Public Transport Restructuring

Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project (KSUTP)
Project Management and Gapacity Building Consultants (PMCBC)
ffihsMEc inassociationwith ffi K$r-r"',.*.-,- ffi

Ref: PMC BC/P rojecU5064027 1208
March 05,2014
To
Mr. Sharad Kumar Shrestha

Project Director,
Project Management and Coordination Office
Kathmandu, Nepal
Subject. Report on Public Transport Restructurinq
Dear Sir,
We are pleased to submit 8 copies of the Public Transport Restructuring report (including 2 soft
copies) prepared by PMCBC under the project KSUTP.
We look fonryard to your cooperation as usual.
Sincerely yours
David lngham
lnterim Team Leader
Project Management and Capacity Building Consultant (PMCBC)
Enclosure: B copies of Public Transport Restructuring Report (including 2 soft copies)
CC: l.Office file
Address: 1/7 Kupondole hight Lalitpur, Kathmandu, Nepal Phone: 977 1 5524077
Government of Nepal
Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MPIT)
Project Management and Coordination Office
ADB Loan/Grant: 2656/0212-NEP (SF)
Public Transport Restructuring
SMEC International Pty, Ltd. Australia

In Association with
Brisbane City Enterprise Pty., Australia
Transportation Planning (International) Ltd., UK
GEOCE Consultants (P) Ltd., Nepal
February 2014
DOCUMENT IDENTIFICATION
Project Name: Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Study
ADB Grant No. 0212-NEP (SF); G0239-NEP (GF);

ADB Loan No. 2656-NEP (SF)
Report Name: Public Transport Restructuring
Report Date: February 2014
Report for: Submission to client
PREPARATION, REVIEW AND AUTHORISATION
Revision # Date Prepared by Reviewed by Approved for Issue by
1st Draft July 2013 David Ingham,

contributions by Iswhar
Shrestha & Madhab Raj
Ghimire
Draft Final Aug 2013 David Ingham
Final Feb 2014 David Ingham Sharad Shrestha, Project

Director, KSUTP PMCO
ISSUE REGISTER
Distribution List Date Issued Number of Copies
PMCO 28 February 2014 8
SMEC Project File: 1 soft copy
SMEC COMPANY DETAILS
SMEC International Pty Ltd

Level 6 76 Berry Street, North Sydney NSW 2060 Australia
T +61 2 9925 5555|F +61 2 9925 5566
|www.smec.com
The information within this document is and shall remain the property of SMEC International Pty Ltd
Kathmandu Substainable Urban Transport Study 44058
PUBLIC TRANSPORT RESTRUCTURING

SYNOPSIS
The Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project (KSUTP) is an initiative of the Ministry of
Physical Infrastructure and Transport, with loan and grant funding from the Asian Development Bank,
and grant funding from the Global Environment Facility. This report on Public Transport Restructuring
evaluated current conditions, and recommends a set of interventions aimed at improving public
transport, in the Kathmandu Valley.
A status-quo investigation of public transport in the Kathmandu Valley identified the following core
problems:
• Duplication of routes, with multiple uncoordinated operators.

• Large numbers of low-capacity vehicles operating on high volume routes causing traffic
congestion and environmental degradation.
• Congestion in the city centre from the multitude of Public Transport terminals and loading
areas.
• Poor quality of service to users.
• Inadequate passenger facilities.
• Weak regulation resulting in old, poorly maintained, vehicles and an oversupply of vehicles on
some routes.
From the analysis of the existing Public Transport System it is clear that the existing public transport
system is complex, inefficient and provides a low level of service to users. Restructuring of the public
transport system is aimed at addressing the inefficiencies and correcting the imbalance between
supply and demand within the system.
This report maps a way forward for reforming the Public Transport system in the Kathmandu Valley to
support the economic development of the region whilst minimising negative environmental and social
impacts. The components of the reform process are as follows:
a) Implement a public transport route hierarchy in which the vehicle type and size is appropriate
for the passenger demand and compatible with the roadway width and alignment on the route.
The output of this step is maps showing the roads used by the primary, secondary and tertiary
public transport networks.
b) Restructure the public transport network. The Route restructuring step developed bus routes
for each tier of the route hierarchy based upon passenger demand characteristics, the existing
route structure and the principle of linking major areas of trip generation and trip attraction.
c) Rationalise the public transport fleet. Implementation of the route restructuring will replace
large numbers of small vehicles on the primary and secondary public transport networks with
fewer numbers of larger vehicles. The report quantifies the impact of this fleet rationalization.
d) Support the restructured network with terminals and depots. The requirements for terminals
and depots for the restructured routes were assessed.
e) Provide convenient access to the public transport network. Bus stop design principles were
presented in the report and guidelines proposed for bus stop location, spacing and design.
f) Maximise system efficiency by prioritizing public transport services. The options for improving
system efficiency by prioritising Public Transport through provision of physical infrastructure
for bus priority were evaluated and measures appropriate for each tier in the network
hierarchy were formulated.
Public Transport Restructuring: Synopsis Page i

g) Develop institutional structures and capacity to manage and operate public transport.
Implementation of commercial operations on the restructured route network will require new
capacity with the Public Sector to plan and manage the public transport system as well as
formalization of independent operators into commercial entities.
h) Implement a business model based on bus service contracting. The business model proposed
for use on the restructured public transport network requires implementation of higher quality
services operated by the Private Sector under contract to the Public Sector.
In order to implement these reforms the following actions will be required:
1. Establish a Public Transport Division within DoTM to plan and manage public transport
including responsibility for management of contracted bus services.
2. Stop issuance of route permits to low-capacity vehicles and implement a maximum age limit
for vehicles providing local services. This is aimed at restricting the increase in the number
small public transport vehicles on high capacity routes and facilitation of fleet renewal.
3. Implement contracted bus services on two pilot routes to develop and test a mechanism to
formalise operators into a legal entity capable of providing contracted bus services that is
acceptable to both Government and Operators.
4. Undertake a feasibility study for mass transit in the Kathmandu Valley to determine the most
appropriate public transport system to provide services on the high-volume Primary Routes.
5. Establish and build capacity of a Kathmandu Transport Management Committee (KTMC) and
Kathmandu Valley Bus Agency (KVBA). These agencies will provide long-term Public Sector
responsibility for strategic and tactical planning for implementation of contracted bus services.
6. Implement an integrated Inter-city and Urban Bus terminal near Koteshwor. This will reduce
congestion in the CBD by moving Inter-city services from Old Bus Park, and allow
redevelopment of the Old Bus Park site.
7. Implement contracted bus services on an initial Primary Route, to link the CBD to the new
Inter-city terminal. Secondary and tertiary routes in the corridor would be restructured to
support the primary route.
8. Implement, on a phased basis, subsequent priority Primary Routes. System efficiency and
viability will improve as additional routes are added that allow more destinations to be reached
on the primary network.
Public Transport Restructuring: Synopsis Page ii

CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................1-1
1.1 Overview of the project ................................................................................................1-1

1.2 Overview of the Public Transport Component .............................................................1-2
1.3 Contents of this report .................................................................................................1-3
2 INSTITUTIONAL RESTRUCTURING AND STRENGTHENING ..........................................2-1
2.1 Policy, Legislative & Regulatory Review ......................................................................2-1

2.2 Institutional Structure Review ....................................................................................2-15
2.3 Institutional Options Evaluation .................................................................................2-24
2.4 Institutional restructuring / strengthening ...................................................................2-24
3 STATUS-QUO INVESTIGATION OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT NETWORK,

INFRASTRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS ...........................................................................3-1
3.1 Existing Road Network ................................................................................................3-1

3.2 Public Transport vehicles .............................................................................................3-5
3.3 Route description .........................................................................................................3-9
3.4 Fleet characteristics per route ...................................................................................3-17
3.5 Fares ..........................................................................................................................3-20
3.6 Terminals and depots ................................................................................................3-20
3.7 Demand characteristics .............................................................................................3-26
3.8 Land-use plans ..........................................................................................................3-33
3.9 Evaluation of existing conditions ................................................................................3-36
4 PROPOSED PUBLIC TRANSPORT REFORM ACTIONS ..................................................4-1
4.1 Development of a route hierarchy ................................................................................4-4

4.2 Route restructuring ....................................................................................................4-14
4.3 Fleet rationalisation impact ........................................................................................4-42
4.4 Rationalisation plan for terminals and depots ............................................................4-50
4.5 Rationalisation plan for bus stops & lay-byes ............................................................4-52
4.6 Bus priority and system efficiency measures .............................................................4-62
4.7 Governance and Institutional model ..........................................................................4-68
4.8 Route contracting .......................................................................................................4-75

5 SUMMARY OF IMPACTS OF RESTRUCTURING ..............................................................5-1
5.1 Impact on the public transport fleet ..............................................................................5-1

5.2 Impact on bus stops and terminals ..............................................................................5-2
5.3 Impact on traffic flow ....................................................................................................5-2
5.4 Impact on existing operators ........................................................................................5-3
5.5 Impact on labour ..........................................................................................................5-4
5.6 Impact on passengers .................................................................................................5-4
5.7 Impact on Government ................................................................................................5-4
5.8 Impact on city sustainability .........................................................................................5-5
6 SELECTION OF ROUTES FOR PILOT IMPLEMENTATION ..............................................6-1
6.1 Criteria for selection of routes ......................................................................................6-1

6.2 Potential routes ............................................................................................................6-2
6.3 Quantification of criteria on potential routes ................................................................6-3
6.4 Evaluation of potential pilot routes .............................................................................6-15
6.5 Selection of pilot routes .............................................................................................6-18
7 IMPLEMENTATION PLAN ...................................................................................................7-1
7.1 Establish a Public Transport Division within DoTM .....................................................7-1

7.2 Ensure route permits are consistent with route hierarchy ............................................7-1
7.3 Pilot formalization of operators and route contracting .................................................7-2
7.4 Feasibility study for mass transit ..................................................................................7-3
7.5 Construction of new Inter-City terminal at Koteshwor ..................................................7-3
7.6 Establishment of KTMC and Bus Agency ....................................................................7-3
7.7 Phased implementation of primary routes ...................................................................7-4

FIGURES
Figure 1-1 Four Subsectors under the Project ............................................................................. 1-1
Figure 2-1 Administrative levels of Government in Kathmandu Valley ...................................... 2-15
Figure 2-2 Administrative boundaries in Kathmandu Valley ...................................................... 2-16
Figure 2-3 Evolution of the Kathmandu Public Transport Governance Structure ...................... 2-21
Figure 2-4 SWOT Analysis of DoTM ......................................................................................... 2-24
Figure 3-1 Existing Road Network and Village Development Committees .................................. 3-3
Figure 3-2 Public transport vehicle types ..................................................................................... 3-6
Figure 3-3 Cumulative vehicles registered within Kathmandu Valley .......................................... 3-7
Figure 3-4 Cumulative registered public transport vehicles ......................................................... 3-8
Figure 3-5 Estimated Public Transport vehicles operating within Kathmandu Valley .................. 3-9
Figure 3-6 Routes operated by Buses ....................................................................................... 3-11
Figure 3-7 Routes operated by Mini Buses ............................................................................... 3-12
Figure 3-8 Routes operated by Mini Buses inside Ring Road ................................................... 3-13
Figure 3-9 Routes operated by Micro Buses ............................................................................. 3-14
Figure 3-10 Routes operated by Micro Buses inside Ring Road ................................................. 3-15
Figure 3-11 Routes operated by Tempos .................................................................................... 3-16
Figure 3-12 Inner City Terminals ................................................................................................. 3-21
Figure 3-13 Terminals within and adjacent to the Ring Road ...................................................... 3-24
Figure 3-14 Bus stops within and around Ring Road .................................................................. 3-25
Figure 3-15 Outlying public transport stops ................................................................................. 3-26
Figure 3-16 Trip composition by mode (2011) ............................................................................. 3-26
Figure 3-17 Passenger trip ends (2011) ...................................................................................... 3-27
Figure 3-18 Passenger transport vehicle trip ends by Mode ....................................................... 3-28
Figure 3-19 Passenger transport vehicle trip ends within the Ring Road by Mode ..................... 3-29
Figure 3-20 Person trip desire lines for all trip purposes (2011) .................................................. 3-30
Figure 3-21 Passenger and vehicle volume in major corridors .................................................... 3-31
Figure 3-22 Major land-uses ........................................................................................................ 3-34
Figure 3-23 Land use development scenarios............................................................................. 3-35
Figure 4-1 Public Transport reform objectives and actions ......................................................... 4-3
Figure 4-2 Characteristics of the route hierarchy......................................................................... 4-6
Figure 4-3 Major public transport demand corridors .................................................................... 4-7
Figure 4-4 Daily passengers volumes per sector ........................................................................ 4-8
Figure 4-5 Primary Public Transport Corridors ............................................................................ 4-9
Figure 4-6 Direct vs Feeder Services ........................................................................................ 4-10
Figure 4-7 Secondary Public Transport Corridors ..................................................................... 4-12
Figure 4-8 Tertiary Public Transport Corridors .......................................................................... 4-13
Figure 4-9 Primary routes P1 and P2 ........................................................................................ 4-17

