Legal Challenges for BRTS- Indore

30th September 2014

Sandeep SoniJoint Collector and Chief Executive Officer

Atal Indore City Transport Services Ltd.

About Indore

Tier-2 city in central IndiaFinancial capital ofMadhya Pradesh StatePopulation: 2.3 MillionRapidly growing urbanareaGrowing traffic congestionand pollutionGrowing road accidentfatalities

Traffic Situation in Indore.. Forecast

Imagine China, 2010

Increasing share of Private Vehicle Ownership

9.48.7 9.2

11.612.2

7.9

11.6

9

10.4

7.6

9.79.1

10.3

6.6

11.9

7.48.3 8.8

10.4

6.4 6.3

8.7

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

perc

enta

ge (%

)

Cities

Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of Registered Vehicles inMetropolitan Cities during 2002-2009

Source: ROAD TRANSPORT YEAR BOOK (2007 - 2009), Volume- I

City Bus Operations.BRTS ibus Operations.Intercity Operations.Intercity luxury services.Metro Taxi.Interstate OperationsTele-RickshawPublic Bicycle

AICTSL Operations

Objective of the project

Integrated multi modal public transport which is

Fast, Comfortable, Safe,Reliable, and AffordableEnvironment friendly

Indore BRT ‘ibus’Overview

An ISO 14001:2004 Certified BRT service

Project BasicsInitiated • 2007

Route Length • 11.46 km & 6 kmsfeeder

Road section • 31.6 / 60 metres

System type • Closed• Median stations

Stations • 21

Buses • 34

Type of bus • 12 m long with AC• 900 mm Floor• 245 hp, BS III engine

Completion • 31st March 2013

Operations • 10th May 2013

Ridership • 45,500 pax/day (avg)

BRTS Components: Responsibilities

Component Agency Responsible

Corridor IDA

Stations IMCITMS AICTSL

Traffic Signals AICTSL

Depot / Workshop IMC

Fleet AICTSL

Control Centre IDA

Enforcement Traffic Police / IMC

Permits RTO

Land acquisition and encroachment removal.

Hon’ble high court case.

National Green Tribunal order.

Legal challenges of SPV.

Other legal challenges

Different Legal challenges & implications

Land acquisition: It was very difficult to acquire landto widen the road.

Compensation.

Encroachment removal.

Resistance from the citizens.

Challenges faced during the construction period

List of encroachments

There was a resistance from all sections of the society.

There was also Hon’ble Court invention and due to this theystay and etc hurdles.

Shifting of religious structures: This was major challengeand was solved with the proper communication andpatience.

Encroachments: The encroachment is a major challengeand solved by making people aware of the developmentgoing to happen.

Road widening encroachment removal

Because of all these factors it was a challenge toacquire land and biggest constraint was fund.

Innovative approach was adopted.

Spoken to all the stakeholders and communicatedwith then for the project and city development.

As per the guide line FAR given to the Indorecitizens and land was acquired.

Solution and Result

Earlier the FAR was 1.5 and the benefit of 2.5 wasgiven to the land owner.

Land exchange technique was adopted and thisbecame very successful.

Negotiation was done with the land owners atvarious platforms.

At the end acquired Rs. 280 Crs value land free ofcost for this development.

Transforming Indore

Transforming Indore

Arts and Commerce College

iBus Station

Before

After

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Features

SegregatedMedian

Bus ways

Large BusesMultiple Wide

Doors

Stations with Prepayment and Level Boarding

Centralized Control

Distinctive Image

BRTS Corridor

iBus corridor

Spacious and safe stations

LEVEL BOARDING

Overtaking lanes for Express services

The following were the points raised by the petitioner.

Objection raised on the Gazette Notification.

Law of equality has not been adopted.

AICTSL has no legal right to operate the BRT.

Design is not as per the requirement.

The bus lane should be shifted to the side.

Issues in the petition in High court

The railing is not required.

No notification of no parking zone on A.B. Road BRT.

Encroachments are still pending.

No financial planning.

Lack of data analysis.

Plantation of more trees along the corridor.

Convincing the court that the administration is following therules and regulations.

