The Concept Projects Consultation Media & Reports Environmental Impact Social Impact
Mr. Shekhar Singh (I.A.S.)
Commissioner
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation

The increasing need for urban mass transit mobility is now being addressed by various cities in India, following the best practices in the world. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) which aims to encourage reforms and fast track planned development in 63 cities does consider projects in the field of urban, public ransport. Safe, versatile, flexible and economic, the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS)also known as the High Capacity Bus System (HCBS) is
increasingly being adopted by cities in India.

BRTS proposals are in various stages of appraisal and implementation in Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Delhi, Indore, Jaipur, Pune and Vishakapatnam.

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Growing need for Sustainable Urban Transport
India’s surging economic growth and consequent urbanization over the last decade has led to an inevitable rise in ownership and use of motorized vehicles across cities and towns. It has been projected that an investment of Rs.4,35,380 Crores (2008-2027) will be required for making improvements in the Urban Transport sector for 87 cities (Wilbur Smith Report, 2008).
National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) was launched in 2006 by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD). It was created to motivate the building of people-centric urban transport solutions instead of focusing on improving the conditions for private motor vehicles. The policy emphasizes the need of the majority of the population using public transport and non motorized modes. Effective implementation of NUTP calls for clear understanding of the very concept of sustainability at all levels of governance.
Keeping this need in mind, the Sustainable Urban Transport Project (SUTP) has been initiated by Government of India, in partnership with Global Environment Facility (GEF), The World Bank and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).


About the project
This is a unique project which adopts a two pronged approach towards the problem in question. On the one hand, it aims to build capacities at all levels, i.e., national, state and local; and institutional and individual. On the other hand, it delves deep into the system itself and aims to set examples of good urban transport planning by demonstrating sustainable urban transport projects in various cities through implementation of varied projects. SUTP has a unique funding pattern. This project is jointly funded by Government of India, GEF (through The World Bank and UNDP) and The World Bank. This partnership is not only restricted to funding but also extends to technical expertise which is provided in abundance from all these agencies. This feature will ensure that the stakeholders of the project learn from technical experts who have pioneered similar projects worldwide, thus making the education process more comprehensive. This feature gives the capacity building component a new importance.
GOI, Under GEF-SUTP, @ Rs.1400 crores ($ 300 million) project, aims to encourage implementation of National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) and achieve a paradigm shift in urban transport systems in favour of sustainable development. The project strives to achieve its objectives through two main approaches:

  • Building the nation’s capacity in the field of Urban Transport planning by imparting education and training at individual levels and strengthening capacity at institutional levels in the areas of planning, financing, implementing, operating and managing sustainable urban transport systems.
  • Demonstrating ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ transport planning practices by actually implementing certain Urban Transport projects in selected cities.

The project is being implemented by Ministry of Urban Development (Government of India) through a Project Management Unit (PMU) at the national level, under overall guidance of a Steering Committee (under the chairmanship of Secretary Urban Development, Ministry of Urban Development). The Project Management Unit is assisted by a Project Management Consultant (M/s Mott MacDonald Pvt. Ltd.) and is required to oversee and guide the implementation by the Project Implementing Agencies (cities).
Project Overview
The project consists of three components as follows:

  • Component-1: National Capacity Development Initiatives
  • Component-2: Implementation of Demonstration Projects in Selected Cities
  • Component-3: Project Manageme

  Public Transport
India’s urban population is expected to increase from 286 million in 2001 to 534 million in 2026 (38%). Our country has to improve its urban infrastructure to achieve objectives of economic development. However, most of the cities in India have inadequate infrastructure. Urban transport is one of the major problems, affecting the mobility of people and economic growth of the urban areas.
 
These problems are due to prevailing imbalance in modal split; inadequate transport infrastructure and its sub-optimal use; no integration between land use and transport planning; and no improvement or little improvement in city bus service, which encourage a shift to personalized modes. In view of this, the Government of India approved the National Urban Transport Policy (NUTP) in April 2006.
The Policy primarily focuses on the mobility of people and not the mobility of vehicles. This will require the public transportation system to be more attractive to use. The challenge for improved bus transport is to provide good quality service at an affordable price. It is important to evaluate alternative public transport technologies in the context of city characteristics. The public transport options vary between low cost buses to high cost rail metros. Moreover the shape of a city is very important for selecting the appropriate mode of transport and capacity building is a very important factor in introducing and implementing public transport system. Several initiatives have been taken in India in this regard: Many cities have prepared Comprehensive Mobility Plans and have plans to introduce modern bus services; Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) is coming up in eleven cities; six cities are planning new metro rail systems; and Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities have been set up in two cities. The Government of India has funded 15,260 modern and intelligent transport systems enabled buses for city transport for 61 mission cities as a part of the economic stimulus package. Amongst various urban transport projects, rail based Metro are being developed in many cities of India, viz. Delhi (357.37 km, ` 58298.47 crores), Mumbai (62.89 km, ` 20587 crores), Bangalore (33 km, ` 6395 crores), Kolkata (13.77 km, ` 4676 crores), Chennai (50 km, ` 14600 crores), Kochi (25.3 Km, ` 2991.5 crores), Hyderabad (71.29 km, `11892 crores).Light rail systems have been proposed in Kolkata while monorail systems in Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai.

