The Ahmedabad BRTS- or Janmarg- is aimed at enhancing efficiency in public transport system in order to provide a solution to increasing congestion and air pollution in the city.

 

Ahmedabad has a well established public transport system- the Ahmedabad Municipal Transport System (AMTS)- since 1945. Owing to resource and operational inefficiencies, public transport usage in Ahmedabad has gradually been overshadowed by use of auto-rickshaws and automobiles. This has made the city increasingly congested, polluted and unsafe for travel, bringing down the quality of life there. Against this background, the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) was introduced to leverage the use of buses for increasing the efficiency of public transportation and reduce the time and distance of travel. A BRTS is designed to give priority to buses through dedicated bus lanes and, at the same time, provide dedicated lanes for pedestrians and non-motorised vehicles.

Janmarg- implying people’s way- was launched in October 2009 collaboratively by the Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board (GIDB), Ahmedabad Municipal Council (AMC) and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JnNURM). The BRTS project comprises of customised buses enabled with dual-side access, median corridors, state-of-the-art BRT stations and an Intelligent Transportation System. BRTS represents a unique and efficient public-private partnership model wherein the overall implementation of the project is handled by the Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited, an organisation custom built for the purpose, and the ownership, operations and maintenance of the buses is the responsibility of private service providers.

The Ahmedabad BRTS has substantially eased the traffic congestion and pollution in the city by providing a well-functioning alternative to usage of private vehicles. Currently, Janmarg’s operational corridors stretch to 45 km with 83 buses that cater to nearly 1,35,000 passengers everyday. The project has gained global recognition through the Best Sustainable Transport Award 2010 and was adjudged the Best Mass Rapid Transit System by the Government of India in 2009.

This case study was published in January 2012.

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