APSRTC is ready to fully operationalise services on the BRTS corridors under the special purpose vehicle (SPV) if the bottlenecks are cleared and the entire stretch is handed over to it.
The nearly one-and-a-half-year trial on 22 km of BRTS corridors has shown results with improved parameters.
Early this year, top RTC officials stated that for the previous six months the average number of passengers carried per day had increased from 1.35 lakh to 1.41 lakh. Besides, fuel efficiency had increased from 5.1 KMPL to 5.92 KMPL, overall punctuality had improved from 86 per cent to 95 per cent and occupancy ratio by 3 per cent.
However, for fully operationalising services on the Simhachalam and Pendurti corridors there are bottlenecks.
“We are ready to run 55 buses exclusively on the corridors under SPV and additional buses beyond the corridors if the bottlenecks are cleared,” says RTC Deputy Chief Traffic Manager (Urban) of Visakhapatnam A. Veeraiah Chowdary.
On the Simhachalam and Pendurti corridors, certain stretches are still to be handed over. Particularly Kancharapalem and Baji Junction on the Pendurti corridor and Gosala to Simhachalam on the Simhachalam corridor the bottlenecks are to be cleared, he says. The stretch between Gosala and Simhachalam has been hanging fire owing to land acquisition problems. RTC is running buses beyond the corridors up to Kottavalasa and Chodavaram but on the service roads where the work has to be completed, he says.
Total cost Pendurti-Dwarakanagar corridor via NAD Junction runs for 23.24 km and the Simhachalam corridor runs from Pendurti to Dwarakanagar via Simhachalam, Adavivaram covering 20.12 km. Sources in GVMC say so far 32 km of work on both the corridor has been completed. The total cost including flyover at Asilmetta is estimated at Rs.454.73 crore.
