Chennai to Introduce Bus Priority Lanes for Enhanced Traffic Flow and Faster Commuting

Chennai is gearing up to introduce bus priority lanes on several key routes in the city, aimed at improving traffic management and facilitating faster transportation. Officials from the State government have initiated a study to identify suitable routes for the implementation of this initiative, including the Chennai Central-Tambaram and Koyambedu-Guindy corridors.

These bus priority lanes will be introduced on various roads maintained by the Highways Department and significant bus route roads of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). To facilitate this, the GCC and traffic police have already started creating additional bays near bus stops to prevent buses from obstructing regular traffic flow.

The introduction of bus priority measures is expected to be a phased process, beginning with recessed bus bays at each bus stop, followed by the reservation of a curb lane for buses and high-occupancy vehicles (HOV), and culminating in bus signal priority and elevated bus lanes at road junctions, ultimately creating a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for the city.