Figure 4-10 Primary route P3 ...................................................................................................... 4-18

Figure 4-16 Primary Public Transport Routes ............................................................................. 4-23
Figure 4-17 Secondary routes S1, S2 and S3 ............................................................................. 4-25
Figure 4-18 Secondary routes S4 and S5 ................................................................................... 4-26
Figure 4-19 Alternative alignment for Secondary route S5 .......................................................... 4-27
Figure 4-20 Secondary routes S6, S7, S8 and S9....................................................................... 4-28
Figure 4-21 Secondary routes S10, S11, S12, S13 & S14 .......................................................... 4-29
Figure 4-22 Secondary routes S15 & S16 ................................................................................... 4-30
Figure 4-23 Tertiary routes from Balaju & New Bus Park (T1 to T9) ........................................... 4-33
Figure 4-24 Tertiary routes from Chabhil (T10 to T14) ................................................................ 4-34
Figure 4-25 Tertiary routes from Chabhil (T15 to T17) ................................................................ 4-34
Figure 4-26 Tertiary routes in Old- and New Baneshwor Area (T18 & T19)................................ 4-35
Figure 4-27 Tertiary routes in Eastern Sector (T20 to T24) ......................................................... 4-36
Figure 4-28 Tertiary routes in South-eastern Sector (T25 to T27)............................................... 4-37
Figure 4-29 Tertiary routes in Lalitpur (T28 to T32) ..................................................................... 4-38
Figure 4-30 Tertiary routes in Western Sector (T33 to T40) ........................................................ 4-39
Figure 4-31 Tertiary routes in the Historic City Core ................................................................... 4-40
Figure 4-32 Area within 600 metres of the restructured public transport network ....................... 4-41
Figure 4-33 Change in daily travel by Public Transport on Primary Routes ................................ 4-46
Figure 4-34 Change in daily travel by Public Transport on Secondary Routes ........................... 4-47
Figure 4-35 Aspects influencing bus stop location ...................................................................... 4-53
Figure 4-36 Summary of types of bus stop .................................................................................. 4-55
Figure 4-37 Typical dimensions of bus stops .............................................................................. 4-58
Figure 4-38 Typical bus stop infrastructure on Primary Routes ................................................... 4-60
Figure 4-39 Typical bus stop infrastructure on Secondary Routes .............................................. 4-61
Figure 4-40 Typical bus stop infrastructure on Tertiary Routes ................................................... 4-61
Figure 4-41 Quality spectrum of road based public transport ...................................................... 4-63
Figure 4-42 Institutional risk sharing model ................................................................................. 4-69
Figure 4-43 Implementation of institutional responsibilities of various parties ............................. 4-71
Figure 4-44 Structure of the Public Transport Division ................................................................ 4-74
Figure 7-1 Implementing the Pilot Routes ................................................................................... 7-2

TABLES
Table 2-1 Functions of Public Transport Operator Governance Structures in Kathmandu ......2-22
Table 3-1 Cumulative vehicles registered within Kathmandu Valley ..........................................3-7
Table 3-2 Average growth of registered Public Transport vehicles ............................................3-8
Table 3-3 Fleet characteristics of routes from Inner City Terminals .........................................3-17
Table 3-4 Fleet characteristics of routes from Kathmandu Municipality Terminals ..................3-18
Table 3-5 Fleet characteristics of routes from Lalitpur Municipality Terminals .........................3-19
Table 3-6 Fleet characteristics of routes from Outlying Terminals ...........................................3-19
Table 3-7 Public Transport Fares (amended in April 2013)......................................................3-20
Table 3-8 Physical characteristics of Kathmandu Municipality Terminals ................................3-22
Table 3-9 Physical characteristics of Lalitpur Municipality and Outlying Terminals .................3-23
Table 3-10 Physical characteristics of Inner City Terminals .......................................................3-24
Table 3-11 Average vehicle occupancy ......................................................................................3-31
Table 4-1 Criteria for route hierarchy classification ....................................................................4-6
Table 4-2 Proposed primary routes and major stop locations ..................................................4-16
Table 4-3 Proposed secondary routes .....................................................................................4-24
Table 4-4 Proposed tertiary routes ...........................................................................................4-32
Table 4-5 Typical vehicle capacities .........................................................................................4-43
Table 4-6 Fleet requirements on Primary and Secondary routes .............................................4-45
Table 4-7 Vehicle Operating Costs on Primary and Secondary routes ....................................4-47
Table 4-8 Reduction in PCU’s on Primary network ..................................................................4-48
Table 4-9 Reduction in PCU’s on Secondary network .............................................................4-49
Table 4-10 Terminal requirements for Primary Routes ..............................................................4-50
Table 4-11 Bus stop spacing guidelines for Kathmandu ............................................................4-53
Table 4-12 Preferred bus stop layout .........................................................................................4-57
Table 4-13 Number of bus spaces required at a stop ................................................................4-59
Table 4-14 Bus stop infrastructure .............................................................................................4-60
Table 4-15 Bus priority measures ...............................................................................................4-67
Table 4-16 Comparison between Gross and Net Cost Contracts ..............................................4-76
Table 6-1 Quantification of evaluation criteria on potential pilot routes ....................................6-10
Table 6-2 Summary of criteria rating on potential pilot routes ..................................................6-15
Table 7-1 Indicative implementation plan ...................................................................................7-5

LIST OF ACRONYMS
The following abbreviations were used in this report:
Abbreviation
AAQMSKV Ambient Air Quality Monitoring System of Kathmandu Valley
ADB Asian Development Bank
BRT Bus Rapid Transit
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
DESPS Danish Environment Sector Program Support
DOR Department of Roads
DOTM Department of Transport Management
DSCs Design and Supervision Consultants
DUDBC Department of Urban Development and Building Construction
FNNTE Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs
GHG Green House Gas
HLPCC High Level Policy Coordination Committee
IA Implementing Agency
JICA Japan International Cooperation Agency
KMC Kathmandu Metropolitan City
KSUTP Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project
KTMC Kathmandu Transport Management Committee (Proposed)
KVBA Kathmandu Valley Bus Agency (Proposed)
MOEST Ministry of Environment, Science and Technology
MOLTM Ministry of Labor and Transport Management
MOPIT Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport
MOPPW Ministry of Physical and Planning and Works
MPPW & TM Ministry of Physical Planning, Works & Transport Management
MTPD Metropolitan Traffic Police Division
NESS Nepal Environmental and Scientific Services
NMT Non-‐motorized Transport
NTA National Transport Authority (Proposed)
NTC National Transport Corporation (Defunct)
PCU Passenger Car Unit
PIUs Project Implementing Units
PMCBC Project Management & Capacity Building Consultant
PMCO Project Management Coordination Office
PMP Project Management Plan
PPP Private Public Partnership
PPTA Project Preparation Technical Assistance
PT Public Transport
PTI Public Transport Interchange
STI Sustainable Transport Initiatives
TDF Town Development Fund
TOR Terms of Reference
WSSD Water Supply and Sewerage Department
ZTMO Zonal Transport Management Office

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. INTRODUCTION
The Government of Nepal, with loan and grant assistance from the Asian Development Bank,
commenced implementation of the Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project (KSUTP) in July
2012. This report was prepared by the Project Management and Capacity Building Consultant
(PMCBC) of the KSUTP in order to assist with attainment of one of the project objectives, namely
improving Public Transport in the Kathmandu Valley. The report reviews the public transport system
and makes recommendations for restructuring of public transport services, infrastructure and
management.
2. INSTITUTIONAL STATUS-QUO
Public Transport activities within the Kathmandu Valley are regulated, planned, implemented and
enforced at both Central and Local Government Levels. The Department of Traffic and Transport
Management (DoTM) of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport is the main responsible
agency for transport planning, management, policy formulation and regulations.
The DoTM consists of a central level Government Department and under it there are 13 Zonal
Transport Management offices (ZTMO) and 6 service center units.
ZTMOs are responsible for registration, renewal and title transfer of vehicles, collections of vehicle tax,
issuance of driving license, issuing route permits, regulating pollution standards of vehicles, testing the
fitness of vehicles, monitoring and regulating the provisions of laws regarding transport management.
Within the Kathmandu Valley the Bagmati ZTMO performs this function. The traffic police under the
Ministry of Home Affairs have taken responsibility for ZTMO’s functions related to traffic management.
Matters relating to routes, fares and operations are handled by Transport Management Committees.
These committees are chaired by the Chief District Officer of the district where the Transport
Management office is located, and have representation from District Police, Transport Entrepreneurs
and Transport Workers’ Unions. The committees have the Chief of the District Transport Management
Office as the Member Secretary.
Public transportation in the Kathmandu Valley is exclusively road based, with no railway service. The
road-based modes operated comprise bus, minibuses, microbuses and tempo. Historically the
Government provided transport services, which over time have been replaced by private sector
operations. Initial informal and independent private sector operations underwent a process of self-
regulation with establishment of route associations that control vehicle dispatching from route
terminals. A formal structure developed with route associations being affiliated to a national transport
operators association, Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE).
Regulation of routes, public transport permits and terminal space are effectively managed by the route
associations, with the public sector only endorsing the agreements reached at operator level.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page I

3. STATUS-QUO OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN THE KATHMANDU VALLEY
3.1 THE ROAD NETWORK
Public transport in the Kathmandu Valley is exclusively road based. Residents are therefore
dependent upon the road network to provide mobility and access to work, social and recreational
activities. The road network relevant to Public Transport generally falls under the jurisdiction of the
Department of Roads (DOR). Roads managed by DOR comprise:
• National Highways. Three National Highways exist in the Kathmandu Valley. The Tribhuvan
Highway (H02) that runs from Central Kathmandu to the west via Kalanki, Thankot and
Nagdunga. The Arniko Highway (H03) runs from Central Kathmandu to the east, via Thimi and
Bhaktapur, and ultimately to link with the Chinese Border. The third National Highway is the Ring
Road (H16) which runs through the Kathmandu and Lalitpur Districts. A fourth National Highway,
the Outer Ring Road is also designated (H21) however only short portions of this route exist.
• Feeder Roads that link district headquarters to the national Highways, and minor feeder roads
that connect major towns and villages to the major feeder roads.
• Strategic Urban Roads. These roads comprise the majority of the primary road network in the
urban areas, and also serve traffic through the urban area.
The five municipalities of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Thimi and Kirtipur are responsible for
managing urban roads, other than Strategic Urban Roads. In areas outside the five Municipalities,
rural (District) roads are managed by District Development Committees while Local Roads and Village
Roads are the responsibility of Village Development Committees.
3.2 PUBLIC TRANSPORT VEHICLES
There are three categories of bus services in the Kathmandu valley as follows:
• City bus services: which operate within the built-up areas or core areas of Kathmandu Valley,
generally within the Ring Road.
• Commuter bus services: which operate services of between 1 and 1.5 hours travel time beyond
the build-up area, serving towns and villages mostly within the Kathmandu valley, such as
Bhaktapur, Thimi, Kirtipur, Nagarkot, Godawari, Dakshinkali, Thankot and other important towns.
These commuter services are also referred to as “Valley Routes”.
• Long distance bus services: that connect Kathmandu and cities and towns throughout Nepal.
Only City and Valley services are affected by the proposed route restructuring, although some long
distance services are impacted by proposed relocation of terminals.
At July 2013 the cumulative

number of motorised
vehicles registered in the
Bagmati Zone of DoTM
was 682,000. The number
of motorcycles registered in
the Valley has grown at just
under 17% per annum over
the last ten years, in
comparison with 6% per
annum for Public Transport
vehicles and 9% p.a. for
cars.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page II

