Driving a Bus in India: A Study of Indore Bus Rapid Transport System

Indore is a typical tier-2 town in the central province of India, fast becoming a regional commercial hub in an economically booming state. The city has a population of over 2 million with no significant public transport. Among the multiple options available, the city started implementing a dedicated corridor based Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS). The project was jointly mooted by the central, state, and city authorities. However, the system encountered a range of problems, including conflicts and pulls between multiple implementing agencies, delays in delivery of hardware and constructions, land acquisition and compensation, vested interests, public interest litigations, and court orders. The paper analyses the BRTS, introduced in Indore in the midst of 2013, from multiple party perspectives with an underlying search for public policy and public management insights. The broad results indicate feasibility and desirability of the project; however, real problems emerge in public and public perception management.