BRT in Chennai: Towards a New Paradigm in Sustainable Mobility Executive summary Institute for Transportation and Development Policy April 2013 ii BRT in Chennai: Towards a New Paradigm in Urban Mobility Background Chennai stands at a crossroad in its history and development. The city has the potential to become a global commercial and cultural centre that affords its citizens immense benefits in the form of jobs, opportunities, and improved quality of life. For this opportunity to become a reality, the city will have to develop adequate infrastructure and services to facilitate development and improve the quality of life of all its citizens, both rich and poor. The Government of Tamil Nadu has set high and laudable goals to be achieved in its Vision 2023 document. Major emphasis has been given to public transport and connectivity as drivers of growth and as a prerequisite for quality of life. It pays special emphasis to mass rapid transit (MRT) systems like metro, monorail and bus rapid transit (BRT). Vision 2023 also emphasised “integrated multimodal urban transport including mass transit systems for faster mobility in cities.” The Government envisions an increase in the mode share of public transport from the present 27 per cent to 40 per cent. This translates into achieving nearly two-thirds of all motorised trips by public transport. Presently, 83 per cent of all trips on public transport are served by city bus service operated by the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC). The remaining are trips are made on suburban and Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) rail services operated by Southern Railways. None of the public transport modes are of a high quality. Buses are overcrowded during peak hours and their speed is dropping by the day due to growing traffic congestion. To improve the situation, the Government of Tamil Nadu is building a modern metro rail system and there are advanced plans to create a monorail system. However, these rail systems do no connect all parts of the city. People will not shift to public transport unless they get seamless connectivity on a high-quality, integrated network. It is important that the city quickly fill the gaps in the network with a high-quality MRT system. BRT is one such solution that is quick to implement, inexpensive, and has a high capacity. BRT can provide high-quality service to complement the rail systems, thereby increasing overall ridership on public transport. 18% 20% 15% 10% 5% 5% 1% 2% 0% -2% - 5% - 10% -11% -13% - 15% Urgent improvements in the quality of service are required to arrest the overall decline in the use of public transport in Chennai. The graph indicates the change in mode shares from 1995 to 2008. Institute for Transportation and Development Policy 1 About Bus Rapid Transit Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a form of mass rapid transit (MRT) that provides safe, comfort- able, efficient and economical public transport services to millions of people. BRT systems incorporate the benefits of rail-based systems like light rail, monorail and metro rail and add the flexibility and convenience of rubber-tired buses. In BRT, specially designed multi-coach train-like buses operate in exclusive lanes in the centre of the street. BRT station platforms match the level of the bus so that passengers can enter and exit quickly and easily without climbing steps. Smart ticketing at stations enhances passenger convenience and improves efficiency. The special bus fleet is electronically monitored from a control center to ensure reliability and provide real-time information to passengers. Special design of stations can ensure high capacity to complement rail based systems. Since buses are not bound to a track, routes can be flexible. Buses routes can be a combination of multiple corridors. Buses can also exit the track and serve nearby areas, thus providing direct connectivity to most passengers. High capacity BRT systems are successfully operating in many large cities across the world like Bogota (Colombia), Mexico City (Mexico), Seoul (Korea) and Guangzhou (China), often integrated with rail systems and providing complementary services. Many developed countries like USA and France are adopting this solution to provide high- quality rapid transportation that is quick to implement and cost-effective. BRT can be built in a short period of time (under 18 months) and at a fraction of the cost of rail systems (around Rs. 15 crores per km of BRT compared to Rs. 150-450 crores per km for rail-based systems). In the absence of BRT, standalone systems like metro rail and monorail will have poor ac- cess and limited success. People will be forced to use their personal motor vehicles thereby exacerbating the traffic situation. In conjunction with rail based systems BRT can provide citywide connectivity on high-quality mass rapid transit (MRT) to all the citizens of Chennai. Implementation of BRT can be taken up immediately, in parallel with the implementation of metro rail and monorail. Since BRT can be implemented in a short period of time, the first line can be operational by end of 2014. 