Valley public transport routes to get much-needed makeover

KATHMANDU, JUL 26 -
With Kathmandu’s population ever growing and amid rapid and haphazard urbanisation , the government has made plans to restructure public transport routes in the Valley by replacing the old system with new routes and additional

terminals.

According to a plan that is likely to be completed within the next fiscal year, a structured system will be set up by segregating the roads into three corridors—primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary corridors will be ones that have a ‘high demand’ with over 100,000 passengers using them in a day.

The secondary ones will be routes with 50,000-100,000 passengers and the tertiary corridors will be those that have a low volume of passengers where small vehicles with up to 25 seats ply.

The primary corridors will have spaces for people to walk and cycle, while the secondary ones will operate on a ‘mixed traffic’ system.

The proposed network will have eight primary routes, covering 131 km, while there will be 16 routes in the secondary corridor, covering 174 km, and 40 routes covering 264 km in the tertiary corridor.

The primary corridors will be facilitated by nine different route-end terminals in New Buspark, Narayan Gopal Chowk, Jorpati, Suryabinayak, Satdobato, Ekantakuna, Kalanki and Naikap to ease traffic flow and divert vehicles to adjacent directions without reaching the existing bus parks.

A new inter-city terminal will be developed at Koteshwor, while the routes will have inter-change stations and assigned bus stops in between these terminals.

While the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will be extending financial support of $30.4 million for the project, the physical resources will be managed by the government.

The planning and management aspects of public transportation will be handled by the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), while the services will be provided by private sector entrepreneurs.

“The project will be implemented in association with the government, stakeholders and entrepreneurs.

Users will also be on our priority,” said David Ingham, the public transport specialist of Project Management and Capacity Building Consultants that is working on the project under the Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project (KSUTP). He was on Thursday speaking at a discussion programme with stakeholders.

The project will also include other areas like improving traffic management, upgrading the footpaths and monitoring air pollution. “This project will develop Kathmandu Valley as a metropolis, and give passengers an effective public transportation system,” Secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Tulasi Prasad Sitaula said. “Plans are afoot to form a high-level commission to involve all stakeholders in making this project a success,” he said.

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