Cabinet clears 43 Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System corridors

New Delhi, Apr 3 (UNI) With the 2010 Commonwealth Games in mind, Delhi cabinet today gave green signal for setting up 43 corridors with 575 km route length of Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System for public transport in the capital.

The cabinet, in a meeting presided over by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, also gave its nod to a parking policy to be implemented by the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council and Delhi Police.

The policy was in accordance with the report of the Environment Protection and Control Authority (EPCA).

The Cabinet had considered a Study Report submitted by RITES for development of this system.

The study was commissioned by Delhi government in June 2005 in order to identify all such corridors where public transport demand during peak hours exceeds 5,000 passengers per hour in each direction.

It was part of the action plan to increase the public transport ratio from the current 60 per cent to above 75-80 per cent.

The study recommended an additional 132 km route length where metro needed to be constructed in phase III and IV. This was in addition to the 120 km Metro network that would be constructed in phases I and II.

For the remaining corridors, the RITES study had recommended construction of 294 km of dedicated bus lanes through Bus Rapid Transit Systems, commonly known as the High Capacity Bus System or HCBS.

In other areas where adequate road width was not available, or the projected demand was more than what Bus Systems could carry, the study recommended considering Light Rail Transit (LRT) or Monorails.

An important recommendation contained in the study related to establishment of interchange points where the passengers could conveniently change over from one mode to the other.

The implementation of the entire project was proposed to be undertaken in three phases, first phase of which would be completed before the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

In addition to the existing plans of HCBS corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to Delhi Gate and Phase II of Metro, a number of corridors would be completed and made operational in the first phase itself.

The Delhi Cabinet gave its in-principle approval to the recommendations contained in the RITES study and issued instruction to the Transport Department to pursue the conduct of detailed feasibility studies in a time-bound manner.

The execution of these projects would be done by the newly-created Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) by the name Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit Systems (DIMTS).

Meanwhile, the Government had given final shape to the parking policy after comprehensive consultations with concerned agencies like DDA, MCD, NDMC and government departments involved in framing of parking policy in the city.

UNI IP PV RS1750