The Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) began with an inagural ceremony today with the first city, Pune, coming online. The Indian government rewarded the city of Pune with "a sanction of Rs 550 crore ($$) from the Union government under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Supposedly this urban renewal incentive program puts Pune on the "transit map." Union urban development minister Jaipal Reddy on Sunday said that "Pune is on top of the list of important cities that the government has been considering under the JNNURM. Pune has a glorious history, and the way it is developing in various fields and implementing JNNURM projects, its future is going to be far more glorious," he added.
On the surface this appears to be nothing more than local political rumblings for upgrading transportation networks throughout India, but with major rail systems already established in cities such as Mumbai (Maharashtra), Kolkata/Calcutta (West Bengal), and Delhi, a new bus system in India shouldn't deem international attention.
Under the surface, however, the flowery speech at the BRTS inauguration revealed political rumblings of another sort. , and the Pune Municipal Corporation (city government) "hastily inaugurated the incomplete Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) pilot project on Katraj-Swargate corridor." Reddy who is coming into election season, eagerly praised the new bus system and promised more lines to come. With civic elections are around the corner, promises are common but so can be diverting responsibility. According to the Pune Newsline:
Reddy made it clear that the Centre would not provide funds for purchasing buses for the BRTS project, saying "It is the role of the State government and not the Centre to fund infrastructure development projects." ... Meanwhile, the inaugural function saw all the political parties except the Congress boycotting it with NCP’s PMT committee member Prashant Jagtap alleging the members were kept in the dark about the function. He said the PMT infrastructure had to be strengthened before inaugurating the project.Local Indian politics may or may not have much in common with democratic systems elsewhere. However, similarities can be drawn between Pune and transit systems across the globe. For starters, cities municipalities placing funding and organizational responsibility on the State is a common trend when weak transit authorities do not have very strong direction and guidance. Also, keeping officials in the dark is a common strategy by opportunistic politicians wishing not only to secure the lime-light, but to also avoid a critical audience.
The city of Pune may be far removed from the larger, involved "metro-complexes" of interconnected transit systems of Europe, Japan, and the United States northeast. They may not ever get as much attention as, say, Seattle's ambitious rail system costing billions of dollars to construct, yet in 'puny' Pune we still clearly see the same problems and trends which plague even the largest metro systems.
Times of India, Pune Newsline,
Update:
Pune isn't exactly so small anymore. Already the next big thing in India, Pune is getting a lot of attention recently for it's "Highest Per-Capita City in India" status and information-technology companies are pouring. Well. . . sifting would be a better word. Traffic is horrendous. According to the Chicago Tribune, the reason a transit system in Pune is getting international attention is because "traffic on the city's narrow roads is occasionally at a standstill. Chaos rules. On a Wednesday evening at 7:30, driving 1 mile took 40 minutes.
Every day, government officials say, people register more than 400 new vehicles in Pune. The city is spilling over its limits, with a population that grew from 2.54 million in 2001 to an estimated 3.19 million this year. About 4,000 people fly in and out daily, compared with a year ago, when only 1,800 people did." It doesn't help that "the Pune Airport . . . has only one runway, which served about 10 passenger flights a day four years ago and now juggles more than 30."
Politics and bureaucracy really are as bad as it sounds though. "Change here, as in much of India, often happens in spite of government, not because of it." BRTS is no different. With most of the system yet to be built, the Municipal Corporation is 'good-to-go'. Here's hoping Pune's Bus Rapid Transit System offers as many solutions as problems they've reminded us exist elsewhere.
Chicago Tribune
