Mass rapid transit system

7/25/2019 Mass rapid transit system

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Data collection

Busways

There are few cities with operating busways, and all the cities with busways systems

are in Latin America, with Brazil prominent. Busways usually require the reallocation

of existing roadspace together with traffic management in the corridor, as a result of

which bus passengers benefit from increased speeds. The impact on other traffic is

a matter of policy and design, busways may increase congestion for other traffic, but

they may also reduce it by channeling traffic more efficiently.

There are two forms of busways, open in which buses !oin and lea"e, pro"idingcon"enience for passengers who do not need to change bus# and trun$%and%feeder

which operates li$e light rail and requires interchange, often in"ol"ing through

tic$eting and requiring more sophisticated institutional arrangements. The

ad"antage is the additional operational control and capacity, which is created.

Busway output depends greatly on road networ$ configuration, !unction spacing and

stop spacing. &t typically has been demonstrated to be high at about '(,((( pphpd at

)( $mph on arterial corridors and '*%'+ $mph on urban corridors for a '%lane each

way busway. &f pro"ision for bus o"erta$ing at stops is pro"ided, passenger

throughputs of )(,((( pphpd ha"e been demonstrated and schemes with )%lanes

each way are reported with e"en higher passenger flows.

hile implementation is quite demanding -in terms of institutional co%ordination and

traffic engineeringcontrol s$ills/, the e"idence is that thereafter the operational

performance is robust. 0ost is relati"ely low 1 the infrastructure is typically 234 '%

'.5mn$m and the all%in cost including buses at the top end of the range is

234*mn$m. A ma!or ad"antage of busways is their flexibility in implementation and

operation. hile continuous, segregated busways are desirable, short discontinuities-where the road cross%section does not allow implementation/ can be o"ercome

using traffic management techniques. Busways can be implemented incrementally

as funds allow, and their performance can be upgraded o"er time.

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LRT1 this technology is widely $nown in many de"eloped cities and transitional

economies as trams, but these do not tend to carry large numbers of people at

speed, which is the required role of 67T in larger de"eloping cities. hile much is

$nown about them, the ma!or issue concerns their ability to perform this role. e

ha"e re"iewed the e"idence, and concluded that the performance is li$ely to be

bounded by a capacity of about '),(((pphpd and an a"erage operating speed of

)($ph. This is lower than the capacity of many busways, and it may be wondered

why this should be. &t arises for two reasons8

L7T achie"es high speed by using a signaling system to a"oid bunching, and by

obtaining priority at traffic signal%controlled !unctions o"er other traffic# and it

achie"es high capacity by ha"ing large "ehicles which ta$e ad"antage of the signals.&n practice the distance between signals defines the maximum "ehicle size, and the

need to pro"ide for crossing traffic limits the number of "ehicles per hour.

3econdly, L7T systems are operationally "ulnerable to the e"eryday e"ents that

happen in the centre of de"eloping cities. hether this is !unctions being partly

bloc$ed, or road maintenance wor$, or a brea$down, or an accident, while bus

systems are often able to get round the problem -they can o"erta$e, lea"e the

busways etc/, L7T is not.

This capacity problem becomes an issue in the large corridors of the biggest cities,

but many cities are not large and there are many corridors where this is not a

problem. Then, L7T is often considered a more affordable alternati"e to a metro,

while ha"ing the up%mar$et and green image which busways ha"e so far usually not

had. &n particular, L7T is often considered to be compatible with city centre

pedestrianised en"ironments, contributing with complementary measures to more

li"able cities.

Metros1 are widely $nown. They alone of the options can carry "ery large

passenger flows, indeed se"eral times more than any other option, and this, together

with their operating speed which deri"es from complete segregation, underlies their

strategic impacts upon city structure. Alone of the options, they may decongest the

city corridor significantly. But they come at a "ery high cost, both capital and



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operating, and they can be ris$y8 much needs to go right for a pro!ect to be

successful, and a bad mista$e can spell disaster. &n other words, particular care is

required in considering and de"eloping them. &ntegration with the bus system is

particularly necessary to metro "iability, and often difficult to achie"e.

Suburban Rail1 most cities ha"e, or ha"e had suburban rail lines, and often their

apparent potential appears to be under%utilized. 3ometimes this is appearance, and

in reality the line no longer ser"es passengers existing tra"el requirements, or it

cannot be upgraded without disrupting other traffic unacceptably, or the right%of%way

cannot be secured -it may be sub!ect to frequent, uncontrolled le"el crossings, or be

encumbered with squatters who cannot be re%housed/. 3ometimes there can be

opportunities, but the railway institutions pre"ent suburban rail ser"ices de"elopingeffecti"ely 1 this is common, and a separate organization is required, able to

manage the suburban system as a separate business. 3ometimes too there are

problems of nonstandard technology, or of terminal capacity in the city centre.

