On the fast lane: Vidyut Marg and Janpath in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 20: The city will soon have a dedicated bus rapid transit system similar to the one in New Delhi to facilitate faster public transportation.

In the first phase, two corridors — from Vani Vihar to Sishu Bhavan Square on Janpath and from Jayadev Vihar Square to Nandankanan on Vidyut Marg — will be developed for this rapid transit system for buses.

Special secretary of housing and urban development department S.K. Ratho said as these two roads were wide enough to accommodate the rapid transit system, the department had initiated the process on these two stretches.

“We, along with the Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, have been preparing a detailed project report of these two corridors. The CEPT has been providing us technological guidance in preparing the report,” said Ratho.

He said that Vidyut Marg and Janpath had been expanded into eight lanes and two central lanes would be dedicated for developing the rapid transit system in which the buses would move fast. At present, these two roads have been divided into eight lanes separated by a median with four on each side.

In 2009, RITES, a government of India enterprise under the aegis of Indian railway, conducted a survey in the city for the bus rapid transit system. It had then given the state government a report for starting this system on six corridors that would cost the government around Rs 570 crore. But the state government could not make any headway as there was not ample space available on these six routes for this system.

Later, the state government entrusted the CEPT with the responsibility to make another report on Vidyut Marg and Janpath where there is enough space available for implementation of such a system.

Ratho said it would take about eight months to prepare the detailed report on these two routes as various aspects would have to be taken into consideration. The development of the rapid transit system will cost approximately Rs 20 crore per kilometre. Around five kilometres on Janpath and 16 kilometres on Vidyut Marg will be covered under the scheme.

An official of housing and urban development department said this system would be able to carry up to 20,000 passengers on a single trip.

With the available current public transport systems, around 8,000 passengers are being carried in one trip in the city.

While giving detailed figures of the travel characteristics of Bhubaneswar, Ratho said there had been 13.2 per cent annual vehicular growth in the city. Car ownership rose by 18.2 per cent here, while around 85 per cent people owned two-wheelers.

“Our survey report shows that as many as 69 per cent autorickshaw passengers, 57 per cent two-wheeler users and 38 per cent car users in the city are willing to shift to the bus rapid transit system,” he said.