'Four BRTS Corridors for Chennai'

Green cover to be developed to encourage cycling

Chennai might have a high-speed Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) on at least four corridors to address the issues of traffic congestion, faster mobility and connectivity.

Giving a talk on "Transformation of Chennai - The Civil Society Point of View" organised jointly by Motor Vehicles & Allied Industries Association (MV&AIA) and Indian Roads & Transport Development Association (IRTDA) on April 7 at Chennai, Balchand Parayath, Chief Executive Officer of Chennai City Connect Foundation, which has been assigned by the government to do a feasibility study on a BRTS from Guindy to Siruseri, said that three more mass transit corridors were being seriously considered.

The corridors, which would integrate with the Metro and MRTS at various points, are: Thirumangalam - Madhavaram via Ambattur, T Nagar - Koyambedu via K K Nagar and along the proposed Adyar Poonga Expressway.

"Chennai would take more than 100 years to have a road network like Houston or Seattle. But even if we have such infrastructure, the problem of congestion would not go away. A radically different model that gives a central role to public transport, one that is not just for the lower income groups but for everyone, is the need of the hour," Parayath said.

Stressing that what makes a city advanced is not its highways or subways, but great footpaths, he said that the Chennai Metro Rail has been in consultation with City Connect to develop better pedestrian access and an advanced fare collection system. The study would cover all the 32 Metro Stations that are slated to come up in Phase-1 of the project.

Making a mention of the Anna Nagar cycle lane project, Parayath said that green cover would have to be developed in strategic areas to "encourage cycling on a demarcated space on the road margin. With regard to the T Nagar redevelopment plan, he said that various options, including a shuttle bus service for shoppers within the T Nagar locality, were being considered.

The meeting stressed on an integrated approach involving all concerned agencies and stakeholders for a sustainable solution to the transport needs of the city with various modes of transport playing complementary role.

S Ramachandran, MD, Speed-A-Way thanked Balchand Parayath for his detailed analysis of the transport infrastructure needs of the city. Earlier, K N Krishnamurthy, Chairman, IRTDA, in his welcome address, briefed the guests and participants on the activities of IRTDA and the association between IRTDA and MV&AIA, which, he said, dated as far back as 1928.

On the occasion, MV&AIA donated an ambulance to the Hindu Mission Health Services in Chennai. The keys of ambulance were handed over by N Srinivasan, Vice Chairman, MV&AIA to S Ramachandran, IAS (Retd), Hony Secretary, HMHS and S Somasundaram, Founder Secretary, HMHS.