The real cost of Delhi's BRT
Despite the failure of the Pune administration to successfully implement a “bus corridor”, the Delhi government is implementing a 5.8 km stretch of BRT with segregated corridors for buses, cars, cycles and pedestrians. It appears to have made a complete hash of it. And the costs have been escalating, too.
Cost of chaos Capital cost: Rs 100 crore Quick-fix solution: Convert existing Chirag Dilli flyover into clover leaf at a capital cost of Rs 200 crore Average time taken to complete 5.8 km during rush-hour in a passenger vehicle Before construction: 20 minutes After construction: 35-45 minutes Average fuel wastage per day: 10,000 litres |
On average, transit times have increased by an hour each for private vehicles using the BRT—that’s over one million man hours wasted daily since the BRT came into operation.
Cars and two-wheelers waste fuel idling away. There are no estimates on the amount of fuel wasted, but a back of envelope calculation indicates that all vehicles, buses, two-wheelers and cars together waste over 10,000 litres of fuel as they remain stuck in traffic on the corridor.
Over 2,000 trees were chopped down to make way for Stage I of the blighted corridor, which has resulted in more than 50 motor accidents, 300 injuries and eight deaths.
—Kushan Mitra
