Buses & goods carriage vehicles will be assigned lanes on at least fifteen road stretches in Delhi, & drivers breaking the lane discipline will be fined ₹10,000, the Govt of Delhi said on Wednesday.
Kailash Gahlot, Delhi Transport Minister said dedicated bus lanes will be marked like the ones demarcated during the Commonwealth Games 2010, & an intensive enforcement drive will be carried to ensure adherence to lane driving by bus & goods vehicles drivers.
The Minister said, “Safety of citizens on Delhi roads is of paramount importance to us. By assigning dedicated lanes to buses & enforcement of the safety measures, we are further committing to make Delhi roads safe for our citizens, motorists, non-motorised transport & pedestrians. It would also help reduce traffic congestion. I also urge the bus commuters to wait only at the bus stops/ bus queue shelters & not step onto the bus box which is marked on the roads. This will help us ensure maximum compliance. We hope to receive maximum cooperation from the citizens for the initiative".
Transport commissioner Ashish Kundra explained that initially cars & two-wheelers found using the bus lane will not be prosecuted. “In the first phase, our intention is to bring discipline among our own fleet of buses & our drivers, apart from those driving good vehicles. Once they are disciplined, then we will move to private vehicles,” he said. However, if light vehicles were found parked on the bus lane, they will be towed away & the owner will have to pay the towing charge, he said.
Kundra added that “Public bus operators -- Delhi Transport Corporation & DIMTS, which runs cluster buses -- have been directed to sensitise their drivers to strictly follow the earmarked bus lanes only to avoid challan prosecution".
The transport department, in consultation with Delhi Traffic Police & other stakeholders, has identified 46 major corridors where dedicated bus lanes will be marked on the roads. In the first phase, the drive will be conducted on 15 identified corridors including stretches such as Ashram Chowk to Badarpur Border, ISBT Kashmere Gate to Sarai Kale Khan, Aurobindo Marg to Andheria Mod, Britannia Chowk to Dhaula Kuan, ITO to Dr. Ambedkar Nagar (Via BRT corridor), Nehru Place to Subroto Park (via Rao Tula Ram Bank), Gandhi Nagar to Noida Border among others, transport department officials said.
They said that the transport department will deploy two enforcement teams in two shifts. In addition, cranes will also be deployed for impounding & removal of vehicles which are found parked/obstructing the bus lanes. A video recording/photograph of vehicles found parked in bus lanes or the heavy & goods vehicles found plying outside bus lanes will be made as the evidence of violation.
As part of the drive, Public Works Department (PWD) has been directed to mark & properly identify the selected corridors by placing warning signage & boards at suitable places.
In later stages, no other vehicles will be allowed to ply in the bus lanes between 8am & 10pm. However, they may use the bus lane between 10pm & 8am, the officials said.
They added that “However, buses & goods vehicles will have to follow the lane at all times".
Currently, Delhi has a fleet of 7,001 public buses under the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) & DIMT. This is the highest number of buses the city has ever had. During CWG 2010, Delhi had about 6,000 buses after which the feet kept depleting & only from 2020, the numbers have been on a steady rise. Apart from public transport buses, Delhi in total has at least 10 million registered vehicles, the highest of all cities across India.
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