Motorcycles comprised 76% of motorised vehicles registered in the Kathmandu Valley, while Cars
made up 18% of the vehicle fleet. In contrast the combined Public Transport fleet of 21,462 vehicles
only comprised 3% of total registered vehicles.
Public transport services are provided by several thousand individual private sector operators,
organised into approximately 100 route- and mode-specific associations and companies. A variety of
different vehicles are used, namely:
• Bus, comprising a wide range of vehicles with capacity between 26 and 56 including the driver.
• Minibus, Maximum capacity of 25 including driver.
• Microbus, Small 4 wheeled vehicle with maximum capacity of 14 including driver.
• Tempo: Three wheeled vehicle, with seating for 13, including driver. Two types of Tempo are
used, Electric powered (Safa) Tempo and Gas Tempo that run on Liquid Petroleum Gas.
• Conventional taxis, generally small Suzuki Maruti hatch-back cars. Taxis provide a personalised,
on-demand, service and have therefore been excluded from the analysis of the public transport
system.
The approximately 21,000 public transport vehicles

()**+$,-.*$ specified earlier is the total number of vehicles that
#%&$ !"#$ have been registered to date. It includes vehicles
that are no longer operational, and is therefore a
overestimate of the working fleet. An estimation of
%&#'$ the operational numbers of each vehicle type was
%&#'$ made by the recent JICA study through interviews
with Public Transport Operators, and the number of
each vehicle type prior to reintroduction of large
/*012$ 3-45267,$ 3-8-67,$ 9:5;*$<7,$ buses by Sajha Yatayat is shown in the figure
opposite.
3.3 PUBLIC TRANSPORT ROUTES
The current public transport route network is complex and comprised of approximately 200 routes as
follows:
• Bus, 7 Routes prior to reintroduction of Sajha Yatayat, which added 2 more routes. These routes
are generally on the higher order roads. Bus routes from the west and east use National
Highways H02 and H03 respectively, while services run in both directions around the Ring Road
(H16). A further large bus service links Dakshinkali to the City Centre along Feeder Road 022.
Sajha Yatayat runs two services Kalanki – CBD - Airport and Satdobato – CBD – Maharajgunj -
New Bus Park.
• Minibus, 93 Routes. Microbus routes run on the National Highways and Feeder roads in the
Valley. They are generally radial, linking outlying areas with the City Centre.
• Microbus, 73 Routes. The coverage of the microbus network is similar to the minibus network,
with slightly greater coverage within, and north-of, the Ring Road than the mini-bus network. In
contrast the microbus network provides slightly less coverage to southern and eastern valley
areas.
• Tempo, 20 Routes, which are generally within the Ring Road.
The following figures show the routes operated by each mode:
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page III

Bus Routes Minibus Routes
Microbus Routes Tempo Routes
3.4 FLEET CHARACTERISTICS PER ROUTE
The fleet characteristics per route were obtained from field surveys performed by the PMCBC at
terminals in October and November 2012 and are tabulated in the main report.
3.5 FARES
Fare levels are set by DOTM, with regular reviews and updates to take into account increases in
public transport operating costs. At April 2013 the minimum fare, applicable for trips up to 4km in
length was 15 NPR. The current fare structure is distance based and increases up to 27 NPR for trips
above 19km.
3.6 TERMINALS, DEPOTS AND STOPS
Four public transport terminals are located within the City Centre of Kathmandu:
• Old Bus Park which is the main Bus terminal for Kathmandu. It is located to the east of the
Tundikhel. The terminal is used by all three of the service types, namely City Services within the
Ring Road, Valley services and Long Distance services.
• Bhaktapur Bus Park, also known as Bagbazaar, is located off-street just north of the Old Bus
Park. As the name implies the terminal serves routes to Bhaktapur and neighbouring towns.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page IV

• The NAC terminal is located on Kantipath Road west of the Tundikhel and adjacent to the Nepal
Airlines Corporation building. Tempos, microbuses and minibuses load in a demarcated, on-
street, zone south of New Road on the western side of Kantipath Road.
• Ratna Park Terminal is also an on-street facility, north of the Tundikhel, serving tempos,
microbuses and minibuses that load on both sides of Ratna Park Road.
Twenty-three other terminals were identified, including the Inter-city terminal at Gongabu, which is
know as New Bus Park.
Sajha Yatayat has depot facilities on Pulchowk Road in Lalitpur, which were reopened to
accommodate the reintroduction of Sajha Yatyat bus services. There are no other functioning formal
public transport depots in the study area. The industry structure of numerous individual operators,
results in very small fleet sizes, with informal depot facilities provided by each operator. The liquidated
trolleybus service of NTC had depot facilities immediately east of the International Convention Centre
at Min Bhawan. These facilities are currently used as a charging station for Safa Tempos.
Bus stops are generally poorly identified and mostly informal, with public transport vehicles stopping at
any place with significant passenger demand.
3.7 DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS
The Kathmandu and Lalitpur Municipalities comprise 50.3% of the Valley’s population and the travel
patterns reflect this fact with 51.5% of daily trips occurring within these two municipalities. The travel
pattern is highly radial with the vast majority of trips starting or ending in Kathmandu Municipality, as
shown in the following figure of daily passenger volumes.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page V

The 2.4 Million people living in the Kathmandu Valley ()*+,$-./012$3/*-0$4,$$516.$

make approximately 3.4 million one-way person trips
each day. Walking is the predominant transport mode,
%'#$
with nearly 41% of passenger trips made by foot.
!"#$
Public Transport, comprising bus, microbus, minibus
and tempo, is the second most important mode, and is !#$
used for nearly 28% of passenger trips. Motorcycles
%&#$ "#$
are used for 26% of trips and cars for only 4% of daily
person trips. 7)+8$ 9*:,:+.$ ;131/:,:+.$ <)/$ 9=0$
3.8 LAND-USE PLANS
Land-use planning for both current and future years has been comprehensively reported in “Data
Collection on Traffic Improvement in Kathmandu Valley, Draft Final Report, July 2012, Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA).” In the JICA report population was assumed to grow at
4.18% per annum, and GDP per Capita at 2.89%. Increasing wealth has a flow through impact on
vehicle ownership, which was assumed to grow at 5.05% and 8.28% for motorcycles and cars
respectively. Two land use scenarios were developed in the JICA study:
• The first scenario comprised a trend of expansion of the urbanised area to the suburbs. It was
assumed that the same land use and trip distribution patterns as the present would continue.
• The second scenario assumed development in the Kathmandu – Bhaktapur corridor in order to
relieve congestion in central Kathmandu. This involves development along the Arniko Highway,
enabling the Kathmandu City to remain compact and sustainable. The new development was
planned to develop into a “Sub-City-Centre” due to good accessibility, proximity to the
International Airport, and the abundance of open land for development
3.9 EVALUATION OF EXISTING CONDITIONS
From analysis of the existing route structure and operations a number of problems are apparent:
1. Duplication of routes. On most of the main corridors there are duplicate routes operated by
tempos, micro-buses and minibuses. In many cases permits have been issued for routes that only
show minor variations from existing routes. Up to twenty minor variations on a route have been
observed.
2. Inefficient vehicle type. The existing system uses many small tempos and microbuses to operate
line haul services on high demand corridors. The high numbers of small, low-capacity, vehicles
operating on the main corridors results in increased traffic congestion and overall inefficiency of
the public transport system.
3. Concentration of route terminals in the City Centre. Roadside terminals in the City Centre
result in obstruction to general traffic flow due to parked vehicles blocking traffic lanes and the
movement of pubic transport vehicles into and out of loading areas.
4. Poor passenger facilities at City Centre terminals. The dispersed location of city centre
roadside terminals (Sahid Gate, NAC & Ratna Park) results in significant walking distance for
passengers who need to transfer between routes. There are negligible facilities such as seats and
shelters at these terminals.
5. Poor quality of service. Household interviews by JICA revealed that commuters with the option
to use private transport elected not to use public transport due to:
a. Travel Time longer when Public Transport is used
b. Irregular operation without timetable
c. Delays caused by bus waiting for full capacity before departure
d. Overcrowding
e. Waiting time at bus stops
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page VI

In contrast existing bus users identified the following as the main aspects of the existing system
that required improvement:
a. Reduced travel time
b. Lower fare
c. Improved safety
d. Comfort in vehicle
6. On some routes there is an oversupply of vehicles, requiring use of the “Dial” system to regulate
the days on which specific vehicles may operate, and conversely there is insufficient capacity on
other routes.
4. PROPOSED PUBLIC TRANSPORT RESTRUCTURING
From the analysis of the existing Public Transport System it is clear that the existing public transport
system is complex, inefficient and provides a low level of service to users. Restructuring of the public
transport system is aimed at addressing the inefficiencies and correcting the imbalance between
supply and demand within the system.
4.1 DEVELOPMENT OF A ROUTE HIERARCHY
Operational reform strategy 1:

Implement a structured and efficient public transport route hierarchy in which the vehicle and
operational characteristics on each portion of the network are optimally suited to the passenger
demand and physical characteristics of the route
The design of the Public Transport network is based upon a three-tier hierarchy of public transport
routes in which the vehicle type and size is appropriate for the passenger demand and compatible with
the roadway width and alignment on the route.
The highest order routes, or primary routes, are the most important public transport corridors within
the Valley. These corridors carry the highest passenger volumes and it will typically be appropriate to
provide measures giving Public Transport vehicles priority over general traffic. This includes dedicated
busways in the short to medium term. These corridors will also be candidates for introduction of
higher capacity mass transit services in the medium to long term. Full size (12m) buses are envisaged
on these routes. Where roadway geometry is acceptable, such as on the National Highways, 18m
articulated buses could be used. Primary routes should include provision for non-motorised transport
(walking and cycling) in the road corridor. Land-use zoning in these corridors should support higher
density land development including residential, commercial and industrial uses.
The second order, or secondary routes, are located on corridors that carry substantial passenger
volumes but which do not meet the criteria for classification as primary routes. Secondary routes are
typically the arterial roads within the city and major feeder roads in the Valley. The roadway width and
geometry is often constrained on these routes. The appropriate vehicle type is therefore a 9 or 10m
bus.
The third, and lowest, level of the hierarchy, are the tertiary routes which should provide sufficiently
dense coverage to ensure that users do not have to walk further than around 600 - 800 metres in
order to access the public transport system. Although tertiary routes are primarily designed to serve a
collector function, where passenger volumes are too low, or the right of way too narrow, tertiary routes
can be used to provide access to the CBD along lower order roads. Small vehicles are required to
traverse the constrained right of way of tertiary routes. Tempos, microbuses and minibuses, with
passenger capacity of up to 25 persons are appropriate for these routes. Use of electric vehicles is
appropriate for tertiary routes in areas with high pedestrian volumes and substantial roadside activity,
particularly in the historic areas of the Kathmandu and Lalitpur Municipalities.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page VII

The characteristics of each tier in the route hierarchy are described in the graphic below.
4.2 ROUTE RESTRUCTURING
Route restructuring required reallocation of vehicle types so that the most appropriate type of vehicle
operates each route. In simplistic terms this means that on routes with high passenger volumes the
most efficient vehicle type will be the largest that may be operated within the constraints of the
roadway width and geometry. On routes with lower demand, the size of vehicle should be determined
based upon the trade-off between providing an acceptable service frequency and keeping the average
load factor is as high as possible within the relevant operating constraints.