Applicability of the MRT Options:

e attempt to identify the circumstances when the options should be considered

and may ha"e application. e would emphasize that it is not possible to draw

simplistic conclusions, because e"ery city is different, and requires its own study of

the potentially realistic options. But this section pro"ides some context, and should

help narrow down the potentially applicable options, based on the a"ailable

e"idence.

Busways1 where they are politically acceptable, busways should often be the first

step in 67T system de"elopment, and for many cities they will remain the 67T

system for the foreseeable future. e ha"e seen that they can 1 in the right

en"ironment, effect ma!or impro"ements in accessibility, benefiting most of the citys

population, and particularly the poor. And they can achie"e this quic$ly and

incrementally as conditions and funding allow.

The right en"ironment is howe"er quite demanding to achie"e. &t requires effecti"e

go"ernment institutions, access to a well%de"eloped traffic planning management

capability -this may be bought in initially/, busparatransit operations which can and

should be restructured, and the road space for busway de"elopment.



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There is a broad raft of possible busway concepts, suited to differing situations. 6ost

in operation are basic and we ha"e seen these ha"e sometimes been criticised for

their ad"erse en"ironmental and land use impacts. They can and should be

designed to remedy these problems, creating a better image and stretching their

role and applicability.

LRT1 is li$ely to be de"eloped in cities where existing tram operations exist, which

may be cost%effecti"ely enhanced, and in cities where en"ironmental issues are

uppermost and there is a percei"ed need to attract car users -it may be the

en"ironmentally%acceptable component of a pac$age of measures designed to

create a li"eable city for example/. But where the core requirements are operationaleffecti"eness, busways are li$ely to be superior, and cost less.

Metros 1are a different order of challenge, cost and ris$.. hen they are well

de"eloped, we ha"e seen that they can be rational economic in"estments. These

pro!ects need to fulfill demanding requirements to be !ustified. 6ost of the following

conditions are considered to be necessary.

0orridor size % high existing public transport flows down the main corridor

1 of the order of '(%'*,((( passengers per hour per direction 0ity income % city incomes which are not low -typically at least ',9(( 23

dollars per person/

:rowth prospects % prospects for sustained growth, notably economic

growth

0ity centre growth % an expanding centre, preferably of a

nationalpro"incial capital city

A low%cost metro alignment

;ares policy % a fares policy on metro and bus systems to encourage

ridership yet limit the need for financial support

0ity management % go"ernment institutions which were stable and ha"e

demonstrated competence, and

6etro management % strong, largely autonomous management, with clear

ob!ecti"es



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&t follows that metros are most li$ely to be applicable to ser"e the largest corridors of

the biggest and more affluent de"eloping cities.

Suburban Rail1 we ha"e seen that much should be possible to impro"e suburban

rail operations, when institutional separation and management autonomy can be

created.

Incremental Development1 we ha"e concluded that it will be desirable to de"elop

the 67T system incrementally, to meet operational and en"ironmental requirements.

There is some lumpiness is some 67T technology -e.g. rail depots/, which pro"ides

some constraints to what is possible. But o"erall there is a wide raft of possibilities.

Role of the rivate Sector1 we expect there to be a substantially larger, and

different role for the pri"ate sector, with considerable potential for inno"ation.

Applicability in


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TABL> '.)

7>:&?=AL 67T 3T7AT>:@

olicy !ramewor"

6ass transit is recognised as central to the sustainability of large cities, indeed itsdeployment may enable cities to achie"e differing le"els of sustainability. 3ingapore

is an example of a city that has applied 67T as part of a comprehensi"e

de"elopment and transport strategy, the core of which is the control of traffic

congestion. 67T forms the centre of a quality public transport system, which is



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considered to be necessary to secure acceptance of traffic restraint measures. &n

other large cities such as 3eoul and 3ao aulo, the absolute control of traffic

congestion -as opposed to mitigating its worst effects/ is not considered realistic.

ere the role of 67T is to allow the city to continue to function as a city, and the

0B< to continue to expand 1 to allow its economies of scale to be secured. &n yet

other cities, where 67T is not de"eloped and traffic congestion ta$es hold, the city

brea$s down into "illages, the 0B< cannot grow and the scale economies of the

city are lost.

&n most de"eloping cities, roadspace is scarce and public transport needs to share

the same corridor as other traffic. >"en for metros, where under grounding in theory

frees their alignment from the geography of the street system, in practice alignmentsare usually under ma!or highway corridors -and sometimes under actual barriers to

mo"ement, such as ri"ers and hills/. 3o, in de"eloping cities, 67T is often located

down ma!or road corridors. This compares with cities where a more de"eloped

networ$, perhaps amplified by the de"elopment of an urban expressway networ$,

permits a hierarchy of roads, with public transport and other traffic concentrated

down different corridors.

