As a result, people have been facing a number of problems; poor traffic management, pedestrians´ increased vulnerability to accidents, air pollution, to name a few.
To address the problems linked to poor traffic management, the government has prepared more scientifically re-structured design of bus routes for the Valley.
Along with the route re-structuring, the government has planned to upgrade the existing public transport services to encourage more and more people to use public transportation. The move, the authorities hope, would keep many private vehicles off the road and help reduce traffic congestion.[break]
The other initiatives include, declaring core areas of the capital city vehicle-free zone and install air quality monitoring system to examine and minimize the air pollution.
With the financial assistance of US$ 22.8 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the government has started a project called Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project (KSUTP), which is currently engaged in studying various routes and preparing new designs.
Similarly, the government is planning to buy electric buses or low emission vehicles with the support of Global Environment Fund (GEF).
“The study team will submit its report within the next fiscal year and on the basis of the report the construction work will be carried out in the Kathmandu Valley,” said Tulasi Sitaula, secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT).
The project will be overseen by senior officers from different government agencies like MoPIT, Department of Road (DoR), Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment (MoSTE), Department of Transport Management (DoTM), among others. For monitoring and support, a team of consultants from different fields have been formed under a separate unit called Project Management and Capacity Building Consultant (PMCBC).
“We have completed the first phase of research on various routes,” said Saroj Raj Adhikari, director of DoTM. “We have also prepared new design for routes based on our study and field visits.”
Adhikari said that the routes have been divided into three corridors: primary, secondary and tertiary. The division of corridors were made keeping in mind movement of pedestrians and flow of vehicles.
The roads that are used by more than 100,000 people every day have been categorized under primary corridor.
And as per the plan, only heavy vehicles will be allowed on the route. The vehicles must be of 12 meter length or 18 meter articulated bus (like luxury tourist buses) to be eligible to ply on the primary corridor. Public transportation would get more priority on the route.
Altogether there would be eight primary routes covering 131 km inside the Kathmandu Valley, as per the plan. The proposed routes for the primary corridors are Koteshwar to Kalanki, Koteshwar to New Buspark, Narayan Gopal Chowk to Suryabinayak, Narayan Gopal Chowk to Satdobato, Jorpati to Naikap, Jorpati to Ekantakuna, among others.
Similarly, the roads which see the movement of 50,000 to 100,000 people every day are regarded as secondary corridor.
Only vehicles measuring 9 to 10 meter in length would be allowed on such roads. Sixteen routes have been identified for secondary corridor with a total distance of 174 km.
Likewise, the roads that are used by fewer than 50,000 people per day would fall under tertiary corridor. In these roads, only small vehicles, tempo, micro and minibuses with up to 25 seats would be allowed. As per the plan, there would be 40 routes under tertiary corridor covering 264 km.
“We have just proposed our designs for possible routes after one year of study and the government is likely to approve it,” says Dhurba Raj Regmi, deputy team leader of PMCBC. “We are still conducting researches for the other components of the project like better traffic management and ways to improve air quality.”
Initially, the government is likely to build two model routes under secondary and tertiary corridors to get people accustomed to re-structured routes of the Kathmandu Valley. The two routes have been identified as the road section between Balkhu and Gwarko and New Bus Park and Airport. Only electric buses will ply on the new routes.
“The two routes will give people an idea about our plans,” says Regmi. “People will be familiar with such routes and know the benefits as well. We hope to incorporate feedback from public as we move on to other routes.”
According to Regmi, along with the re-structuring the routes of the Kathmandu Valley, the KUSTP will also propose the government to construct two new bridges over the Bishnumati River along the Dallu and Teku road section. Similarly, more CCTV cameras would be installed in different part of the capital city, which will help in traffic management.
They will provide necessary equipment to the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) like motorbikes, breath analyzer, among other, for increasing their traffic management capability. Meanwhile, campaigns to increase awareness among road users and lessons on safe driving for drivers would be given continuity.
“Public awareness is the most important thing that seems to be missing,” shares Regmi.
Likewise, the project includes construction of 8 km of new walkways and renovation of another 15 km in the core areas of the capital city.
Similarly, seven existing air quality monitoring stations will be restored to working conditions. The MOSTE assured to choose a qualified contractor to operate and maintain the air quality monitoring stations in the coming years.
“Air quality monitoring system is very useful in helping to take decisions for controlling air pollution,” adds Regmi. “But today none of the systems are working. We need to restore them as soon as possible and hand it over to a contractor who can take care of them for long run.”
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