Implement a logical and integrated route structure for each level of the public transport system that
balances system efficiency with passenger convenience
Primary Public Transport Routes
The primary public transport network is predominantly defined by the demand characteristics
described in the travel demand section of this summary. The strongly radial desire line pattern, and
major zones of trip generation and attraction, were simplified into major corridors. The corridors
meeting the passenger threshold volume and road classification criteria were:
• Naikap – Bhaktapur
• Narayangopal Chowk – Satdobato
• Jorpati – City Centre
• Balaju – City Centre
• Ring Road
The figure below shows the network of Primary Corridors superimposed on the passenger trip desire
line pattern.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page VIII

A number of different routes will operate within these primary corridors, with several routes using the
same portions of most of the Primary Corridors.
In total eight (8) primary routes were defined, with combined length of 131 km. Separate routes were
specified for each direction on the Ring Road. A schematic representation of the routes serving the
primary corridors is shown below.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page IX

Secondary Public Transport Routes
Secondary public transport corridors fulfil three functions:
1. Direct linkage to the City Centre from outlying locations that have passenger demand lower than
the level required for classification as a primary corridor.
2. Feeder service from outlying locations to an interchange with a primary route.
3. Cross-city linkages between origins and destinations not adequately served by the primary
network.
The route hierarchy developed for secondary routes uses a combination of these strategies. To serve
the secondary public transport network, sixteen (16) secondary public transport routes with a
combined length of 178 km, were planned as shown below:
Tertiary Public Transport Routes
The tertiary route network supports the primary and secondary routes by:
• Acting as feeder routes from outlying areas to the outer terminal points of the higher order
network.
• Serving areas where passenger demand is insufficient, and/or roadway geometry to constrained,
to warrant higher capacity services.
• Acting as collector / distributors within residential areas on roads with narrow right of way that
makes them unsuitable for the larger buses used on primary and secondary routes.
Forty (40) tertiary public transport routes, plus two routes in the Historic Core, were defined with a total
route length of 264 km.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page X

Coverage of restructured routes

The area of Kathmandu Valley within a walking distance of 600m from a public transport route is
shown in the figure below. From the figure it can be seen that the three-tier route structure provides
excellent coverage of the Kathmandu Valley.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XI

4.3 FLEET RATIONALISATION

Replace old and low-capacity public transport vehicles with modern, low-emission, vehicles with
capacity appropriate to the passenger demand on the route served.
The choice of vehicle size is dependent upon the demand characteristics in the corridor to be served
by the vehicle, and to a lesser extent by the physical characteristics of the roadway. The main
advantage of larger vehicles is lower operating costs per passenger carried. However in lower-
demand corridors larger vehicles will operate at lower frequency, which will result in longer waiting
times for passengers. The width and alignment of the majority of roads in the city, and the layout of
several junctions, make it impractical or unsafe to operate rigid vehicles longer than a 12 metre bus or
articulated vehicles on routes other than the Ring Road and the east – west route using National
Highway 02 & 03. Similarly, overhead cables and some bridges preclude the operation of double-deck
buses on most routes.
It is therefore recommended that single decker rigid buses, 12 metre in length, will operate on the
majority of Primary routes.
Restricted roadway width, and poor geometric alignment of the secondary routes, makes substantial
portions of the secondary network unsuitable for use by 12m rigid buses. It is therefore proposed that
slightly smaller buses of 9 to 10m length will be used on the secondary routes, with capacity of
approximately 60 passengers.
Services on tertiary routes will operate on the narrow roads, of four or five metres width that
characterize most of Kathmandu’s residential areas and the historic central core. These routes are
unsuitable for larger buses and will initially be served using the existing fleet of tempos, micro-buses
and mini-buses. It is envisaged that, over time, a portion of the existing fleet will be replaced by more
comfortable and accessible electric vehicles seating up to 15 passengers.
4.4 RATIONALISATION OF TERMINALS AND DEPOTS
Efficient operation of the restructured public transport system requires supporting infrastructure for
vehicle parking, servicing, holding and dispatching.

Provision of supporting terminal and depot infrastructure to support the operational efficiency of the
public transport system.
The route restructuring proposals used the principle of routes running through the Central Business
District, in preference to routes starting and ending in the CBD. As a result the need for public
transport terminal infrastructure in the CBD is greatly reduced, as terminal facilities will be relocated to
peripheral areas.
Terminals for urban bus services will be required at the end of each primary corridor, namely at:
Narayangopal Chowk, Jorpati, Koteshwor, Surya Vinayak, Satdobato, Ekantakuna, Kalanki, Naikap,
New Bus Park. The primary route structure and associated terminal positioning does away with the
need for a terminal within the CBD. There is however a need for interchange facilities on each of the
Kanti Path and Durbar Marg, in the vicinity of Ratna Park. Further interchange facilities will be required
at Chabahil, Gaushala and Thapathali.
Replacement of the Old Bus Park with a new inter-city terminal serving eastern destinations, in the
vicinity of Koteshwor, is proposed. A potential site for such a terminal exists on the eastern side of the
Manohara Khola, just north of the Aniko Highway at Lokanthali.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XII

4.5 RATIONALISATION OF BUS-STOPS AND LAY-BYES
Provision of convenient and safe access to the bus system is a prerequisite for attracting sufficient
passengers for a sustainable service. Bus stops are the points where passengers access the bus
system, and it is therefore essential that they are appropriately located and designed in order to
provide appropriate levels of convenience and safety.

Promote ridership of the public transport system by providing safe and convenient bus stops that
present a consistent network identity.
The report provides guidelines for bus-stop spacing of 400m in the city cetre, 600m in municipal areas,
and 1000m in outlying areas.
Bus stops on the far-side (downstream) of the intersection are preferred to minimise conflicts between
left turning vehicles and buses, minimise sight distance problems on intersection approaches, and
encourage pedestrians to cross behind the bus. Bus drivers can take advantage of gaps in traffic flow
created at traffic signals to re-enter the traffic stream. Near-side and mid block locations should only
be implemented when:
• Traffic conditions or road geometry on the downstream side of an intersection are unsuitable for
buses to stop on the far-side of the intersection.
• A major trip attractor, such a shopping centre, community facility (hospital, school etc) is located
upstream of the intersection or in the middle of the block.
The following table provides guidance on the preferred bus stop layout for the three levels of public
transport hierarchy, with reference to the type and intensity of land-use and traffic conditions of the
surrounding area.
Kerbside Indented bus Open bus Open bus bay +

bay bay Queue Jumper
Tertiary routes S
CBD

Urban areas

Valley areas

Secondary routes
CBD

Urban areas

Valley areas

Primary routes
CBD

Urban areas

Valley areas

Key
= Preferred = Site specific = Not desirable
The main report specifies dimensions for the different layouts of bus-bays and recommends the
degree of ancilliary infrastructure appropriate for bus stops on each level of the route hierarchy.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XIII

4.6 BUS PRIORITY AND SYSTEMS EFFICIENCY MEASURES
Bus priority measures have been widely used to improve the quality of public transport and support
development of an integrated transport system. In the Kathmandu context bus priority measures can
ensure that public transport can offer a viable and realistic alternative to motorcycle or car travel.

Maximize public transport fleet productivity and minimize passenger travel time by introducing priority
measures on the public transport network that increase average travel speed on the primary network
to at least 20 km/h.
The priority measures proposed for the primary network are intended to provide the physical
infrastructure required to:
• Provide a high quality public service on the major corridors as the backbone of an integrated
public transport system. The priority measures proposed will result in an operating environment
that will enable the high capacity bus services on these routes to operate at sufficiently high
speed, with resultant fleet productivity, that operational costs are likely to be covered from fare
revenue.
• Provide a high level of service to passengers by improving travel time to a level competitive with
private modes of travel.
• Reduce economic and external costs of travel through reducing travel time, vehicle operating
costs, congestion and environmental impacts.
An integrated fare and ticketing system is proposed for all levels of the hierarchy. This will support the
network integration inherent in the route restructuring proposals. With an integrated fare and ticketing
system transfers between routes are facilitated and the attractiveness of the system to potential users
is increased. This will maximize network benefits of the proposed restructuring.
The various priority measures for each level in the route hierarchy are shown in the following table.
Primary Route Secondary Route Tertiary Route

Segregated bus priority lane (Bus way)

Bus lane

Queue-‐jumper lane

Bus priority traffic control

Level boarding and alighting at stops/stations

Off-‐bus fare payment

Integrated fares and ticketing

Key
= Preferred = Site specific = Not required
The priority measures proposed for the primary network have been developed with the objective of
supporting commercial operations of the bus system and minimizing subsidy requirements. The
priority measures shown are consistent with key design elements of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)
system, however the feasibility of BRT on the primary network will be assessed in a subsequent
element of the KSUTP.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XIV

4.7 GOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONAL RESTRUCTURING
The current governance structure of the public transport industry in Kathmandu places the full risks of
operation onto private sector. This encourages operation in manner that seeks to maximize fare
revenue and leads to problems such as:
• Delays at terminals caused by vehicles waiting until full before departure
• Delays along the route while waiting for passengers
• Speeding, overtaking and unsafe stopping
• Poorly maintained vehicles, many of which are older than 20 years
• Overcrowding and uncomfortable vehicles
Regulation has proven to be ineffective in addressing these issues, as the commercial imperative for
operators to maximize profits (or just survive as a business) is a stronger motivation than regulatory
compliance. The experience of bus companies and cooperatives such as Sajha Yatayat and Nepal
Yatayat that run formalised services has gone some way to addressing the above issues by removing
the incentives for the bus driver to maximize passenger volume.
Industry Structural Reform Strategy 1:

For transport operators to provide a modern and efficient public transport system it is necessary for the
current fragmented structure of small independent operators to be replaced with larger operating
entities capable of procuring and managing a fleet of public transport vehicles. Corporate
management of revenue will remove the incentive for undesirable fare maximising behavior.
The problems of duplication of services, small and inefficient vehicles on high volume routes and lack
of service integration impose social and economic costs on public transport users and the Valley as a
whole. These costs include lost productivity, air and noise pollution, and increased vehicle operating
costs. Resolution of these problems requires implementation of a cohesive and structured public
transport network.
Implementation of these route-restructuring proposals is, however, not possible under the current
governance structure.
The current situation of a weak regulatory role of DoTM with bus operators taking all the operating risk
needs to be replaced with strong Public Sector leadership that sets policy and strategic objectives
together with institutional risk sharing between private and public sectors.

Strengthen existing, and establish new, public sector institutional structures to budget and disburse
funds for public transport services and infrastructure, develop policy, formulate strategies, undertake
tactical planning and contract with the private sector for provision of public transport services.
In order to implement the proposed restructuring, Government will be required to actively take control
of planning and management of the contracted Pubic Transport services. This will require
establishment of a Kathmandu Transport Management Committee (KTMC) with responsibility for
integrated transport planning and implementation in the Kathmandu Valley, and creation of a
commercially driven Bus Agency responsible for tactical planning and route contracting,
It is proposed that, as an interim measure until the new KTMC and Bus Agency are established, a new
Public Transport Division should be created within DOTM for development and implementation of
restructured Public Transport operations
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XV

4.8 ROUTE CONTRACTING
It is proposed that risks associated with provision of public transport services should be shared
between government and the operator, instead of the current situation where operators carry all risks.
This will be achieved by the Public Sector contracting a bus operator to provide bus services in either
an area of the Valley (Area Contract) or on a specific route (Route Contract).

