Aroor-Vyttila NH 66 Bypass, MG Road-Thoppumpady and Edappally-N. Paravur corridors link city with suburban towns
Aroor-Vyttila NH 66 Bypass, MG Road-Thoppumpady and Edappally-N. Paravur corridors link city with suburban towns
The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) has recommended dedicated busways in Aroor-Vyttila NH 66 Bypass, MG Road-Thoppumpady and Edappally-N. Paravur corridors that link the city with suburban towns, in a revised traffic report readied in 2021.
Radial routes
These radial routes that connect mostly residential and work centres have been proposed to complement and supplement public transport through ring routes and link routes.
Dedicated busways can be hewed out based on, among other aspects, passenger demand and road network characteristics. High-capacity buses, including articulated ones can operate in these radial routes, official sources said.
Elaborating on the potential of Aroor-Vyttila corridor to have a dedicated busway, the NATPAC report sheds light on the radial route as an arterial inter-district corridor that connects the southern and northern parts of Kerala.
Ideal stretches
“With more than 100 buses plying in the corridor during peak hours in both directions, it is an ideal stretch for providing a dedicated busway. The Edappally-N. Paravur stretch too is an inter-district arterial corridor in the State that needs dedicated busways, since there is a peak-hour demand of 59 buses in both directions,” the sources said.
The recommendation of a dedicated way for buses in the MG Road (from Maharaja’s College Metro Station) to Thoppumpady via Thevara has been substantiated by reference to it being an intra-city corridor that connects mainland Kochi and densely populated West Kochi. The peak-hour demand for buses ranges between 113 and 206 in both directions in this stretch.
The NATPAC’s traffic report further refers to mass transport corridors such as MG Road, Shanmugham Road, Banerji Road, Civil Line (Palarivattom-Kakkanad) Road, SA Road, and High Court-Vypeen Road where public transport buses can lessen the number of private vehicles, thus decongesting the city.
