JAIPUR, APRIL 27: As the Delhi government looks for a way out of the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) mess in the Capital, Rajasthan is sending over a team of transport officials tomorrow to carry out an independent inspection. Having initiated construction of its own pilot BRTS project in November, it hopes that the Delhi example can help it “learn what not to do”.

At the same time, Rajasthan officials remain confident that they have taken care of some of the obvious potholes that the Delhi project ran straight into. Admitting that a team of traffic officials and transport experts is being sent to inspect the Delhi corridor, Jaipur Development Authority Commissioner D B Gupta says: “I cannot comment on the Delhi project. But we in Jaipur don’t expect such a reaction due to the way we have chosen our pilot.”

Apart from Delhi and Rajasthan, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh are in the process of implementing their BRTS projects, and the noises from the Capital are reverberating loudly here. While Ahmedabad began conceptualising its project three years ago, Jaipur has already started construction of a 7-km pilot corridor on Sikar road.

Officials in Rajasthan, who have been watching Delhi very closely, are coordinating with the Ahmedabad consultants to smoothen out glitches. But these officials say they have reasons to expect a smoother run:

• Unlike the Delhi model, the Jaipur BRTS experiment does not begin from a heavy traffic area. The 7-km pilot corridor falls on a bypass on the Sikar road. The Vasundhara Raje government’s basic concept was to provide a city that has no formal public transport system a North-South: East-West alignment. “On the lines of the Kolkata Metro,” say officials. “Unlike the Delhi BRTS we chose a route which has very little traffic as our pilot. Besides, the areas around the corridor are coming up right now so the users are also limited. There are fewer residential colonies and the pilot will connect 14 upcoming industrial areas to the heart of the city.” While 55 per cent of Delhi’s population uses public transport, 81 per cent of Jaipur travels on private vehicles.

• The road width is being increased to 42 metres. “There is more space for the buses as well as cars. We felt that the Indore project was sounder and have therefore based our project on the Indore model,” says JDA Commissioner D B Gupta.

• Only single bus lanes at intersections, instead of giving them more space as in Delhi, cutting down signal time for motorists to three-four minutes. “Delhi has a waiting time of five-six and even nine minutes,” point out experts.

• Motorists will be provided an alternative route. In Delhi, there is no such provision, so cars and bikes don’t have an alternative but to take the bus corridor. “There is no inbuilt system of a different route and Delhi has also sealed all its right turns and U-turns, which leaves a motorist with few options,” say Rajasthan officials.

• Learning from Delhi’s mistake of leaving out the major stakeholders before launching the project, the Rajasthan government has decided to involve them, including motorists. “This is necessary when you are instigating a switch from private to public transport. Delhi also did not take its traffic police on board, which was another mistake,” say the officials.

• The Transport Department is prepared for changes, provided how the pilot run works. “We have decided to be flexible. We have kept a cycle track of 2.5 metres, but if we find that there are fewer users for the track we will remove the medians and use the extra space for cars,” says a government source.

The first corridor on Sikar road will eventually run over 19 km and is to be completed in one and a half years. The Union Ministry for Urban Development has already sanctioned funds under the JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) for the Rs 600-crore project.

The bigger matter of concern, says Rajasthan, is its planned second BRTS corridor. “It passes through a congested area, and seeing the protests in Delhi, we are now concerned. After we see the Delhi model tomorrow, we will decide if at all we should implement this second corridor, and if so then how,” says Gupta.