Implement bus service contracting as a mechanism to ensure appropriate service levels and allocate
risk between the public and private sectors.
The bus service contract comprises a legally enforceable agreement between the Public Sector
Authority and the Operator that will specify the rights and obligations of each party and specify service
quality standards. Incentives for good performance and penalties for non-compliance are generally
applied. These contracts will initially be awarded on the basis of negotiation with incumbent operators,
but ultimately be subject to competitive tendering.
5. IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSED PUBLIC TRANSPORT RESTRUCTURING
5.1 IMPACT ON THE PUBLIC TRANSPORT FLEET
Larger size vehicles on primary routes, smaller fleet
The overall impact of introduction of the proposed restructuring measures will be the replacement of
the majority of small vehicles (Tempos, Microbuses and Minibuses that currently operate on the
Primary and Secondary Networks) with fewer, much larger, buses. A total fleet of 467 Buses, each
with a capacity of 80 passengers, is estimated to be required to service the Primary Routes, while 437
buses, each with a capacity of 60 passengers, are required for the Secondary Routes.
On the primary routes the new fleet of 12m rigid buses will travel approximately 87,500 kilometres per
day. These new services will allow a reduction of 298,500 daily vehicle-kilometres by the current fleet,
yielding a net saving of 211,000 vehicle-kilometres per day. The impacts on secondary routes are
significantly less than on the primary routes. The proposed new secondary route structure will require
67,500 veh-km of travel by 9-10m buses per day. Travel by the existing public transport fleet will be
reduced by a total of 184,800 per day, yielding a net saving on secondary routes of 121,100 vehicle
kilometres per day. The reduction in daily vehicle-km of travel is shown in the figure below.
The existing fleet of small public transport vehicles that operate on a Primary Route will be withdrawn
from service if the vehicle age exceeds the maximum specified Motor Vehicle and Transport
Management Rules. Vehicles less than the maximum age will be redeployed on the secondary and
tertiary network, to serve lower volumes routes and act as feeder services to the Primary Routes.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XVI

When the operating costs for each vehicle type are analysed, the reduction in vehicle-km of travel
corresponds to an annual saving in Vehicle Operating Cost of US$34 Million per year.
5.2 IMPACT ON BUS STOPS AND TERMINALS
Terminals at route ends, reduction in CBD terminals, new intercity terminal at Koteshwor
Terminals are required at the start and end points of all the primary routes, namely; Narayangopal
Chowk, Jorpati, Koteshwor, Surya Vinayak, Satdobato, Ekantakuna, Kalanki, Naikap and New Bus
Park (Gongabu).
Six of these terminal are located on the Ring Road, and also serve as interchanges between routes.
Only the Jorpati, Surya Vinayak and Naikap Terminals do not also have interchanges with other
Primary Routes. All terminals, however, have either secondary or tertiary routes acting as feeder
routes.
The primary route structure uses routes that start and end on the Ring Road or further away from the
City Centre. The primary routes therefore pass through the CBD and do not require terminals within
the CBD. There is however a need for interchange facilities on each of Kanti Path and Durbar Marg,
in the vicinity of Ratna Park.
Routes will be designed with specific bus stop locations. These will have space to allow other traffic to
pass the stopped bus, and will preferably have shelter, seating, route information and timetables.
Almost all of the City and Valley routes served from the Old Bus Park will no longer use the Old Bus
Park but will utilise one of the terminals described above. The Old Bus Park also currently serves a
number of Inter-City routes to the east of Kathmandu. It is proposed that all intercity services that
currently terminate at Old Bus Park should be moved to a new Inter City Terminal at Koteshwor. This
is to be integrated with the proposed Urban Bus Terminal in the vicinity of Koteshwor.
5.3 IMPACT ON TRAFFIC FLOW
Reduced travel time, reduced congestion
Introduction of higher capacity vehicles on the Primary Routes will result in a significant reduction in
the number of Public Transport vehicles on major corridors. A standard bus takes roughly twice as
much road space as a minibus, but with approximately four times the capacity. A large bus is therefore
twice as efficient in terms of people moved in relation to road space used. A substantial number of
small Public Transport vehicles will remain on the Primary Network, as portions of their routes will use
sections of the Primary Network.
Analysis of the reduction in vehicle volumes found that, on average, traffic density on sections of road
used by the primary transport routes was reduced by 12%. The impact on the road sections used by
secondary routes was less pronounced, but still significant at 8%.
It should be noted that, as the volume of vehicles on a road approaches capacity, the degree of
congestion (number of stops and length of delay) increases exponentially with volume. Therefore a
10% decrease in volume will result in a much larger reduction in congestion. The congestion
reduction impact of the proposed restructuring measures will therefore substantially exceed 10%.
Where dedicated bus lanes can be provided there will be substantial reduction in travel time for Public
Transport vehicles. There may, however, be a reduction in the roadway width available for general
traffic that may result in a deterioration of operating conditions for private vehicles. These cases will
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XVII

be investigated in detail prior to implementation, to assess the overall impact of any proposed
changes.
Further decreases in congestion will result from far-side, open, bus stops. By having specifically
designed locations where buses will pick up and drop off passengers, the impact of stopped Public
Transport vehicles blocking traffic will be reduced. This impact will be particularly noticeable within the
City Centre where the large number of vehicles waiting at roadside terminals will be replaced by stops
and interchange facilities where vehicles do not wait, but simply load passengers and continue the
route.
5.4 IMPACT ON EXISTING OPERATORS
Formalisation of independent operators into Operating Companies
Existing operations on the Primary Network will be replaced by the new Primary Public Transport
Routes, while other existing operations may be shortened so that they act as feeders to the Primary
Route. These affected operators will be given the opportunity to become the operators of the new
Primary Route.
The Primary Routes will operate under a contract between the DOTM and the Operator. This contract
will be for a defined period that could range from 5 to 12 years. For this to be possible the affected
operators will need to form a new legal entity such as a company or co-operative. This is a
fundamental change in the way public transport operators currently run their business. Instead of
being the owner of a small number of vehicles, an existing operator will become a shareholder in the
new Operating Company. Instead of receiving income from fares and payments from the driver, a
vehicle owner will receive a share of the profits from the Company.
The Operating Company will need to procure a new vehicle fleet to operate each route. Financial
assistance may be made available to assist the Operating Company to purchase the new vehicles. An
alternative is that the fleet could be procured by DOTM and leased by the Operating Company.
As a general principle one Operating Company will be established for the routes in each Primary
Corrifor, however each corridor will be evaluated to determine whether rmultiple corridors can be
amalgamated into a single contract.
Existing route permits for individual vehicles on routes that will be replaced will be withdrawn. New
permits will be issued for the Operating Company to run the service on identified routes. Equity, or
shareholding in the Operating Company, will be issued to existing operators in proportion to the
number of route permits surrendered by an operator.
5.5 IMPACT ON LABOUR
Overall employment neutral, but retraining and reskilling required
Reduction in the number of Public Vehicles will have a direct impact on employment of Drivers and
Conductors, and a less direct impact on employment in industries related to the repair and
maintenance of vehicles. Employment opportunities with the new Operating Companies will be
roughly equivalent to the number of direct job losses from the current, informal, operations. A portion
of current drivers and conductors can be retrained for jobs as bus drivers and ticket collectors, while
others will need to have substantial changes to their work to act as office staff, maintenance, security,
cleaners etc within the new company. As employees of a formal company working and employment
conditions are likely to be significantly better than the current situation.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XVIII

5.6 IMPACT ON PASSENGERS
Greatly improved quality of service
The most positive impact of implementation of the proposed restructuring is expected be experienced
by the users of the new system. Benefits will depend on the exact nature of operation that will be
implemented on the Primary Network, but are likely to include:
• Reduced travel time due to bus priority measures on the Primary Network.
• Reduced waiting time as buses will run to a timetable.
• Reduced crowding on vehicles.
• Improved accessibility for people with disabilities, due to larger vehicle size and formal design of
bus terminals, stops and interchange facilities.
• Possibility of integrated fare systems to allow one payment for multi-leg journeys.
5.7 IMPACT ON GOVERNMENT
Increased demand for Govt planning & management with on-going financial commitment
In order to implement the proposed restructuring, Government will be required to actively take control
of planning and management of the contracted Pubic Transport services. This is generally done at a
Municipal level, however due to the scarcity of staff with expertise in Transportation Planning it is
considered preferable that this function be centralized within the DOTM. This will require
establishment of a new Public Transport DIvision. The function will, in broad terms, be to plan and
manage the public transport system. This will comprise a number of technical and administrative
tasks as follows:
• Public Transport planning and management
• Preparation, Monitoring and Enforcement of Public Transport Contracts
• Financial administration of payments
• Management of Secondary functions (which can be out-sourced)
DOTM will need to recruit, train and retain the specialised expertise required to staff this unit.
The current public transport operations are only marginally viable. Low profitability of operations is
reflected in poor maintenance standards, aged vehicles and operating procedures aimed at ensuring
maximum vehicle occupancy. Implementation of higher quality public transport services will result in
higher costs. Specifically:
• Enforcing contractual requirements related to vehicle type and quality will increase fleet
procurement and replacement costs.
• Contractually specified cleanliness and maintenance standards will push operational costs up.
• Average fares are politically very sensitive, which is likely to result in fares for the new system
closely matching current rates.
Replacement of the current aged vehicle fleet is likely to reduce operating and maintenance costs, and
bus priority measures will reduce round trip travel time and improve fleet utilization. These cost
reduction factors are, however, unlikely to outweigh the cost increases resulting from the improved
system. It is highly likely that ongoing Government funding of Public Transport operations will be
required in order to provide the higher level of service envisaged with the restructuring proposals.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XIX

5.8 IMPACT ON CITY SUSTAINABILITY
A more people-friendly city
Introduction of higher capacity public

transport vehicles, using cleaner burning
diesel engines or electric propulsion
systems, will have a significant positive
impact on emissions of green house gases
and particulate emissions. This will result in
improved air quality, and indirectly provide
health benefits such as reduction in
respiratory problems.
Walkways and bicycle lanes should be

incorporated with the design of dedicated
busways on the primary network and areas
around terminals and interchanges should be
developed to provide a pedestrian friendly
environment. This will encourage use of these non-polluting and low impact transport modes, reduce
pedestrian and bicycle road accidents and create a more attractive urban environment.
These measures will make public transport vehicles, terminals, interchanges and stops more
accessible for people with disabilities.
Provision of a high quality public transport system on the primary road network will also provide an
opportunity for high-density commercial and residential development along these corridors. The
interaction between transport and land-use development is mutually beneficial as higher development
densities increase ridership on the public transport system as well as reducing urban sprawl.
Increased density of development along the corridors served by the primary public transport network
will support the “Sustainable Compact City with twin center” development strategy that has been
proposed by the JICA master-planning study.
6. SELECTION OF ROUTES FOR PILOT IMPLEMENTATION
The objective of implementation of contracted services on pilot routes is to demonstrate the ability of
the contracting mechanism to allow public transport entrepreneurs to operate profitably, whilst
providing safe and affordable transport at improved level of service for public transport users and
reducing green house gas and particulate emissions.
The routes selected for pilot implementation should therefore have characteristics that will enable
evaluation of the effectiveness of the pilot service in meeting the stated objective. The pilot routes
should also demonstrate the applicability of the contracting mechanism under a range of operating
conditions.
Criteria for selection of the pilot routes were defined as; passenger volume, directional distribution of
passengers, supporting accessibility to economic activity, linkage with existing infrastructure, roadway
geometry, congestion, and operator structure. Taking consideration of the criteria specified above, the
PMCBC and DoTM identified a long-list of potential pilot routes. Each criterion was quantified where
possible, and given a rating of good, fair or poor.
From the evaluation the highest ranked tertiary route was selected in order to utilse low-capacity
electric vehciles as envisaged in the project design, and for which grant funding from the Global
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XX

