Center for Environmental Planning and Technology

We met with the planners of the Ahmedabad Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), and they told us of their strategies in planning and implementing the project. They concentrated on connecting busy places, rather than traveling along busy roads. They wanted networks, not corridors. They invested a lot of time and money in station design, to make the stations useful and easy to use. They decided on level-entry stations, with pay-in-advance cards. They chose BRT over fixed rail because the Bus is cheaper, more flexible, they could have more stations closer to each other, and have a higher frequency of buses.

They started planning for the project in 2005, and might be finished by 2011. They used Bogota and Curitiba as examples. They did not connect the airport to their system because the passenger numbers did not justify it (its a small airport, and those who can afford and use air travel do not afterwards use transit to get home).

They took us on a ride on the first line established, and there was an entire media setup there. We were photographed and interviewed our entire 15 minute test trip, and our photo was on page 2 of the Ahmedabad edition of the India Times.