Kolkata: Pvt bus routes to be aligned with Metro, auto for seamless travel

Kolkata: Pvt bus routes to be aligned with Metro, auto for seamless travel

Kolkata: As the Metro network in the city progresses towards reality, the government is all set to realign the private bus routes in the city to integrate them with Metro as well as other modes of transport, such as ferry, railway and most importantly, autos, so that commuters can look to seamless, hassle-free travel.

Right now, each transport system competes with each other, as a result of which all of them bleed the coffers and eventually become unviable.

With the state ransport department finally waking up to the importance of an integrated transport system, World Bank has agreed to fund the mapping of the transport infrastructure and routes in the Kolkata Metropolitan area (KMA). The survey, carried out by RITES, has laid bare the distressing reality that the bus routes were so unorganized and chaotic that they lead to snarls, heightened pollution and accidents.

There is a disparity so long as the distribution of routes and commuting demand are concerned. On some routes, buses are over-crowded owing to fewer vehicles, while some are perpetually half-empty on other stretches owing to the problem of plenty," said a senior transport department official. Echoing him, Tapan Banerjee of Joint Council of Bus Syndicate said, "Many of the private bus routes were created for political reasons, without taking into account the actual demand. There are several routes that exist on paper, but without a single bus along it. Again, parallel routes were created, forcing buses to unnecessarily compete with each other over picking passengers. Then there are autos that eat into the bus' commuter share."

A transport engineer with RITES points out that the city's commute pattern has vastly changed and so, the realignment is important. "The fulcrum of the city's growth has shifted from the south to the east, demanding more east-to-west bus routes, rather than the earlier north-to-south ones. For instance, Rajarhat (beyond New Town) requires more buses to connect to the central business district or Howrah station. But the most important game-changer is the widening Metro network. It makes no sense to run bus services parallel to Metro. Buses should rather operate as a network to help feed and disperse Metro passengers," the RITES official said.

The transport department now plans to cut down on the routes, based on the real-time passenger counts. "Each route will have more buses, making services more frequent. That way, each route will earn greater passenger loyalty. As the new plan will ensure no over-lapping of routes, buses will ply more consistently and safely. New routes will also be created to cover the urban growth centres," said another officer. Another major objective for the rationalization is to make autos complementary to buses. "Autos are a major first- and last-mile links, but their operations on some important thoroughfares make them a competition for buses. That has to be realigned," said an officer, adding that World Bank also wanted a greater interface with ferry services.

Buses of five state transport undertakings (STUs), which operate in the city, have been rationalized but they make up for only 30% of the bus-commuter demand; private buses, which make up for 70% of the demand, need rationalization. In KMA, 11,621 buses run on 925 routes. Of them, STU operated only 1,783 buses on 368 routes, and private operators 9,835 on 557 routes.

Source:TOI