Environment Facility has been obtained. Tertiary route, T30: Balkhu to Gwarko was accordingly
selected.
Possibly the major challenge associated with implementation of improved transport services in the
Kathmandu Valley will be the formation of new Operating Entities to provide contracted Public
Transport Services. It is the intention that these new Operating Entities shall be comprised of existing
operators who provide services on the route to be contracted, To fully test the practicality of this
approach it is necessary to attempt pilot implementation on a route with a significant number of
existing operators. This condition will not be met on tertiary routes were the number of existing
operators is very low. The second pilot route should therefore be a primary or secondary route.
The PMCBC recommends that a secondary route is preferable to a primary route for the following
reasons:
• The secondary route requires a smaller fleet size, and accordingly lower fleet acquisition costs
• The appropriate service characteristics on the Primary Routes will be determined by a Mass
Transit Feasibility study, planned to be performed later in the KSUTP. It will be wasteful to
implement infrastructure improvements on a Primary Corridor that may not be compatible with the
medium term priorities that will be defined in the Mass Transit feasibility study.
The top ranked Secondary Routes, namely Secondary Route No. 5: New Bus Park – Airport via
Gongabu and CBD, was therefore selected as the second pilot route.
7. IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
The proposed restructuring will impact several thousand existing operators and change operations on
200 routes throughout the Kathmandu Valley. This can only be achieved if it is implemented in a
number of steps.
The first task is to establish the institutional capacity and develop a model for formalization of existing
operators into operating entities able to provide contracted public transport services. This will be
tested under trial implementation on two pilot routes.
Once mechanisms acceptable to both Government and Operators have been established,
restructuring of the public transport network should proceed on a corridor by corridor basis. Provision
of the primary network is the fundamental building block for the public transport system. So
restructuring of services in a specific corridor would first require implementation of the relevant Primary
Route and associated infrastructure. Existing routes in the corridor would then be either be eliminated
or modified to act as the secondary and tertiary routes required to support Primary Route.
The steps in implementation of the restructuring plan are specified in the paragraphs below.
7.1 ESTABLISH A PUBLIC TRANSPORT DIVISION WITHIN DOTM
Implementation appropriate public sector institutional structures is a critical step in the action plan.
Failure to implement institutional reform will make implementation of all other reform actions
impossible. It is therefore necessary to commence development of public sector institutional capacity
concurrently with development of the pilot routes. This will initially comprise establishment of a Public
Transport Division within DoTM. This Division must be functional and able to enter into bus service
contracts with the operators of the pilot services.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XXI

7.2 ENSURE ROUTE PERMITS ARE CONSISTENT WITH THE ROUTE HIERARCHY
To avoid further proliferation of small vehciles on high capacity routes, DOTM should evaluate all
applications for new public transport route permits to ensure that the vehicle type and passenger
capacity are consistent with level of route herarchy on which the new service will operate. In practical
terms this means that permits should not be issued to tempos, micro-buses and mini-buses if the
proposed route runs on primary or secondary corrridors. This decision should be communicated to
public transport operators via the FNNTE to avoid further import of low-capacity vehicles by operators.
To speed-up fleet renewal and replacement of low-capacity vehicles with larger capacity buses, DOTM
should implement a maximum age limit for public transport vehicles providing local services. Once the
maximum vehicle age has been reached the route permit should be revoked, and a new permit only
issued if the vehicle type and capacity are consistent with the level of route hierarchy.
7.3. PILOT FORMALIZATION OF OPERATORS AND ROUTE CONTRACTING
A phased approach to implementation of the proposed restructuring is envisaged whereby such

mechanisms are developed and tested through implementation of two pilot routes. The two Pilot
Routes will be used to show how the proposed restructuring can result in a more efficient public
transport system and improved service to passengers. The Pilot Routes will also be used to develop
and test a business model for the restructured public transport system that will ensure that existing
operators are not negatively affected. These pilot routes will provide valuable guidance on the legal,
financial and operational structure of the Operating Company, together with the details of the
operating contract. The lesson learnt with implementation of the pilot routes will subsequently be
incorporated into the implementation of further routes.
A 5-step process is proposed to properly evaluate the impact on existing operations that will be
replaced by the Pilot Routes, and to allow interested participants to become the contracted Bus
Operator for the initial contract period.
During the five steps above an on-going process of job and opportunity mapping will be performed to
identify job losses due to the new system, and opportunities for redeployment of affected workers
within the new system.
Concurrently with the above process, bus stops, depots and terminals for the pilot routes will be
implemented. Vehicle fleets for the routes will be procured with funding from Asian Development Bank
and Global Environment Facility, with the funding administered by the Town Development Fund.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XXII

7.4 FEASIBILITY STUDY FOR MASS TRANSIT
A feasibility study will be performed to determine the most appropriate public transport system to
provide services on the Primary Routes. The study will consider alternative modes and will investigate
the level of infrastructure that is appropriate and affordable for Kathmandu, and the most effective
vehicle types to be used. The study will consider both electric (trolley-bus), diesel vehicle and
LPG/CNG powered vehicles.
7.5 CONSTRUCTION OF NEW INTER-CITY TERMINAL AT KOTESHWOR
An integrated Intercity and Urban Bus Terminal in the vicinity of Koteshwor is required to reduce
congestion in the CBD and provide the first component of the proposed restructuring. This must take
place before implementation of development plans for the Old Bus Park. After design and
construction of the new terminal, Intercity services will be relocated to the new Intercity Terminal.
7.6 ESTABLISHMENT OF KTMC AND BUS AGENCY
A new entity, the Kathmandu Transport Management Committee, is proposed that will be responsible
for strategic planning, interagency coordination and securing funding for management and operation
of public transport services in the Kathmandu Valley. A further new public sector entity, the
Kathmandu Valley Bus Agency, will be responsible for tactical planning and management of public
transport operations.
In the first phase of institutional reform the Public Transport Division of DoTM will handle the functions
of both organisations. In order to achieve full benefits from the operational restructuring the two new
agencies must be established, with secure and long-term funding, in order to expand the operational
reforms to the high capacity primary routes.
7.7. PHASED IMPLEMENTATION OF PRIMARY ROUTES
Implementation of the long-term strategy for the Public Transport network should be done in a phased
manner. The priorities for implementation will be determined by the feasibility study, however the first
phase is likely to be implementation of the Primary Route that best links Koteshwor with the CBD, in
order to provide improved access to the intercity services at Koteshwor. This could be either P4
Narayangopal Chowk to Surya Vinayak, or P7 Koteshwor to New Bus Park. This will require:
• Construction of the Urban Bus Terminal to integrate with the new Intercity Terminal Facility at
Koteshwor and other terminal and depot facilities.
• Implement route infrastructure such as busways, stations/stops, control systems etc.
• Operational and business planning.
• Operator negotiation, formalisation of the Operating Company, and contract negotiation and
finalisation.
• Purchase of new bus fleet.
• Restructure secondary and tertiary routes that currently provide services in the corridor to either
act as feeders to the primary route or provide services complimentary to the primary route.
• Implement restructured Urban Public Transport services in the first corridor.
Implementation of the second and subsequent routes would take place at a pace dictated by the
technical and financial capacity of the Government and Public Transport Industry.
Public Transport Restructuring: Executive Summary Page XXIII

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview of the project

SMEC International Pty (SMEC) was appointed to undertake consultancy services for the
Asian Development Bank funded “Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project
(KSUTP)”. SMEC act as the Project Management and Capacity Building Consultant
(PMCBC) to assist the various Project Implementation Units (PIUs) in the implementation,
operation, financing and monitoring of the 2010 KSUTP’s PPTA recommendations and
other sustainable public transport improvement measures.
The objective of the KSUTP is to improve Public Transport (PT), the walking environment
and consequently the air quality in Kathmandu Valley. The main objective of the
consultancy service is to assist the PMCO in overall planning, management,
implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the Project, and in meeting the relevant
requirements of ADB and the Government for Project implementation. The PMCBC will
also assist the Project Implementation Units (PIUs) established at each of the five
1
Implementing Agencies (IAs) for the Project , through the PMCO, in various project
implementation related activities such as procurement of equipment, conducting technical
studies, assisting in preparing the documents for and transaction advisory of the contracts
under a Private Public Partnership model, etc.
The Project has four sub-sectors as shown in Figure 1-1.
Figure 1-1 Four Subsectors under the Project
1.1.1 Subsector 1: Public Transport
Public Transport will be improved and upgraded, and capacity of DOTM will be
strengthened by:
• Development and implementation of two pilot bus routes, using electric or low
emission vehicles;
• Development of a financing mechanism through Town Development Fund (TDF) to
promote PT fleet renewal by introducing low emission or electric vehicles;
• Development of a study on the reintroduction of trolley bus services in Kathmandu
• planning of the new route network, and subsequently in starting operation of the new
systems
• To design an appropriate franchise model
• Identify locations for all bus stops, lay-bys and peripheral bus terminals
Public Transport Restructuring Page 1-1

1.1.2 Subsector 2: Traffic Management
Traffic management will be improved by:

• Improvement of 14 junctions in Kathmandu city centre;
• Development and implementation of MTPD capacity building program;
• Development and implementation of a public awareness campaign to improve
citizens' driving behaviour, environment and other transport safety aspects.
1.1.3 Subsector 3: Non-motorised transport (pedestrianisation and

walkability)
Walkability in the city centre will be improved by:

• Pedestrianisation of about 8 km of the heritage routes in Kathmandu city core;
• Improvement of sidewalks in Kathmandu City Centre;
• Upgrade and/or construction of about 4 pedestrian bridges;
• Improvement of the interchange facility and of public space in Kantipath
• Public Private Partnership (PPP) advisory support for Kathmandu Metropolitan City
(KMC)
1.1.4 Subsector 4: Air Quality Monitoring
The monitoring of air quality will be enhanced by providing monitoring equipment to

support MOEST in implementing the Air Quality Monitoring Action Plan 2010– 2013.
1.2 Overview of the Public Transport Component

The Public Transport (PT) Component of the KSUTP PMCBC services falls under Task 5:
Regulatory and Technical Support as specified in the Inception report. In particular the
PT Component comprises “Regulatory Support for Industry and DOTM Restructuring” and
“Propose changes to the PT Industry and network” which have been defined as Tasks 5.2
and 5.3 and 5.3 respectively. The component activities of these tasks are as follows:
Task 5.2: Regulatory support for Industry and DOTM restructuring

5.2.1 Institutional Restructuring and Strengthening
5.2.2 Public Transport Network Restructuring
5.2.3 Planning for Public Transport Industry Restructuring
Task 5.3: Implement changes to the Public Transport Industry and Network
5.3.1 Feasibility Study for two pilot routes
5.3.2 Implementation of PT Industry Reform
5.3.3 Pilot route implementation
5.3.4 Feasibility assessment of reintroduction of trolleybus service
5.3.5 Awareness campaign

1.3 Contents of this report

This report documents the work performed by the Project Management and Capacity
Building Consultants (PMCBC) to assist the DOTM with the tasks and activities listed in
section 1.2 above.
Chapter 2 describes the Institutional restructuring and strengthening relevant to the Public
Transport Component of the study. This chapter incorporates earlier Institutional Analysis
work performed by the PMCBC and comprises:
• Policy, Legislative & Regulatory Review
• Institutional Structure Review
• Institutional Options Evaluation,
• Institutional restructuring / strengthening
The current situation, or status-quo, of Public Transport Network, Infrastructure and

Operations has been reported in Chapter 3. This includes:
• Route description
• Fleet characteristics per route
• Terminals and depots
• Demand characteristics
• Land-use plans
• GIS Data-base of Public Transport
The reform actions required to restructure the Kathmandu Pubic Transport System are
described in Chapter 4, which covers:
• Development of a route hierarchy
• Route restructuring
• Fleet rationalisation impact
• Rationalisation plan for terminals and depots
• Rationalisation plan for bus stops & lay-byes
• Bus priority and system efficiency measures
• Governance and institutional reform
• Route contracting
The impacts of the proposed restructuring are presented in Chapter 5 under the fllowing
headings.
• Fleet impacts
• Bus stops & terminals
• Impact on traffic flow
• Impact on existing operators
• Impact on labour
• Impact on passengers
• Impact on Government
• Impact on City Sustainability
Chapter 6 describes the evaluation process and selection of two routes for pilot testing of
the restructuring proposals. The report ends with an action plan for implementation in
Chapter 7.