&ts role as a minimum is to pro"ide for the tra"el needs of citizens and business.

3ometimes the role can be much more than this, to pro"ide the basis for a transport

strategy which can control traffic congestion, mitigating its attendant costs, and

creating a sustainable city form. &n particular 67T is often inextricably lin$ed to the

future of the central business district -0B


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>n"ironmental sustainability8 congestion, pollution, sprawling de"elopment and

the exhaustion of resources all threaten a sustainable future.

;inancial sustainability8 the sector finances must be put on a firm footing

This study as$s how 67T policy can achie"e public policy ob!ecti"es, recognizing its

o"erall central role in transport strategy. The public policy ob!ecti"es are classified as

follows8

6acro 1 economic8 metros in particular are hugely costly, and the scale of this

in"estment can ha"e impact significantly on the allocation of public funds,with

macro%economic effects

6icro 1economic8 the con"entional assessment of the worth of a pro!ect as

measured by its economic "iability 3ocial 1 there is a strong concern that policies including 67T should assist the

urban poor, and other disad"antaged groups.

Land use n"ironmental 1 67T can ha"e direct and indirect externalities, such as air

pollution, se"erance, "isual impact etc

The diagnosis analyses these $ey issues related to 67T systems for de"eloping

cities. This concern8

The scale of challenge in"ol"ed in establishing and de"eloping any 67T

systems.


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of B?T concessioning -applied in Asia/, and suburban railmetro

concessioning and pri"atisation -mainly applied in Latin America/

Affordability and the ri"ate 3ector 1 this see$s to clarify the appropriate role

of go"ernment and the pri"ate sector, and draw realistic conclusions about

the scale of public sector support and pri"ate sector funding.

ublic transport integration 1 identifies the issues and options.

!OR#$ASTI%& MRT IMA$TS

Accuracy of !orecasts

The re"iew of a"ailable research has highlighted unambiguously the poor record of

forecasting the main financial parameters 1 capital cost, construction time, operatingcosts and ridershipre"enues. &t has also demonstrated that this is not confined to

de"eloping cities 1 the 23 experience mirrors that in de"eloping

experience, and is reinforced by much other de"eloped country e"idence.

$ause of oor !orecasts

There ha"e been se"eral re"iews of forecasting -for example, 6ac$ettetal, 'CC9/.

The reasons for poor forecasts may be classified as in"ol"ing political, financial or

technical factors8

olitical !actors 1 new 67T systems, particularly a rail system, are popular with

politicians and the public ali$e. The new system is usually a discrete pro!ect which

can be clearly identified, so that those with an interest in doing so can claim to ha"e

produced a significant achie"ement. &t can be argued that planners are under

pressure from politicians to produce such an attracti"e scheme 1 particularly -the

next point/ if it is paid for by the national go"ernment or by a local tax that has

popular support. &n other words the ratio of local benefits -including those to

politicians/ to local taxation is "ery high.

!inancial !actors 1 ic$rell analysed the reason for the poor forecasting of the

federally%funded 23 systems, and concluded that one reason planners were $een to

de"elop such pro!ects was that most funding came from the federal go"ernment.

6oreo"er, high ridership forecasts led to a costly system, which brought in more

Seminar - I M.Tech Programme in Construction and Project Management !


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federal funding. The federal go"ernment also funded most of any financial o"erruns.

&n the 2D, the method of obtaining central go"ernment funding is in respect of non%

user benefits, including congestion relief, de"elopment impacts, reduced accidents

and reduced pollution. 3e"eral of the 2D transit pro!ects funded under this regime

are performing poorly8 ridership has failed to match expectations, and the estimated

non%user benefits are unli$ely to ha"e been achie"ed. 6anchester 6etrolin$ is a

notable success story by comparison.

Technical !actors 1 we consider demand forecasting and cost estimation

separately8

Ahme'aba' ( case stu'y:

The city of Ahmedabad, largest among all cities of :u!arat state, accommodating

about * million people, has a registered "ehicular strength of '.5 6illion. The rate of

growth of "ehicles has been about C to '(E per annum. ublic transport situation

has deteriorated rapidly o"er the past decade. The end result is "isible in terms of

increasing congestion on the city streets and the worsening of air quality.

7ecognizing these problems areas, the 3tate and the 0ity go"ernments ha"e

initiated a series of measures to impro"e urban transport situation in Ahmedabad.

