been a lot of press lately about Bogota's TransMilenio, which unlike Delhi's system, has been extremely successful. Has anybody here taken it? I certainly have taken Ottawa's system, and have experienced Curitiba's very extensive system of busways. In Curitiba, the routes are not always segregated from regular traffic, but the stations are all fare-paid zones. In Ottawa, the routes are mostly segregated, but the stations are not fare-paid zones.

 

[smuncky]

i saw an NYTimes link posted on spacing today, about bogota's brt system.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/10/world/americas/10degrees.html?ref=global-home

 

[kEiThZ]

Here's a picture of the BRT:

Pictures like that are getting tiresome and quite offensive. It might be the case occasionally that some backwater town in India has people piling on top of the bus, but that's most certainly not the norm in most cities in India....and in most places the cops, transit personnel, and even other riders will restrict riders getting on if the bus is crowded. Saying this is the norm, is like saying that the Japanese employ people pushers for their subways 24 hrs a day in every city.

This sounds like less of a failure of BRT - a tehnology with a proven track record of success - and more a failure of Indian planning.

Bingo. Why a city like Delhi would need anything less than heavy rail, grade-separated transit to begin with is beyond me.

A lot of it has to do with the driving culture. I'm neither a traffic engineer, nor have I been to India, but I would guess that the extremely mixed traffic (to say the least!) and general disobedience of traffic rules and rights of way. IT probably made this more of a headache in Delhi than it would in other developing countries, especially in Latin America where BRTs have been extremely successful in every city that they have been implemented.

Not just driving culture but pedestrian culture as well. People drive and cross anywhere in India. Lane markings and sidewalks are merely suggestions to them. Beyond that buses have a significantly higher stigma over there, even compared to Toronto. Anybody who can afford it will take a rickshaw to a train station and then a rickshaw or a taxi at the other end again. I can only imagine that if BRT was offered instead of a train, most travelers would simply to choose to cab it across town.