2 Institutional Restructuring and Strengthening
Institutional restructuring and strengthening comprises Activity 5.2.1 of the PMCBC

Services. This activity has been further sub-divided into the following four work-packages:
• Review Policy, Legislation & Regulations
• Review institutional structures
• Evaluate options
• Institutional restructuring / strengthening
The work performed and findings obtained for each of these work-packages is described
in sections 2.1 to 2.4.
2.1 Policy, Legislative & Regulatory Review

2.1.1 Public Transport Policy
The documents that specify Public Transport Policy of the Government of Nepal are:
• Twelfth National Plan 67/68 to 69/70 (2011 to 2013)
• National Transport Policy 2058 (2001/2002)
Twelfth National Plan 67/68 to 69/70 B.S
The National Transport Policy 67/68 to 69/70 (2011-2013) has stated a long term vision is
to make the transport system safe, affordable, organized, non-polluting, and service-
oriented thereby making a contribution towards the economic development and
employment of the country. The transport related objectives are to:
• Enhance the dynamism of economy by improving accessibility to safe and reliable
transport services while protecting the right of Nepalese to movement.
• Make transport administration fair, transparent, swift, simple and efficient.
Existing situation
The National Plan reported that 805,614 vehicles are registered in Nepal and 120, 00,000
driving licenses has been issued by the DoTM. Ongoing actions were reported as, inter-
alia:
• Bagmati, Lumbini and Gandaki Transport Management Offices had started to update
vehicle record and issue e-billings;
• Third Party insurance requirements implemented;
• Amended Transport Management Regulation (2054);
• Introduction of a prescribed procedure for calculation of public transport fares;
• Provided free of cost driving-training to women and disable people;
• Conversion of manual driving license to smart-card and manual to embossed number
plates started1.
• Establishment of a Department of Rail commenced;
• Vehicle Fitness Test Center has been established at Teku Kathmandu;
• Practical driving license test monitored CCTV surveillance cameras; and
• Commencement of phase out of Gas Tempos from the Kathmandu Valley
1
Decision to implement embossed number-‐plates was revoked in 2011, manual number plates will continue to be used.

The plan identified the following problems and challenges related to public transport:
• Public transport has not been safe, reliable and accessible;
• Growth in vehicles numbers has not been matched by road expansion;
• Quality of Public Transport not been improved;
• No capacity enhancement to DoTM;
• Syndicate system existing by direct or indirect means;
• No mechanism of monitoring public transport vehicles;
• No availability of Zonal Office in Karnali; and
• Problems with phase out old vehicles and import of new vehicles.
Strategy
• Make transport service safe, reliable and easily accessible through inter agency
coordination and efficient transport management.
• Prioritized to operate environment friendly vehicles (such as electrical vehicles or
bicycle) meeting certain minimum standards of service after gradually replacing
polluting vehicles.
• Encourage Public Private Partnership in Public Transport services.
• Carry out feasibility study to launch programs for the expansion and development of
Railway services.
• Enhance the contribution of transport sector to revenue by controlling of leakages.
Working policy
• A long term strategic plan will be formulated and reforms will be initiated in legal,
structural as well as policy provisions including transportation policy and vehicle
registration and replacement policy to make transport management effective.
• Transport sector will be established as an effective and advanced sector equipped
with modern technology.
• A study will be carried out and necessary arrangements made to constitute a
Transportation Authority for the proper and efficient management of transport sector.
• Competition will be enhanced and scientific route permit system will be adopted in
transportation sector.
• To make public transport service safe and reliable, improvements will be made on
entire transport management system through functional coordination and
collaboration among all concerned agencies.
• Route permit system will be systematized based on the study of road conditions,
traffic density and availability of means of transportation. While adopting route system
and arrangements will be made to operate vehicles on time bound manner.
• Public transport system and transport management monitoring system will be
strengthened.
• All offices and departments will be linked in a computer network and operated
through electronic medium.
• In Kathmandu Valley, mass commuting vehicles will be encouraged and public
transport service will be made easy, safe, comfortable, accessible, reliable and
effective.
• Transport related infrastructure will be developed and regular inspection will be
carried out along with the improvement in traffic system.
• Transport management in the valley will be will be systematized by adopting Global
Positioning System.
• Transport service will be made safe by raising public awareness about vehicular
accidents and safety measures as well as enhancing discipline in the sector.

• By managing bus stops and parking lots from urban road to highways, traffic
congestion will be reduced; transport system will be strengthened and made
accessible.
• Transport management policy will be adopted in a way that balanced carrying
capacity of the road with means of transportation.
• To adopt mechanized testing system to test the condition of vehicles, vehicles fitness
test system will be implemented and expanded.
• Scientific measures of quality service will be set and old and polluting vehicles that do
not meet standard will be replaced.
• To control pollution in transport sector appropriate standards will be set, progressively
refined and implemented.
• Environmentally friendly means of transportation will be encouraged along with the
use of bio-fuel.
• Terminals along with necessary parking lots for passenger and goods carrying
vehicles in Kathmandu Valley and other urban areas will be built and operated based
on the concept of public private partnership.
• The investment, participation and involvement of private sector in public transport
service will be regulated.
• Government and local government bodies and cooperative institutions will be
involved in public transport service as per necessity.
• Existing Janakpur-Jaynagar Railway will be operated in more businesslike manner by
upgrading and expanding the railway up to Bardibas in Mahendra Highway.
• In order to control leakage of revenue in the transport sector, all transport
management records will be computerized and linked to a network along with the
adoption of scientific embossed number plates and conversion of driving license into
smart card.
The Twelfth National Plan has explicitly targeted phase out of public transport vehicles
that have exceeded maximum age limits, and / or are no longer serviceable or
roadworthy.
National Transport Policy 2058 B.S
The National Transport Policy 2058 (2001/2002) has the stated objective to develop a
reliable, cost effective, safe facility oriented and sustainable transport system that
promotes and sustains the economic, social, cultural and tourism development of Nepal.
The strategies to attain this objective are based on three principles:
• Central Government defining the limit and scope of works, and taking responsibility
for National Level Transport Infrastructure.
• Decentralised governance, with local level infrastructure to be developed and
promoted by local level government.
• Private sector participation to be encouraged for expansion and preservation of the
transport system.
The policy document outlines the general strategy covering the entire transport sector in
the country, however it has a strong focus on road infrastructure with little content
explicitly related to Public Passenger Transport.

The relevant clauses of the policy document can be summarised as:
Policy
• Utilisation of solar power and electricity for transport. (para 5.10)

• Improving 'the comfort, reliability, safety, frequency, availability and affordability of
public transport and to reducing harmful emissions arising from public transport
operations (para 5.12).
Infrastructure (para 6.1)
• Construction of transport infrastructure and operation of transport shall not be carried

out with the government subsidy. (para 6.1, bullet 11)
Motor Vehicles (para 6.2)
• Permits for transportation services shall be given only on a competitive basis.

• Roadworthiness checking of new vehicles after five years and thereafter every two
years.
• The import of the vehicles older than five years shall be restricted.
• Disposal of old vehicles and vehicle components (batteries and lubricants etc.) in a
prescribed manner.
• Means of transportation shall be reliable, comfortable, free of pollution, safe
affordable, fit to nature and standard.
Standard of service (para 6.3)
• Vehicles shall not carry goods and passengers beyond their specified capacity.
• Permission to operate all modes of transport, including air transport, shall be given
subject to provision of a high standard of service and safety for passengers.
• Regular monitoring whether or not the means of transportation are operating
according to specific standard shall be done and anyone violating the standard shall
be severely punished.
• All transport services shall be considered as an essential service.
• To take legal action against any organization and individual that obstructs to provide
an affordable and accessible transport service in competitive way.
• Compulsory life insurance of passengers and insurance of vehicles.
• Full security shall be provided to means of transportation.
Institutional Structure (para 6.4)
• Government subsidy and cross subsidy shall be stopped with the exception of
transport infrastructure and services aimed at poverty alleviation and disaster relief
service (bullet point 5).
• Termination of public transport related government corporations, and operation of
transport corporations as commercial entities to avoid reliance on government
subsidy (bullet point 6).
Public Sector Involvement (para 6.5)
• Exemption from custom duty and tax to promote private sector involvement and
promote use of non-polluting vehicles. (para 6.5.2

Rail Transport (para 7.4)
• Long term planning to identify feasible areas according to the demand for operating
rail transport within a coordinated national transport system.
• Development of rail transport on the basis of comparative benefits with road
transport.
• Private sector involvement to assist development and operation of the railway
system.
• Development of rail services in coordination with the Indian railway service.
• Consideration of reasonable utilization of hydropower production required for
electrified rail services.
The DOTM is currently updating the National Transport Policy 2001 so that it will be more
instrumental in achieving the transport objectives of the City.
• Policy to control vehicle imports.
• Specific directive to dispose of aging vehicles.
• Promotion of public transport.
• Promotion for the import of fuel-efficient and eco-friendly vehicles.
• Access restriction to different vehicles in various roads based on the size of the latter.
The DOTM prepared an action plan in 2011 to manage traffic in the Kathmandu Valley
following directives from the Finance and Labour Relations Committee under the then
Constituent Assembly. This action plan would coordinate the works of concerned
agencies (Valley’s municipalities, DOR, MTPD and DOTM) and would recommend
construction of parking areas for public vehicles at six locations around the Valley (two
facilities at Kalanki and Koteshwore designed especially for trucks).
2.1.2 Applicable Legislation and Regulations
The legal framework relevant to Public Transport includes:

• Interim Constitution of Nepal 2063 (2007), Eighth Amendment 2067 (2010)
• Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act 2049 (1993), First Amendment 2050
(1993)
• Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Rules 2054 (1997), Third amendment
2066 (2010)
• Vehicle Tax Act 2031 (1974)
• The Competition Promotion and Market Protection Act, 2063 (2007)
• Public Procurement Act 2063 (2007)
• Public Procurement Rules 2064 (2007), Second amendment 2065 (2008)
• Public Transport code of conduct 2067 B.S
• Nepal Transport Pollution Standard 2056 B.S
Interim Constitution of Nepal
The interim constitution provides the framework for governance of the country and
therefore provides the overarching legal framework for the transport sector. There is no
specific reference in the Interim Constitution to Public or Passenger Transport, however
the rights of all workers, which includes Transport sector workers, to form trade unions
and to engage in collective bargaining is specified in clause 30 (2).

Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act, 1993
Of the above legislative and regulatory instruments the key legislation governing
planning, management and operation of Public Transport services in Nepal is the Motor
Vehicle and Transport Management Act 2049 (1993 AD). The preamble to the Act
provides an overview of the goals of the act which can be paraphrased as:
Provision of safe, integrated, efficient and effective transport services to the general
public that are simple and easily accessible.
The Act is structured to legislate:
Chapter 1: Preliminary. The Act defines various terms relevant to Public Transport
Operations as follows:
• “public motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle used in the transport service;
• “transport service” means the transportation by a public motor vehicle of
passengers or goods from one place to another in consideration of fares;
• “passenger” means a person who travels by a public motor vehicle;
• “passenger motor vehicle” means a public motor vehicle providing the
• transport service to passengers;
• “route permit” means the permit to ply a motor vehicle on the approved route;
The Act divides routes into the following categories:

• “long route” means a route with a distance of two hundred fifty kilometres or more
from a point of departure for a journey to that of destination;
• “medium route” means a route with a distance of more than one hundred
kilometers but less than two hundred fifty kilometers
• “short route” means a route with a distance of twenty five to one hundred
kilometers
• “local route” means a route with a distance of less than twenty five kilometres
Chapter 2: Classification of motor vehicles.
The Act defines a Public Motor Vehicle as a motor vehicle that has been issued with
a certificate to operate a transport service. Public Motor Vehicles are classified as
either Passenger Motor Vehicles and Cargo Motor Vehicles. The passenger public
motor vehicles are further divided into day and night services and categorized into the
following classes which are specified on the licence
a) Direct service,
b) Express service; and
c) Local service.
Public motor vehicles must display a number plate with white figures and letters on a
black background, with the exception of tempo and microbuses registered in the
Bagmati Zone which must be black figures and letters on a white plate.
Chapter 3: Provisions for registration of motor vehicles
Chapter 4: Driver testing and license to drive a Motor Vehicle
Chapter 5: Licensing of persons to act as a Conductor on Public Motor Vehicles
Chapter 6 of the Act specifies Transport Management aspects. The clauses relevant to
Public Transport can be summarised as follows:

