BAGNALORE: According to sources in BMTC and the Traffic Police, the much awaited Bus Priority System (BPS) will go online around February 15. The project will be implemented on the stretch between Kempegowda Bus Terminus and ASC College in Domlur, which is roughly 12 kms.
In the pipleline for a long time now, the original BPS project was scheduled to be implemented from KBS to ITPL. BMTC MD K R Sreenivas had earlier stated that the project was under discussion by authorities from the BBMP, BMTC and BTP.
The brainchild of the Centre for Infrastructure, Sustainable Transportation and Urban Planning (CISTUP), the project has been supported by the online civic group Praja.in and is seen as an alternative to the larger option of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) which is expected to be a `500 crore project.
The current phase of the project will run only till the ASC college contrary to the earlier plan of reaching all the way to ITPL and the remaining sections are expected to be covered in the next phase according to BMTC officials. The BPS will see a section of approximately 15 ft marked out exclusively for buses, ambulances and emergency vehicles and other vehicles will have to make way for these vehicles while using the Priority Lane. The main success of the project, however, lies with the traffic police as they will be responsible for ensuring that commuters make way for the buses. “These cameras will monitor traffic junctions and a distance of 100 meters beyond. We will also have to handle the synchronization of signals,” said an official from the Traffic Management Centre.