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Monday, April 7, 2014

Bus bays at PMPML bus stops - a vital necessity

Dear All,

Pmp Pravasi Manch has been following the issue of Bus Bay for almost 4 years now. This resulted in PMC being directed by Addl CP in Oct '13 TAC meeting to complete Bus Bay Marking on 500 major Bus stops by 31st Dec '13, the list to be given by PTP to PMC.

The status of the same is not known to either , whatever is visible is far from satisfactory.

We fully endorse the contents of representations of Pedestrians First in this regard.

The authorities are grossly ignoring this at the peril of Citizens Safety.

Please take serious note and act promptly.

Thanking you,

Jugal s rathi
Pmp Pravasi Manch,Pune


From: Pedestrians First <pedestriansfirst@gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Apr 2014 14:09:17 +0530
To: PMCMCO<pmcmco@gmail.com>; PMC - Vikas Deshmukh<vikas.deshmukh@punecorporation.org>
Cc: PMPML - CMD<joshirn26@gmail.com>; DCP(Traffic)<dcptraffic.pune@nic.in>; DCP(Traffic)<punepolicetraffic@gmail.com>; PMC - Vivek Kharwadkar<vivek.kharwadkar@punecorporation.org>; PMC - Pramod Nirbhavane<pramod.nirbhavane@punecorporation.org>
Subject: Bus bays at PMPML bus stops - a vital necessity


Dt. 05-04-14

To
Mr. Vikas Deshmukh
Municipal Commissioner
PMC

Cc :
Mr. R. N. Joshi, CMD - PMPML
Mr. Vishwas Pandhare, DCP(Traffic)
Mr. Vivek Kharwadkar, Addl CE, PMC
Mr. Pramod Nirbhavane, Addl CE, PMC

Dear Sirs,
Subject : Bus bays at PMPML bus stops – a vital necessity

City bus service is of vital importance for the city. A major problem faced by PMPML bus drivers and bus commuters is that buses are unable to approach the bus stop and are forced to halt on the carriageway of road due to road side clutter and vehicle parking right up to the bus stop on both sides. This creates severe problems for all –
1) Buses halting on road block vehicle lane holding up traffic flow and adding to the existing congestion on road
2) Commuters have to wait on the road to be able to see approaching bus and have access to it
3) Commuters have to board bus in the midst of traffic with great inconvenience
4) Commuters getting down from bus have to walk some distance up to footpath or road side in the midst of traffic at risk to life
5) At times buses halt away from bus stop for lack of space to halt causing great inconvenience and unsafe conditions for commuters.
6) Buses may skip bus stop causing hardships and delays to commuters

Considering the very high number of bus stops and the persistent nature of the problem, it would not be possible for the Traffic Police to ensure that bus stops remain constantly free of vehicle parking.

We had proposed an innovative design to prevent vehicle parking in the path of bus and facilitate docking of bus at bus stop. Pl see attached concept drawings for two cases as below –
I) Bus stop on footpath and bus bay in vehicle parking area
II) Bus stop in vehicle parking lane and extended footpath platform in parking area

The main features of our plan were –
a) Physical barriers to prevent vehicle parking in the vicinity of bus stop. The barriers in case of bus bay also act as channelizers for bus movement. – The barrier should preferably be in the form of extended footpath platform with bollards or railings
b) Lane separators for bus bay in front of bus stop to segregate the bus bay from road traffic so that buses can conveniently dock at the bus stop. – The separator should preferably be of the railing type with hazard signage and cats eyes
c) Road markings for bus bay and bus halting box with directional arrows
d) Prominent signage for bus bay

The design was discussed with PMC, Traffic Police and PMPML. We had suggested Ranade Inst. bus stop on FC road for trials of bus bay design and had taken the responsibility of coordination for setting up the bus bay and conducting trials. The trials were conducted using traffic barriers and were successful. It was seen that all above problems were overcome. It also resulted in much better bus driver and commuter discipline. Pl see BEFORE and AFTER bus bay pictures attached.

Considering the success of the scheme, we had requested PMC, Traffic Police and PMPML for replicating the bus bay design at other bus stops on main roads wherever feasible.

It is observed that PMC has done road markings for bus bays on some roads without constructing bus bay as proposed. However, simply providing road markings does not bring about desired results. (See attached pictures). It is obvious that physical segregation is a must for success of bus bay. Putting up traffic barricades for the purpose can only be a temporary arrangement which cannot be sustained for longer period. Hence permanent constructed arrangement is necessary. The bus bay design proposed by us is low cost and easily implementable in a short time period.

We request you to look into the matter urgently. PMC should make it a policy to provide arrangement at bus stops as per the proposed designs to ensure clear passage for buses up to bus stop. Major bus stops should be covered in the first phase. We suggest that bus bay should immediately be constructed at Ranade Institute bus stop on FC road where successful trials have already been conducted.

As clear access to bus stops for buses is a very vital requirement for efficient and safe operation of city bus service, it is imperative that adequate funds be allotted for the job on priority and work should start at the earliest. We would be happy to associate with PMC for implementation of bus bays on city roads.

Regards,
Prashant Inamdar
Convenor

Pedestrians FIRST