The "arious proposals for the Ahmedabad citys urban transport -67T/ facilities are

as follows in their chronological order8

'. &ntegrated ublic Transit 3ystem pro!ect by :&


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IThe present initiative to develop BRTS is in recognition of the fact that no singlemode will completely serve the mobility needs of the city, and the bus system,both in its basic form and rapid transit form, makes it a critical and majorcomponent in an integrated transit system of any mega city

These efforts recei"e further fillip due to the fact that the state go"ernment hasdeclared year )((* as an 2rban


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The $ity ) &rowth pattern

The city of Ahmedabad was founded in '5'' A< as a walled city on the eastern ban$

of the ri"er 3abarmati, now the se"enth largest metropolis in &ndia and the largest inthe state. The urban agglomeration -2A/ population has increased from G.G' 6illionin 'CC' to 5.* 6illion in )(('. Ahmedabad is the commercial capital of the state.Dnown as the textile capital of &ndia, it is also a ma!or industrial and financial citycontributing about '5E of the total in"estments in all stoc$ exchanges in &ndia andH(E of the total producti"ity of the state.

7eena Lazar, Increasin !esources to Local "overnment in Ahmeda#ad, India$ Local %trateies forAcceleratin %ustaina#ility& Case %tudies of Local "overnment %uccess$ ICLEI %tudy, Canada, 'ay ())(



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#mployment Distribution

The ma!or employment zones in the study area are primarily located in the industrialbelts of =aroda, ?dha" and at"a. ?ld city continues to be a ma!or trading area.

0.:. road and Ashram road ha"e emerged as important commercial hubs in the city.=ow 3: highway and 'G)ft ring road ha"e started showing similar de"elopmenttrends.

Summary

The Ahmedabad 2rban Agglomeration has a population of 5* la$hs -)(('/of which +9 percent of the population is residing within the municipal area.

Ahmedabad has been the primate city of :u!arat, being the largest in terms of thepopulation size. &t presently holds )G percent of states urban population and holding

sixth position in the entire country in terms of population size -)(('/.

The city continues to be relati"ely compact. 3ome industrial acti"ity has spilled o"erto the periphery. 0ontaining sprawl tendency is a necessity. Transit orientedde"elopment needs exploration. 0entral and eastern zones ha"e lost employmentopportunities. ;ocus on these areas would be an additional contribution.



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&t is important to note here that the entire cost required to de"elop such B7T systemis not only for B7T system as such but also to enhance o"erall mobility on thecorridor. The support measures and mechanism discussed so far is primarily aninitial thought. A detailed financial "iability of the pro!ect based on the capital cost,operation F maintenance cost and re"enue through fare box and other means needsto be done in the next step.

Seminar - I M.Tech Programme in Construction and Project Management 1!


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LRTS % ;&=A=0&AL >AL2AT&?= F ;&=A=0&AL A=AL@3&3

;inancial analysis is done based on the passenger traffic forecast for 773 trains.The ;inancial internal rate of return is wor$ed out on the basis of total pro!ect costs

and generation of re"enues.

The costs stream includes8i/ Total pro!ect costii/ @ear%wise additional capital cost required to, cater the incremental trafficiii/ ? F 6 cost of 773 system.

The re"enue stream includes8i/ ;are Box re"enueii/ 7e"enue from other sources e.g.a/ Ad"ertisement

b/ ar$ing rightsc/ roperty de"elopment etc.

&n absence of any data for other re"enue, * E of re"enue from ;are Box collection isassumed in this case.

#$O%OMI$ #*AL+ATIO% ( #conomic Analysis

The economic analysis of the pro!ect is done for both the corridors together asthe traffic demand is wor$ed out for the system as a whole. The analysis iscarried out on the basis of benefits accrued due to the pro!ect by computing the

scenario Iwith pro!ectM and Iwithout pro!ectM.

R#$OMM#%DATIO%S

i/ ;ormation of 3 to be done on priority, so that the pro!ect can be startedimmediately.ii/ Land acquisition has to be gi"en top most priority so that no delay is therein the execution of the pro!ect.iii/ 3ome staff quarters and railway offices falling on the 773 alignment are gettingaffected.riority is to be gi"en for construction of alternati"e accommodation for rehabilitation.

i"/ 3ince construction of ma!or bridges li$e 3abarmati Bridge, Dhari 7i"er would ta$elong time, top most priority has to be gi"en in deciding the design and awarding thecontract for the same."/


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Implementation strate,y an' !inancin, lan

;or the purpose of implementation of pro!ect, it is proposed to form special purposes"ehicles -3/ comprising representati"es from 6inistry of 7ailways -6?7/ and:o"ernment of :u!rat -:?:/. 7ecommended ro!ect financing is on the basis ofdebt8 equity ratio of '8 '.

Documents

Mass rapid transit system