Under road based Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) in JNNURM, many projects have been sanctioned, the cities, namely, Ahmedabad (88.50 km, ` 981.35 crores), Visakhapatnam (42.80 km, ` 452.93 crores), Indore (11.45 km, ` 98.45 crores), Jaipur (39.45 km, ` 479.55 crores), Bhopal (21.71 km, ` 237.76 crores), Rajkot (29.00 km, ` 110.00 crores), Vijayawada (15.50 km, ` 152.64 crores), Pimpri-Chinchwad (42.22 km, ` 738.16 crores), Pune (101.77 km, ` 1051.00 crores), Surat (29.90 km ` 469.00 crores) and Delhi (14.6 Kms- implementing with its own funds).

Initiative undertaken by Pimpri - Chinchwad Municipal Corporation is part of Component 2.: Implementation of Demonstration Projects in Selected Cities
  This Component aims to catalyze high profile demonstration projects in selected demonstration cities that will create models of sustainable transport solutions for other Indian cities to replicate.
The city of Pimpri-Chinchwad is situated North-East of Pune and is 160 km from Mumbai,the capital of state of Maharashtra. It is predominantly an industrial area, which has developed during the last four decades. The city of Pimpri-Chinchwad has seen a high rate of population growth and development in the recent past. Due to its proximity to Pune and its significance as an industrial hub of the region, the city is expected to continue its growth in the future.
Based on the current traffic and forecast demand, a bus-based rapid transit system was found to be the appropriate public transportation system for the city of Pimpri-Chinchwad
GEF-SUTP demonstration project would include the following major components for PCMC:

  • Construction of two new road-cum-BRT corridors (19 km)
  • On two previously built BRT corridors, passenger access to BRT stations, such as over- and underpasses and improved at-grade crossings
  • GPS system to control BRT operation. This is a relatively small addition to a similar component for Pune and would be implemented jointly with PMC and PMPML
  • Three bus terminals to serve the previously built BRT corridors
  • Technical assistance studies such as Monitoring & Evaluation, Access Plan to BRTS by NMT & Pedestrians, Parking Policy & Master Plan for PCMC area and Promotion & Outreach Program and capacity building, including Transport planning and BRT service plan, fare structure and fare collection, assistance to build up the proposed BRT cell, capacity building and training for PCMC staff.

Apart from the main road infrastructure, a number of other services form part of the entire BRT system. This includes the following main components:

  • Rolling Stock,
  • Intelligent Transportation System,
  • Fare Collection System,
  • Bus stops and bus terminals.

 

Why BRT ?
The existing developments and proposed land-use indicate high potential for growth in the city. This is
creating pressure on the basic infrastructure facilities in Pimpri-Chinchwad. The Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is working towards improving basic facilities to its citizens and taking up large and ambitious projects towards this. Urban transport is one such sector which is being addressed.

The public transportation system in Pimpri-Chinchwad has not been able to provide the best services
to its citizens. This has lead to steep increase in private ownership of vehicles, especially motorised two-wheelers. Poor connectivity and poor frequency of public transport has also encouraged large size auto-rickshaws (seven-seaters) to ply along the main corridors in the city, which has lead to a thriving para-transit mode of transport. These factors are leading to congestion of roads in the city. In order to have an efficient public transport system, it has become necessary to also have physical infrastructure with high levels of service.

There is urgent need to address the main issues of patronage of public transport, poor level of service
of the road network in PCMC and future traffic congestion on city roads caused by private vehicles. To
address most of these urban transport problems being faced by PCMC currently and those anticipated in the future, a Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) study has been undertaken, which proposes a bus-based rapid transit system spread across the city of Pimpri-Chinchwad along a road network with high levels of service. The two main components of the CMP are – Traffic study and Land-use study.

