The Government of Gujarat had declared 2005 the ‘Year of Urban Development’ (Shaheri
Vikas Varsh). During this particular year, the urban development department undertook various initiatives to resolve urban issues such as traffic management, and the introduction and enhancement of a city transport system. The Gujarat Infrastructure Development Board
(GIDB), AMC and Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA) jointly drafted a comprehensive urban mobility plan keeping in mind the needs of Ahmedabad as a mega city, and included in it, the implementation of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) and the planning of the regional rail and metro for future years.
CEPT University was assigned the work of the preparing of a Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the implementation of the BRTS project in Ahmedabad. Meanwhile, the government of
India announced the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) for urban development and the AMC submitted its proposal to the government of India for the
BRTS project, which was the first of its kind in the country. As approved by the ministry of
Urban Transport Initiatives in India: Best Practices in PPP
22
National Institute of Urban Affairs urban development, the AMC is now implementing the BRTS project in a phased manner.
The BRTS project was approved in November 2006 and work on the project commenced in
2007. The urban mobility plan provides choices to the people in the case of their mobility, in terms of different modes such as the AMTS, BRTS and the suburban rail or metro, all of which complement each other.

2.3.2 Goals of the Project
The trans-vision of Ahmedabad captioned as ‘Accessible Ahmedabad’ is to redesign the city structure and transport systems towards greater accessibility, efficient mobility and lower carbon future’. Main objective of project is to:
• Reducing need for travel;
• Reducing the length of travel; and
• Reducing automobile dependence.
2.3.3 Strategy Used to Achieve the Desired Goals
Ahmedabad transport strategy is focused on moving people and not on vehicles. The Urban
Mobility strategy is based on the understanding that all people should be able to move around in Ahmedabad with comfort and efficiency. They must feel safe and secure. Travel must be
Urban Transport Initiatives in India: Best Practices in PPP
25
National Institute of Urban Affairs affordable. They must have choices for their mobility in terms of walking, bicycling, rickshaw, bus, BRT or any other form of transport depending on where they are going. To emphasize this, the system has been named as Janmarg, meaning peoples way.

2.3.5 Status of the Project
The system has been in operation for the past one year and carries about 90,000 passengers daily with deployment of 45 diesel buses (30 AC buses out of 45, 12 meter long, 900mm floor height), with commercial speeds greater than 24 Kms per hour.