The Capitals first Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor is still facing hurdles,a year after it threw open its Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand stretch. But how successful is the corridor model elsewhere? While the city administration in New York is hailing BRT as the most cost-effective mass transit system,cities in England and South Africa seem to be facing trouble not unlike those found in Delhi. Authorities in UKs Bath city had planned a BRT route along a railway line,hoping to reduce traffic congestion and pollution as also to save a two-minute trip in a diesel bus to the local city centre. But the route also involved doing away with kitchen gardens behind houses of a residential area. Result: the decision sparked off protests by residents,around the time when Delhi car-users were contending the BRT corridor was eating into the lane space. Protestors who ran online community campaigns in Bath claimed the project worth £60 million would,in fact,increase congestion and pollution problems in residential areas by diverting traffic. The BBC website reported on May 21 that councillors of Bath have deferred the scheme,claiming that the project required more research-work. The government in South Africa,too,is facing flak from the Johannesburg taxi union for its plans to construct a BRT route for transporting athletes during next years football World Cup in the country. A local news website in Johannesburg reported that Jacob Zuma,sworn in as the South African President on May 9,had addressed the taxi drivers union and backed their cause two days before the general elections last month. But officials in FIFA,the global football body,are now anxious the union might be holding the tournament to ransom. Last reported,the authorities in Johannesburg are still trying to convince the union about the necessity of the corridor. Union leaders meanwhile threaten to smear the route with their blood. In Delhi,the corridor of uncertaintyWhile the 5.8-km stretch between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand has been functional since last April,the Delhi government is yet to make the corridor operational from Moolchand to Delhi Gate with the bus lane on its left. Transport Commissioner R K Verma said civil work on the corridor is almost over. The traffic police have to now enforce the rule of buses keeping to the left,as in other parts of the city, he said. We will hold a meeting with the authorities. The government has already appointed a Spain-based agency to carry out feasibility studies on two other corridors for the city.
