NEW DELHI: Specialised road markings to segregate the bus carriageway from other modes of transport and proper enforcement of lane driving on a 4.5km road stretch in West Delhi led to an increase in bus commute speed by 17%-23% and reduced the travel time accordingly, the Delhi government said in a statement on Thursday.
The cases of lane infringement by other modes of transport also decreased by 54%, it further stated.
The Delhi government's transport department implemented a pilot project of improved road marking to global standards for bus lanes in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology-Delhi on the stretch maintained by public works department between Raja Garden and Britannia Chowk to facilitate movement of non-motorised transport and pedestrians, along with buses and other motorised transport.
Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the charge of PWD, and transport minister Kailash Gahlot held a review meeting on Thursday to know the outcomes of this pilot project. "The pilot was successful and the outcomes were excellent. Based on experiences gained from this pilot project, the government will now ensure lane driving and road marking on all roads of Delhi," Sisodia said after the meeting.
He said the Kejriwal government was doing its best to provide safer roads and pleasant travel experience to all the commuters in Delhi and added that it was important that the motorists too follow the lane driving.
The transport department is separately running an enforcement drive to make bus drivers follow the lane discipline. It is also taking action against all kinds of encroachments in bus lanes. Till July 15, the department issued a total of 51,812 challans for various categories of bus lane violation, which included 1,810 challans to bus drivers for bus lane violation and 50,002 challans to private vehicles owners for parking in bus lanes.
