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Visakhapatnam, Sept. 24 The Union Government is encouraging the municipal corporations of several cities in the country to take up bus rapid transport systems by granting them funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), as it is an apt solution to providing cheap, quick public transport, according to Dr M. Ramachandran, the Secretary in the Union Ministry of Urban Development.

He was delivering the key-note address at the three-day seminar and workshop on BRTS, organised jointly by the Gayatri College of Engineering and the Indo-German Institute of Advanced Technology, here on Wednesday.

Dr Ramachandran said BRTS was under implementation in New Delhi and Pune on a pilot basis, and several other cities including Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh had submitted proposals to introduce the system.

“Vizag is taking up the BRTS in two corridors. BRTS has been implemented successfully in many Latin American countries and also China. We should draw lessons from them and not repeat their mistakes,” he said.

He said the Union Government’s urban transport policy laid stress on cheap, effective public transport.

Currrently, he said 11 cities have come forward to implement BRTS in select corridors, including Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam, and seven more (including Bangalore) may join in the near future.

Mr James Simpson, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, Washington DC, spoke about BRTS systems in US cities.

Prof. P. Srinivasa Rao, chairman of the organising committee, and Mr P. Janardhana Rao, the Mayor of Visakhapatnam, also addressed the gathering.

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