Focus on the need of the BRTS with proper reasoning andfacts and figures.

Focusing on outreach activities through different means.(Face book, Presentation, media work, media tour,animation film, distributing brochures)

Proper and effective representation in the High Court.

Strategy of Indore Administration

Petition filed: 11th Jan 2013

HC directs Divisional Commissioner to investigate and holdpublic hearing: 30th Jan 2013

Public Hearing: 10th March 2013: A public hearing was madeby Divisional Commissioner & passed the order on 15th April2013

Chronology of the Hon’ble High Court Events

I sincerely believe that this project should be given a chanceto prove its worth or otherwise. A chance to embark on anew era of public transport, a chance to lead the way out ofcongestion, pollution and encroachments, an opportunity toshow case to the world that Indore can and Indore will.However, the onerous task of making it work lies on theshoulder of each one of us, as its citizens, as administrators,as jurists and as media personalities.

As the new day dawns I see hope, I see opportunity and Isee a vibrant and enthusiastic Indore true to its culture andcredentials rising upto the occasion and making BRTS work.

Final words of Divisional Commissioner report

HC order permitting BRTS trial runs and ordering report of dry run and trial run to be submitted by administration: 18th April

2013

Dry Run Launch

Reached out to various sections of the societyStudents, communities, professional groups etc.Assurance to people – project was workable and good forthe city

Trial run with invited groups

Free trial run (for common users)

Within four weeks the response was huge

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

1 2 3 4

WeekRidership (Average) Pax per day

Full passenger operations – 12th June 2013

Bus Ridership on AB Road Corridor

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

Daily

Pas

seng

er R

ider

ship

300% Increase in 4 months

HC order ordering constitution of committee for investigation into the project: 16th July 2013 with members from different field and expertise – IIT, IIM, Regional transport, legal

and society.

Continuation to the high court case…..

Hon’ble High Court Direction on four wheeler entry

Hon High Court vide its order dated 01.10.2013 took into consideration that the committee’s report was awaited but however as there was congestion of traffic pleaded by the petitioner,

therefore, the Hon Court held.

“After inspection on experimental basis as a temporarymeasure in the interest of public at large and also keeping inview the wastage of public time, fuel which is being animportant and prevention of population and also more than100 buses are plying city bus of responded no. 4 company,operation of notification of 17/04/2013 is hereby stayand respondent are directed to permit traffic the 4 –wheeler(only) on the BRTS route. Citizens of the citywhich travel on the route are requested to maintain thetraffic in lane and not to overtake on BRT route.”

In the facts and circumstances of the case following direction are being issued by

Hon’ble High Court

Ridership dropped down.

Congestions on both the lanes (MV and BRT lane).

Travel time increased.

Accidents due to the 4 – wheelers on the bus lane.

Traffic jam at the junctions.

Implications after 4-wheelers entry

Ridership declined

Outcomes…

Because of overtaking and over speeding many accidentstook place.

Indore Administration and AICTSL was filed application formodifying on 11/10/2013 for private 4-wheelers may bestopped from entering the iBus lane.

The Hon Court vide its order dated 21.10.2013 rejected theapplication with the liberty to file fresh application after thefiling of report by the Expert Committee & directed to imposepenalty those who are not following the order.

Accidents due to 4 – wheeler entry.

Near about 25 major accidents were took place dueto the over speeding and over taking of 4 –wheelers in side the bus lane.

More than 2,000 No. of challans were made beforethe High Court Committee report.

More enforcement was made to make sure thesafety of the ibus passengers.

Contingency plan was made.

More accidents and challans..

Enforcement on the BRTS.

Training to the staff to manage the operations.

Continuous Feedback system.

Response time of 2 to 3 mins.

Continuous monitoring on theCCTV Surveillance system.

