Saturday, December 09, 2006

My First BRTS Ride!



I took my first BRTS ride today - from Sahakarnagar to Katraj, and then back. It was an awesome experience!


Very beautiful buses, polite crew, smart tickets (from a punch-on-the-spot machine - like a credit card verification machine), air-conditioned, music, tinted windows, split level flooring (the rear half is raised to make space for the engine and the AC - the front half is very low for easy entry), comfortable seats, high frequency (every 3-4 mins) and most importantly, extremely cheap - the 4 km ride cost just 5 rupees! And remember, for most part, these run on dedicated, high-speed lanes reserved from them - you get this childish pleasure in waving out to other poor, hapless souls stuck in the slow moving lanes :)


It will be so cool to have these running over the city - even if they do not get dedicated lanes all the way! And add the skybuses - and commuting in Pune will be a truly a different experience altogether!


Yes, we have our problems, but our system, our economy, our democratic institutions, our judiciary, our press - it works, and I must say, for a country of our diversity and our size, it works extremely well. How many of us are actually proud of what we have?

1 comment:

Harsha Kumar said...

Tried the BRTS myself.. Awesome - Does not even begin to describe the experience. I'm sure that none of the people in the bus with me ever imagined that someday they'll get to travel in an A/C "luxury bus" on a bright Sunny day at practically no cost... Common Man's dream come true :)
Yup, if they come up with such buses around the city and might I suggest - the route from "Kondwa to Null Stop ;), I'll give up Neeloo(sweet little car of mine)..

I like to think of India as the "finishing school" for the rest of the world! Anyone and everyone should learn to rise against all odds! And there's no better place to learn that!