Stephen Rees’s blog

Times of India

Sometimes I feel the need to find a different source of stories – and so far today not one comes from CanWestGlobal.

Delhi has been getting stick for its new BRT lines (form the Times of India among others) but

French transport minister Dominique Bussecreau, who on Wednesday told chief minister Sheila Dikshit that France too faced much opposition when the first BRT corridor came up in Paris. Pointing out that now “all was well” with the project, the French minister revealed that the corridor in Paris stretched over 44 kilometres.

…

He further offered possible funding assistance to undertake a detailed survey and study for commissioning of tramways in Delhi

…

initiatives being taken by the French government in curbing pollution. The initiatives included free cycle service, electrical cars and hybrid cars.

The point being of course that what is needed is not a one size fits all solution but appropriate technology for the needs of the service. Anyone who tells you that cablecars or aerial tramways will solve all our problems is a snake oil salesman. It is inevitable that many different modes are needed, but the one we currently rely on – a gasoline driven single occupant vehicle that takes up half of the road space needed for a 40 seater bus – is not going to be around for very much longer. And what we will have to concentrate on is

the need to integrate different modes of Public Transport.

That last comes from Delhi “chief minister Sheila Dikshit”. And she is right.