POTENTIAL OF PERSONAL RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM TO MEET THE URBAN TRANSPORT DEFICIT

Abstract

There is a rapid increase in the use of personal modes of transport over public transport. In spite of tremendous efforts to promote public transport by the authorities; the personal mode users still prefer their own vehicles for transportation. The personal mode users resist the public transport for various reasons like comfort, waiting time, sense of privacy and access-egress trips. This study focuses on the access-egress trips and how Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) can be used to meet this deficit in the urban transportation system. PRT is an efficient rapid transit system which provides the last mile connectivity to the users with high level of reliability and comfort. It is a demand responsive system that ensures uninterrupted point to point journey between origin and destination. Dwarka, New Delhi, in India has been taken as the case study area to study how a PRT system effects the accessibility of public transport in an area. Primary and secondary data has been collected to understand the characteristics of the existing mass rapid transit system (Delhi Metro) and city bus services (DTC) in Dwarka. A PRT network of 18 km has been proposed in Dwarka which forms loops around the existing MRTS line and passes through the neighboring residential, commercial and institutional areas. Further, the impact of introducing this network on the accessibility levels in the area have been studied. The Public Transport Accessibility Level (PTAL) methodology developed by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham has been adopted for calculation of Accessibility Index.