AICTSL initiatives to overcome the issues

80% passengers use iBus thrice a week or more

Daily65%

More than 3 times / week

15%

Once a week8%

Once in 2 weeks

4%

Once a month3%

Less than once a month

5%

Out of passengers travelling on iBus thrice a week or more, 47% own private vehicles (car or 2-wheeler)

24% passengers shifted from private modes (cars and 2-wheelers)18% shifted from Tata Magic/Van

Cycle3% Scooter /

Motorcycle18%

Car6%

City Bus48%

Auto rickshaw6%

Tata magic / Van18%

Other1%

Mode shift Analysis

16% suggested route expansion22% suggested adding more buses and relieving congestion22% passengers expressed complete satisfaction, with no suggestions31% passengers suggested provision of other features such as passenger amenities, more plantation, longer running hours etc.

No suggestion22%

More buses13%

Pass applicability

9%Extension of

route16%

Less congestion9%

Other31%

Key themes from passenger suggestions

Exclusivity for iBus should be reinstated in the BRT lanes.

Safety: The safety of the citizens if of the highest priority in any project.

BRT Lane utilization.

Speed and delay:- On both the lanes committee observed delay.

Traffic congestion on both the lanes.

The Hon High Court Committee submitted its report on 30th December, 2013. As per

following recommendation and observation in BRTS

The committee reports says that the BRT existence is in the exclusiveness of the bus lane.

There is a need of safer, reliable and faster public transport system and BRTS is a solution to this issue.

More buses to be brought to make people shift the private vehicles.

Continuation of the committee’s report

Total 45 hearing were made but the final decision isawaited.

The last hearing was made on 19/09/2014.

The next tentative hearing date is 05/11/2014.

Continuation of the High Court petition

The same petitioner filed the PIL against the BRTSconstruction on April 2013.

Stop the use of diesel fuelled buses in the BRTS.

Replacement plantation of five times the treesdestroyed In BRTS Corridor.

Petitions in Honourable, National Green Tribunal, Central Zone Bench, Bhopal

Entire BRTS project to be reanalysed on thegrounds of pollution and for the sake of healthyenvironment of the city, till then the project may bestayed.

Indore administration planted more trees andtook Indore pubic campaign to increase thegreenery.In the end the case was disposed of saying toplant more trees and subsidised fuel availabilityfor Indore.

NGT continues

Near about 100 traffic wardens weredeployed but not having legalauthority.

Problems were faced on theoperations since they cant stopanyone because of no power.

The solution was made by DistrictMagistrate that to give thesewardens a level of special policeofficer.Some issues were solved by thetraining of these wardens by trafficpolice.

Legal enforcement issue

The issues were related to the notification.

AICTSL MoU was challenged in the High Court.

Petitioner raised the question that who will managethe

BRT.

It was challenged that how a SPV given a right tooperate the BRTS.

S.P.V. (AICTSL) legal issues

Administration decided to shift the IPT to otherroutes by which the feeder to the BRTS could bemade.

The union of IPT filed an application to the HighCourt.

The Hon’ble high court disposed the petition andgiven rights to Divisional Commissioner to shift asper the requirement.

Legal issues with the IPT unions and court case

With the focused efforts.Reliable operations.Strong leadership.Inter departmental coordinate efforts.Strong, controlled & corrective systems.Use of social media and outreach activities.Learning from the legal issues and there compliance.

BRTS started getting momentum from 200 passengers first day to 47,000 pax yesterday.

BUT….. Outstanding popularity to Indore ibus

More emphasis on the frequency of the buses.

Variable scheduling as per the demand that leads to theincrease in ridership every week.

With the proper focus on operations and safety there arelesser legal issues.

With all these efforts all are getting success and expanding.

AICTSL is increasing the operations in various other wings.

Current status

The graph showing the ridership increase

Intercity – interstate bus operations.

Metro taxi operations.

Tele – rickshaw.

More number of city buses.

Public bicycle operations.

Expansion of BRTS.

Operations

Indore Intelligent Infrastructure under GEF Project

Arterial Management• Advanced Signal Systems

• Transit Signal Priority

• Emergency Vehicle Preemption

• Bicycles & Pedestrians

Transit Management•Fleet Management (AVL/CAD)

• Passenger Information System

Electronic Payment & Pricing•Advanced Fare Collection System

Traveler Information•Variable Message Signs

Incident Management•Video Surveillance & Detection

•Traffic Management Center for Information Dissemination

Emergency Management•Emergency Traveler Information System

INDORE INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURE

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