2 BRT in Chennai: Towards a New Paradigm in Urban Mobility Key features of bus rapid transit Median bus lanes Stepless boarding Physically segregated median bus lanes ensure that Level boarding and alighting makes the system buses are not stuck in traffic. They also reduce conflicts universally accessible and reduces the time that buses between buses and slower moving traffic at the edge of are stopped at stations. the carriageway. Off-board fare collection Customer information Off-board fare collection with electronic smart cards is Real-time passenger information keeps customers convenient for customers and reduces revenue leakage. updated on bus destinations and departure times. Clear schedules and maps summarise system information. Institute for Transportation and Development Policy 3 BRT for Chennai The Transport Department commissioned a study to assess the feasibility of implementation of BRT system in Chennai. The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) was selected to conduct the study. ITDP is a global non-profit organisation that supports cities around the world to create sustainable and equitable transport systems. A detailed feasibility report based on this study has been submitted to the Government of Tamil Nadu. It has found that BRT is feasible and urgently required in Chennai. Simple improvement of bus service may not be a viable option in Chennai, as measures to control the use of private vehicles are extremely limited. Improvements in bus service should be paired with other elements, such as dedicated right-of-way for buses that is segregated from general traffic. The appropriate solution for Chennai is a full-featured BRT system that can complement other MRT modes in the city. BRT corridors The proposed three-phase BRT network covers 265 km and serves a large portion of the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA). This network is integrated with the metro rail lines under Chennai Bus Volumes (buses per hour) > 120 91 - 120 61 - 90 31 - 60 1 - 30 Existing bus volumes on major corridors. 4 BRT in Chennai: Towards a New Paradigm in Urban Mobility construction and proposed monorail corridors. Network corridors were selected based upon a detailed study of Chennai’s existing transport assets and planned developments. The following basic criteria were prioritized: Current demand for travel based on existing bus volumes Potential for future growth per Chennai’s development plans Existing Public Rights-of-Way (ROW) for ease of implementation For phase 1, priority should be given to corridors that have high demand and adequate right of way to create a full BRT system. An 80 km network has been identified for phase 1, including two major networks: South network comprising of OMR, SP Road, GST Road and Pallikaranai 100ft road integrated with Metro, MRTS, and suburban rail stations at Saidapet, Kasturibainagar, Tidel Park and Tambaram. North network that connects the Koyambedu hub to Ambattur, Poonamalee and Madhavaram integrated with Metro and suburban rail stations. Madhavaram bus depot Ambattur Thirumangalam Maduravoyal Koyambedu Poonamalle Saidapet Kasturbanagar MRTS station Guindy Adyar Depot Chennai airport Tidel Park Chromepet Thoraipakkam Tambaram rail station Sholinganallur Towards Mahindra World city 5km Towards Siruseri Phase 1 BRT network. Institute for Transportation and Development Policy 5 Table 1.a Chennai Corridors with Highest Demand Table 1.b Chennai BRT corridor statistics Passengers per Length Passengers per Corridor hour per direction Corridor (km) hour per direction Anna Salai (Metro) 14,400 Maduravoyal - CMBT 14.0 3,300 GST Road 10,200 Ambattur - Thirumangalam 7.7 9,200 Sadar Patel Road 8,600 CMBT - Madhavaram 12.4 3,100 Ambattur-Tirumanagalam 8,100 Siruseri - Saidapet 24.8 8,200 Old Mahabalipuram Road 7,600 Tambaram - Airport 10.5 7,900 Poonamalee High Rd. (Metro) 7,500 GST Road Junction - 10.6 1,800 Thoraipakkam Jawaharlal Nehru Rd. (Metro) 7,200 Total 80 These two corridors have a width of 30-41 m and can easily accommodate BRT infrastructure. Conceptual corridor design, with cross-sections and plans, has been provided in the full report. The phase 1 network is expected to have 97 BRT stations not including major interchange terminals on and off corridor that provide connectivity to other MRT systems. The phase 2 network of 78.6 km and phase 3 network of 98.3 km can be created subsequently. It should be emphasized that the BRT network proposed is designed to complement, not compete with Chennai’s upcoming, rail-based services (See Tables 1.a and 1.b above). The Metro and Monorail in particular are exciting additions, but their practical reach will be limited. Large parts of the city will still remain unconnected to Chennai’s mass rapid transit network.