Para concluir, Darío Hidalgo, del Centro de Transporte Sustentable del World Resources Institute (EMBARQ), señaló que este convenio arranca de una manera que no lo habían experimentando en otras ciudades, al calificar como un hecho muy importante, que en esta reunión se encontrarán diferentes niveles de Gobierno, incluyendo al Congreso de la Unión, del Estado, así como también empresarios

Experts in favour of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) want to convince political leaders heading government agencies to back the project.

While other cities in India are planning new Metro systems to address their transport woes, Ahmedabad has thrown its weight behind Bus Rapid Transit instead. And given the may advantages this enjoys over rail - cost, potential, flexibility - it may prove to be the wiser choice, writes Madhav Pai.

Madhav Pai, a technical engineer who is co-ordinating the event said the workshop will present a perspective of Janmarg BRTS before the participants so that issues and challenges in implementing such systems can be understood. "The workshop would basically focus on capacity building for participant cities.

A systems approach, which combines infrastructure, vehicles, operations, technologies and user education, has created a seamless implementation process for Ahmedabad's Janmarg, write Madhav Pai and Abhijit Lokre.

"I have no doubts that the ridership will emerge to make everything pay," said Lee Schipper, a transportation expert at the University of California, Berkeley. "Particularly if problems maintaining or expanding the nation's highways and airports drive up the costs of using roads or air."

"We had a strong case for joining forces in the interest of reducing congestion, pollution and time delays due to poorly managed urban space," said Nancy Kete, director of EMBARQ, the World Resources Institute Center for Sustainable Transport.

Senior transport engineer, Embarq, the WRI Center for Sustainable Transport, Dario Hidalgo said that city’s Janmarg is a successful model for other Indian cities to follow.

Discussing a smart transportation approach to solving the congestion and traffic problems in Mexico City, Adriana Lobo, director of Mexico’s Center for Sustainable Transport, says the solution is much less about hard infrastructure changes and more about software that can boost awareness and give people the information they need to make intelligent choices.

The experts are fuming over the fact that the project is being handed over to the BMC, which is seen as lacking the technical expertise that the MMRDA possesses. “There has been study after study on the BRTS project but no action,” said Dario Hidalgo, who was involved in designing the acclaimed Bogota BRTS in Colombia.