PMC removes 2 km stretch of BRTS on Pune Solapur road to ease traffic congestion 

The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has removed a 2-km stretch of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) from Swargate to Hadapsar. This decision aims to ease traffic congestion and prevent accidents on the stretch.

Last year, the PMC discontinued a 3.6 km BRTS stretch on Ahmednagar (Nagar) Road. The recent removal from Swargate to Hadapsar follows similar motives. Commuters have responded positively, noting that the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) buses caused significant traffic issues due to the BRTS lanes. With the BRTS lanes removed, traffic flow is expected to improve.

The Katraj-Swargate-Hadapsar route was launched as a pilot BRTS project in 2007, covering 11.5 km. While the PMC successfully revamped the Katraj to Swargate corridor, the Swargate to Hadapsar section never became a dedicated BRTS lane due to defense establishments along the route.

According to Sudhir Chavan, PMC Engineer, ” Several meetings were held with PMPML, Traffic Police and RTO and then we came to the conclusion to shift it. It was noticed that around 4 to 5 metres of area was getting covered due to the bus stop which was causing traffic congestion and as the bus stand was in middle of the road people had to cross the road which also used to cause several accidents. Therefore, for the commuters convenience and with the aim to reduce traffic we made this decision which is now causing ease amongst commuters.”

Joyville