Parisar recently completed an outreach project in Pimpri Chinchwad to bring about more awareness about the Bus Rapid Transit system which will be introduced in Pimpri Chinchwad shortly. Pimpri Chinchwad is a part of the Pune metropolitan region, but functions under an autonomous municipal corporation.
Pimpri Chinchwad has a unique pattern of its own, largely an industrial area, evolving into a residential city. On account of it being in its earlier stages of residential development, it has much more scope to introduce new concepts of sustainable transport in the city with much less inhibition than its counterpart, Pune. Introducing the Bus Rapid Transit system in Pimpri Chinchwad runs on the lines of the same principle, to promote growth and sustainable transport at the same time.
The Pune chapter of BRT has been marred by lack of planning, public outreach and acceptability. Though there are some basic differences between Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, in terms of population, nature of roads and existing transport system, without the citizen's support no system can work in isolation. The BRT Outreach Project was thus an effort to explain the different elements of BRT and how it can improve the bus service in a city, and how citizens can contribute to improving the system further.
Parisar designed the project to include meetings with different groups of citizens like students, senior citizens, workers and attempted to explain the basic concept of BRT through the medium of presentations, discussions, films and posters. For this project, Parisar ventured into new methods of creating awareness like the making of a film, 'BRT- Getting People on Board' and the mobile BRT exhibition.The project also enriched Parisar's understanding of the concerns and priorities of different groups of citizens. A detailed account of the whole project can be found here.