Special bus lanes on Mumbai's highways

Pressure from the public, judiciary and experts to get at least 20% of Mumbai’s total vehicular traffic off the roads seems to be finally working. If everything goes according to plans, specially earmarked lanes on either side of the Western and Eastern Express Highways will soon be dedicated to buses. Civic and traffic authorities have decided to allow all buses, including long-distance and private ones, and vehicles like ambulances and fire tenders to ply on dedicated lanes on left side on the road under the proposed Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). Earlier, the MMRDA and the BEST had plans to allow only special city buses (King Long) to ply on it. “The dedicated bus lanes will not be physically segregated. The corridors will be demarcated by aluminium-based fixed spring pop-ups. These instruments will not block space and will also streamline the traffic,” revealed joint commissioner of police (traffic) Sanjay Barve. Stating that a report prepared by a consultancy firm appointed for BRTS study and planning was expected anytime soon, MMRDA chief for transportation and communication P R K Murthy said that except for creating new bus stops or junctions there was absolutely no problem in implementing the BRTS on Western and Eastern Express Highways. “We are committed and convinced that BRTS can be established at least on these two highways with one dedicated bus lane on either side of road. Bus junctions and stops can be built below the flyovers some of which have enough manoeuvring space,” said Barve.