As a part of the traffic study, the following primary surveys have been conducted, in order to capture
the current traffic patterns in the PCMC area:

1. Classified Traffic Volume Counts at Outer Cordon points,
2. Classified Traffic Volume Counts on the Internal Road Network of PCMC area,
3. Opinion surveys at Outer Cordon points,
4. Opinion surveys at Local Railway stations and the Inter-City bus terminus,
5. Intersection turning movements counts at important junctions in PCMC area, and
6. Speed and Delay surveys along important corridors in the city.

House-hold surveys with a sample size of 5,000, spread uniformly across all the election wards in PCMC area, were conducted to capture the current travel characteristics of the citizens.
The following table presents a summary of Passenger traffic volume at the survey locations.

Direct Beneficiaries
Indirect Beneficiaries
Passengers  of a public transport system
Property owners near the developed transport system- gaining from higher potential value of property
Vehicle owners using a flyover
Business around the transport system- gaining from better connectivity
Businesses based on the infrastructure- advertisers on the system, vendors
Local Government- gaining higher property taxes in the region due to escalation in property prices

•Traditional revenues of BRTS are
–Fare box revenues
–Sale of monthly passes
–Advertising revenues
–Vendor licensing
•Value capture from indirect beneficiaries is limited
•Viability of BRTS development can be enhanced if value from indirect beneficiaries can be captured
 
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) is developing 130 km of bus based mass transit corridors
PCMC has set up an Urban Transport Fund (UTF) to fund the project
The UTF to be managed by a SPV wholly owned by PCMC
A zone of 100 m on either side of the corridor designated as BRT influence zone


Locations of the BRT Corridors

Fig. 1:    Proposed BRT corridors in the PCMC area

Figure 1 shows the BRT and road improvement program proposed by PCMC.  It comprises the following corridors:

  1. Aundh-Rawet road
  2. Old NH-4 (Mumbai-Pune road)
  3. Nashik Phata to Wakad
  4. Kalewadi to Dehu-Alandi road

 

Proposed design of BRT corridors
The philosophy of PCMC towards designing the physical infrastructure has been that it wants to cater to all categories of road-users – be it through dedicated lanes for public transport or optimal width of lanes for private vehicles. A number of discussions were held to arrive at an optimal right-of-way design for implementation.
The RoW for both corridors is 45m. Following provisions have been made in the RoW design:

  1. At mid-block location:

  1. Two central lanes as dedicated BRT corridors, each with width of 3.5 m; separated with the main carriageway by a median with street lamps.
  2. Two lanes for mixed vehicles of width 7.5 m beyond the medians,
  3. Service road of width 7.0 m on either sides of the median – for commuters to access side roads and slow moving traffic.
  4. Cycle track of width 2.5 m on either sides of the median – to encourage non-motorised vehicles and cyclists.
  5. Pedestrian path of width 2.5 m on adjacent to the cycle track – for the safety of pedestrians and to encourage walk-based trips for short distances, and
  6. Service road of width 5.5 m at the ends of the RoW.

 

  1. At bus-stop location:

  1. An additional lane of width 4.0 m is being provided for buses in the central portion in order to provide for an overtaking lane.
  2. The service lane width at bus-stop location is reduced by 2.0 m on either side of the RoW.

 

PCMC identified the importance of free traffic flow at junctions. In order to avoid creation of bottlenecks at junctions in the mixed traffic lanes, it is proposed to widen this lane. The service lane widths are reduced to 3.0 m at junction location to add the additional 2.5 m to the mixed lane traffic.


Funding
The funding for implementation of all three components of the project is provided by separate agencies. The GEF grant for the project has two components - one is through World Bank and the other is through UNDP. The Government of India, the State government and the Implementing agency will also be funding the projects. The World Bank loan is available for a portion of Component 2 where the cities have a large viability gap.


SUTP Partners & Funding

Component

Activities

Source & Funding

Goals

2 – Demonstration Cities

Implementation of sustainable urban transportation projects in Pimpri Chinchwad.

GOI:                    170.42 Cr
GEF Grant – WB: 9.20  Cr
GOM(States):      85.21 Cr
W B Loan:           209.77Cr
IA**:                      17.66 Cr

Piloting of sustainable concepts of BRT, NMT, ITS, Integrated Planning and Transit Oriented Development (TOD) in Pimpri Chinchwad

*Cr – Crore Rupees; **IA – Implementing Agency

Contact Person

Mr. Shrikant S Savane
Executive Engineer (BRTS Projects),
Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation,
Pimpri, Pune.
Email id: s.savane@pcmcindia.gov.in
Contact No: 020 27425511
Fax No: 020 27425600

 

 

 

 
 

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