The problem of pollution, safety and inefficiency have reached at a alarming level in most of the major cities in of Jammu and Kashmir due to growth of its population -both of people and motor vehicles, combined with inefficient public transport system and poor enforcement of environmental laws etc. Improved performance of urban bus service could essentially contribute to improve environment in the cities of the State by shifting mobility from private mode of transport towards more efficient environmental friendly and safe travel modes.
Buses can operate over existing roadway facilities with minimum constructing cost, offer services as much lower cost per passenger. Furthermore, buses provide the greatest flexibility in service routes to meet the current transport demand etc. However, improvement in urban bus system is not an easy task. The difficulty in doing this isdue to the fact that urban bus systems are affected by socio-economic, financial, environmental, and political factors along with technological factors and physical problemsPerformance of a bus system is affected by severalcriteria, such as increased in the number of buses, number of bus stops, and number of passengers, and changesalong roadways and in land uses.
Issues for Performance Improvement of Urban Bus System:
Environmental Issues-Detrimental Effects of Urban Bus System on City Environment.
Operational Issues-Inefficient Operation of Urban Bus System.
Overcrowding due to inadequate system.
Inefficient & uneconomic bus routes.
Irrational location of bus stop.
Frequency of service & schedule is not strictly adhered.
Inefficient design ofbuses.
Traffic congestion, frequent stopping & starting needs more fuel consumption, wear &tear ofvehicle.
Higher fleet strength of buses.
Higher overall operational cost.
Public transport system is less attractive mainly due to unsafe and inconvenient vehicles.
Bus systems in cities of Jammu and Kashmir have not been able to keep pace with the rapid and substantial increases in demand over the past. Greater congestion and delays are widespread in major cities and indicate the seriousness of transport problems. Overcrowding in the public transport system is more pronounced in large cities where buses, which are designed to carry 40 to 50 passengers generally, carry double the capacity during peak hours. As a result, there is a massive shift to personalized transport, especially two-wheelers, and proliferation of various types of intermediate public transport modes Necessary improvement in vehicle design and maintenance needs to be carried out to reduce the pollutants at the source, which is the exhaust, the evaporation losses, and crank case losses. Advanced, energy efficient and innovative vehicles i.e. hybrid electric vehicle etc. needs to be introduced for developing environment friendly public transport system.
Large numbers of inefficient, polluting, noisy and uncomfortable vehicles make public transportation unattractive. Thus, there is a need to harmonize public transport vehicles with environmental standards. Some steps to ensure that these vehicles operate more efficiently and cleanly include:
Phasing out of older vehicles and increases in number of new vehicles.
A relatively high annual motor vehicle tax, which may be increasing with the age of vehicle.
Congestion pricing, parking fees, fuel taxes, and other measures could be used to restrain the use of Polluting Vehicles and fuels.
Reduce petroleum consumption by promoting smarter driving practices, idle reduction, and the use of more fuel-efficient vehicles and advanced technologies.
Eliminate petroleum use by encouraging the use of mass transit, trip elimination measures, and other congestion mitigation approaches.
Institution of parking restraint to promote public transport.
Congestion has long been recognized as an environmental problem. Other than causing delay, it causes noise andfumes and increases health risks of road users and residents. It is normally considered that safety, environment,economic developments are degraded by increasing levels of roadway congestion. Efforts required to reduce congestion are as:
Staggering work hours, to reduce peak hour traffic.
Restraining traffic through road pricing.
By constructing bypasses and ring roads to reduce traffic in mid town.
Construction of expressways and grade separated intersections (flyovers).
Introduction of one way streets and
Introduction of synchronized signals and area traffic control systems.
Construction of metro rail transport system to reduce congestion on city roads and augment the current
public transport, which is a primarily bus.
Some of the strategies identified for improvement in performance of public transport system are identified as:
The transport sector is the major contributor to air pollution in urban areas. Public transport could essentially contribute to improve environment in the state cities by shifting mobility from private mode of transport towards more efficient and environmental friendly travel modes. Policy should be designed in such a way as to reduce the need to travel by personalized modes and boost the public transport system Thus, there is a urgent need to improve existing urban public transport systems to be more environment friendly and efficient in terms of their travel speed, reliability and quality. Identifying the following environmental management measures to promote the adoption of clean and efficient technologies in the urban bus system:
To promote alternative clean fuels in the public transport vehicles.
Improving the vehicle design and maintenance.
Restraining the Use of Polluting Vehicles and Fuels.
Reducing congestion.
Patronage of public transport system.
Reducing noise level of public transport vehicles.

M.Tech. Transportation Engineeering student of LPU Jalandhar

Email: amanuk653@gmail.com