Now that the uncertainty over the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system's pilot run in the 5.6 km-long stretch in south Delhi has ended, it is time to look ahead and examine ways to help this experiment succeed. The Delhi government has decided to stay on with the pilot runs, but has also put on hold the expansion of the project in view of the large-scale protests over the chaos and confusion the new system created in the first few days after its launch.
In itself, this approach should be seen as a wise step. This will certainly help cool down the temperature and stop the critics from further raising the pitch of their protests. At the same time, the agencies implementing the BRT system will get some breathing time to fix the problems that they, much to their discredit failed to anticipate, and have now noticed in the first few days of the pilot run.
But before these agencies can get down to fixing the problems, they must renew their basic faith in the system. Let there be no doubt that Delhi's latest experiment with its public transport system was based on two basic and flawless premises. One, segmented traffic flows help in faster movements and, two, among all the various transport modes, the bus system, when given a dedicated corridor, can move the largest number of people at any point of time.
The BRT system's pilot run in the first week proved that the second premise was correct. Buses on the dedicated corridor moved faster than is the usual speed seen in other parts of Delhi. The problem arose with the first premise. And that problem arose not because the premise had any inherent flaw, but because of years of neglect of the public transport system in the Capital.
The Capital's bus service had seen progressive decay over the years, forcing more people to rely on their private vehicles. The Delhi Metro services' impact has been limited because its reach could not be as widespread as expected from a full-scale public transport system. Thus, anybody in Delhi who could afford a vehicle of his own used that to commute within the city. This was a classic case of citizens opting for private solutions to solve problems arising out of a failed public system.
The bus service continues to remain poor and unreliable, even after new buses were added to the network recently. With the launch of the BRT pilot runs, those using cars and two-wheelers felt the most inconvenienced as they were caught between two worlds. While on the one hand they found the experience of negotiating the BRT stretch nightmarish, on the other hand, they did not see any improvement in the bus services on the stretch to act as an incentive for discarding their private vehicles in favour of the public transport network.
It is likely that an increasing number of motorists, auto-rickshaw passengers and two-wheeler drivers will now avoid this stretch and look for alternative non-BRT routes to reach their destinations. This will reduce the traffic pressure on the corridor meant for private vehicles and might lull the government into the false belief that all the problems with the new system have been resolved. But in reality the problems have not been solved.
It is important to recognise that the BRT system can only provide a dedicated corridor for easy and smooth movement for buses. It does not solve the problem of a virtually non-existent bus service network. Yes, there are buses and buses on Delhi's roads. But they do not qualify to be part of any decent public transport network in any city. Even those new buses, introduced in the last few months, have begun to show signs of wear and tear with no proper maintenance. Air-conditioning in these buses has been switched off for reasons best known to those who run the service. And without a proper and reliable air-conditioned bus service in operation, no project can persuade people to discard their own vehicles and switch over to the public transport system, which is the ultimate objective of those who conceived and put in place the BRT system.
There is not much time left for the government to act decisively to improve the city's bus transport network. In today's political environment, privatising the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) does not appear feasible. A more pragmatic option would be to quickly float public tenders inviting proposals from established private companies to run air-conditioned bus services in the city. Delhi could benefit from at least two more companies running proper bus services, in addition to DTC. With competition, DTC too would improve or could be merged with one of the private operators.
