BRTS - Bus Rapid Transit System in Pune modeling, simulation and feasibility analysis
The City of Pune, Maharashtra, India is well known as the city of Two Wheelers and has a large two wheeler population; Also the traffic here is prone to frequent congestions during peak hours; leading to jams causing huge delays in travel times. Moreover, pollution created by these vehicles is a huge cause of concern for the public and local authorities alike. To tackle this problem, the Pune Municipal Corporation came up with a plan to implement the BRTS in Dec. 2006, and successfully introduced it on a 13 KM stretch, becoming the first city in India to do so. This system has dedicated lanes and signaling system for Buses and thus is independent of the on road traffic, aimed at decreasing congestion and pollution by encouraging Pune motorists to take the BRTS instead of driving. The author has made an effort to compare the BRTS system with the regular one by Modeling and simulating both systems under various scenarios. Further on, the feasibility of implementing this system is discussed, along with its pros and cons, and the final section is dedicated to future developments to system and how it can be improved to make life easier for commuting Puneites.