Routes
The DOTM (as the competent authority) shall designate routes as public transport
routes. A route permit is required to operate a public transport on such routes. DOTM
issues such permits, which have a validity period of four months. The route permit
must be renewed, failing which the permit is automatically revoked.
The route permit is issued to individual vehicles, subject to proof of insurance

coverage for transport workers, a satisfactory road test of the vehicle and renewal of
registration of the vehicle. The permit must also specify the name of the owner or
transport service that will operate the vehicle. The route permit may be changed, and
may also cover more than one route.
The act empowers DOTM to cease issuing permits on a particular route if sufficient
capacity to meet passenger demand has already been provided, or if additional
services would create pollution problems, or any other impact that would be prejudicial
to the public interest. Any decision to refuse a route permit must be taken in
consultation with the Transport Management Committee (refer section 3.2.2 of this
report). In issuing a route permit the DOTM shall specify the appropriate standard of
vehicle required to meet safety and passenger needs.
The Act makes provision for a route permit to be revoked if the vehicle specified on
the permit is not able to provide services on the route.
In addition to the road test required to issue a route permit, the specified vehicle must
be retested every six months.
In addition to the vehicle route permit, an operator of a transport service is also

required to obtain a licence to operate a transport service, which is valid for five years.
The application for the operators licence specifies the terms and conditions of
transport workers engaged by the operator.
Fares
The Act requires fares to be charged in accordance with a prescribed procedure.
Other aspects
Passenger tickets are also prescribed, and passengers may not travel without a ticket.
It is prohibited for any public passenger vehicle to carry passengers in excess of the
number of seats specified in the vehicle registration certificate.
A further requirement is that the Competent Authority is required to display route

maps and timetables at each bus stop.
Chapter 7 covers Traffic Control, including speed limits, traffic signs, set belts, vehicle
operation etc.
Chapter 8. Insurance requirements for motor vehicles, passengers, luggage, transport

workers and third parties are specified.
Functions, duties and powers of the Department of Transport Management are specified
in Chapter 9 of the Act. Refer to section 2.2.2 of this report for a more detailed
description.

Chapter 10 specifies provisions related to punishment.
Of relevance in Chapter 11 is clause 168. Operation of transport service in a competitive

manner. This clause states that no license shall be so issued as to allow the operation of
transport service by public motor vehicles under the queue system, for the purpose of
developing the transport business in a healthy competitive manner
Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Rules, 1997
The Motor vehicle and Transport Managements Rules, 2054 (1997) have been amended
three times with the last amendment in 2066 (2010). The regulations prescribe the rules
governing:
Registration of Motor Vehicles (Chapter 2).
Classification, standards and capacity of public motor vehicles (Chapter 3). This chapter
off the regulations defines various categories of public transport vehicles as follows:
a) Bus: With the seating capacity of 26 to 56 passengers including the driver,
b) Minibus: With the seating capacity of 15 to 25 passengers including the driver,
c) Jeep, van, pick-up and microbus: With the seating capacity of a maximum of 14
passengers including the driver,
d) Car and taxi: With the seating capacity of a maximum of five passengers including
the driver,
e) Tempo: A meter installed tempo with the seating capacity of a maximum of 4
passengers, and in the case of a tempo other than a meter installed one, with the
seating capacity of a maximum of 13 passengers including the driver,
f) Motor cycle and scooter: With the seating capacity of a maximum of two passengers
including the driver.
Maximum seating capacities are also specified in clause 18 for:

• Direct Bus service; with maximum seating capacity of 40 including the driver
• Express Bus service; with maximum seating capacity of 50 including the driver and
• Local Bus service; with maximum seating capacity of 56 including the driver
• Minibus; 25 including driver
• Micro bus; 12 to 14 including driver
Amendment of this clause will be required to allow introduction of higher capacity buses
to operate on major urban line haul routes.
Maximum vehicle ages for Public Transport Vehicles are prescribed as follows:
• Direct Bus Service: Fives years, extendable by another three years after passing a
roadworthiness inspection each year.
• Express Bus Service: Fives years, extendable by another four years after passing a
roadworthiness inspection each year.
• Express Mini Bus Service: Eight years, extendable by another seven years after
passing a roadworthiness inspection each year.
• Express Micro Bus Service on long and medium routes: Five years, extendable by
another three years after passing a roadworthiness inspection each year.
No maximum vehicle age is specified for local bus services.
Route permits for Micro Buses are limited to 300 km.

Chapter 4: Provisions related to driving license. The regulations require that the driving
license may be issued separately for a private motor vehicle and a public motor vehicle.
Chapter 5: Provisions relating to conductor license. A person acting as a Conductor on a

Public Motor Vehicle is required to obtain a Conductors License.
Chapter 6: Traffic Management. Procedures for issuance and renewal of route permits
are prescribed. A Route Permit may be suspended if the licensed vehicle is no longer
capable of providing a service on the route. The regulations make provision for the
suspension to be effected on request of the owner or manager of the motor vehicle. No
provision is made for termination or suspension of route permits by DOTM or other
designated Government or Municipal entity, other than in cases where the route permit is
not renewed by the operator. Clause 36 allows transfer of the route permit to the new
owner when a licensed vehicle is sold otherwise changed owners. Transport Service
Operators are required to apply for registration with DOTM, and supply the Company
Name, Citizenship certificates of partners and proprietors, registration certificates of
vehicles to be used, previous registration data, memorandum and articles of association,
appointment letters of drivers and conductors.
Chapter 7: Provisions relating to insurance. The vehicle owner or manager who is

operating transport service is required to provide insurance cover for death, grievous hurt
and medical expenditure of the Driver, Conductor, Checker, Helper, Security Personnel or
any other staff. The amount of cover varies with severity of injury as specified in the
regulations.
Chapter 8: Operation of training centre, factory and workshop
Chapter 9: Remuneration, terms of service and facilities of employees of transport

service. Functions and duties of drivers and conductors are specified. The regulations
require that remuneration and conditions of service comply with the Labour Act (1992)
and Labour Regulations (1994).
At the time of reporting (November 2012) a further Amendment of Motor Vehicles and
Transport Management Act is under consideration by the Ministry. The draft amendment
may prohibit franchise system of public transport through wording that prohibits a
“controlled transport system”. This is particularly relevant to the work of the KSUTP as
management or “control” of the Public Transport System by a Competent Government
Authority such as DOTM is a prerequisite to implementation of contracted or franchised
bus routes.
The Draft Proposal has however made provision (Draft Article 77 (1)) for ‘Highway Route’
permit to be awarded through a competitive bidding process.
Motor Vehicle Tax Act, 1974
The Motor Vehicle Tax Act 2031 (1974) authorizes levying and collection of annual
vehicle taxes, and imposition of fines for non-payment. Vehicles registered to
Government, Diplomatic or Non-profit organizations are exempt from the annual tax, as
are vehicles no longer capable of operation.
Competition Promotion and Market Protection Act, 2007
The Competition Promotion and Market Protection Act, 2063 (2007) aims to:

Make the national economy more open, liberal, market-oriented and competitive by
maintaining fair competition between or among the persons or enterprises producing or
distributing goods or services:
• to enhance national productivity by developing the business capacity of producers or
distributors by way of competition, to protect markets against undesirable
interference,
• to encourage to make the produced goods and services available to the consumers
at a competitive price by enhancing the quality of goods or services by way of
controlling monopoly and restrictive trade practices, and
• to maintain the economic interests and decency of the general public by doing away
with possible unfair competition in trade practices.
Chapter 2 of the Act defines and prohibits ant-competitive practices between persons or
enterprises2. Among the various prohibited anti-competitive actions are agreements that:
• restrains the purchase, sale or distribution of the goods or services of any other
person or enterprise producing or distribution identical or similar goods or services or
prevents that entry of such goods or services in the market in such a manner so as to
promote the market of only the goods or services produced or distributed by any
particular person or enterprise;
• allocates the market, mutually, between the persons or enterprises that produce or
distribute any goods or services;
• provides for the production of distribution of any goods or services on a rotational
basis or determines quota for the production or distribution of such goods or services.
Article 4 (3) of the Act states that, notwithstanding anything contained in Sub-section (2),
where any of the following acts is proved to have resulted in the commission of any of the
acts referred to in that Sub-section, it shall not be deemed to be an abuse of dominant
position:
(a) doing any activity by any person or enterprise holding dominant position in order to
enhance the quality of the goods or services that such person or enterprise has been
produced or distributed or to improve technical standards thereof and the results
achieved from such activity are applied in the interests of consumers of such goods or
services;
The involvement of the route associations in current system of allocation of route permits
(see section 3.2.4) is an anti-competitive actin and is in contravention of Chapter 2 of the
Act. The article in Chapter 4 allows a dominant player, and an umbrella organization
such as FNNTE may be considered to be such an entity, to act in an anti-competitive
manner if it is in the public interest. The article may be considered relevant to
implementing improvements in the Public Transport System through a non-competitive
process.
The Act is applicable to persons and enterprises and does not apply to Contracting of
services by a Government entity. The Act therefore does not preclude public transport
route contracting.
2
“enterprise” means any firm, company or corporate body who is engaged in the production or distribution of
any goods or services.

Public Procurement Act, 2007
The Public Procurement Act, 2063 (2007) aims to:
• make the procedures, processes and decisions relating to public procurement much
more open, transparent, objective and reliable,
• obtain the maximum returns of public expenditures in an economical and rational
manner by promoting competition, fairness, honesty, accountability and reliability in
public procurement processes, and;
• ensure good governance by enhancing the managerial capacity of procurement of
public entities in procuring, or causing to be procured, construction work and
procuring goods, consultancy services and other services by such entities and by
ensuring the equal opportunity for producers, sellers, suppliers, construction
entrepreneurs or service providers to participate in public procurement processes
without any discrimination.
Chapter 2 of the Act requires that the technical and quality characteristics of all goods,
works and services to be procured by the Government must be fully described by means
of specifications, drawings, plans, and descriptions. A cost estimate and procurement
plan must be produced. The following allowable methods are specified for procurement of
goods, construction works or other services:
• By inviting open bids at international level,
• By inviting open bids at national level,
• By inviting sealed quotations,
• By procuring directly,
• Through participation of users' committee or beneficiary group,
• Through force account.
Chapter 3 specifies in detail the bidding procedures relating to procurement options 1

and 2 above. The procedures allow for both open bidding, and bidding by pre-qualified
entities only. Prequalification criteria are determined by the Public Procuring Entity, and
specified in pre-qualification documents. Bidding documents are required to specify the
evaluation criteria and methodology. Bids are checked for completeness, substantial
responsiveness to the technical specifications, and compliance with the bid rules and
process. Only the “substantially responsive” bids are evaluated, and the lowest price bid
is checked for conformity with the qualification and evaluation criteria. If the lowest bidder
is not in conformity with the specified criteria, the next lowest bid is examined on the
same grounds until a conforming bid is obtained. Where the technical aspects of the
procurement cannot be fully specified the Act makes provision for two-stage bidding.
Two-stage bidding involves initial technical proposals from bidders, which are evaluated
for appropriateness and those bids deemed not appropriate are cancelled. The Public
Entity then invites price bids from those bidders whose bids have not been cancelled.
Chapter 4 deals with procurement of Consultancy Services and is not directly relevant to
Public Transport.
Chapter 5 specifies the procedures for procurement other than bidding. Of particular
relevance is clause 41, which makes provision for direct procurement under specific
conditions. Article 41 (1) (c) allows direct procurement “If only one supplier has the
exclusive right to supply the goods to be procured and no other appropriate alternative is
available”, and 41 (1) (d) “If additional goods or services of proprietary nature within the
prescribed limit is to be procured from the existing supplier or consultant or service
provider after it has been proved that if the existing supplier or consultant or service
provider is changed to replace or extend existing goods or services or the spare parts of
the installed machine the goods or services existing in the Public Entity can not be

replaced or changed.” In the same article it also mentioned that (3) for the direct
procurement pursuant to Sub-section (1), the Public Entity shall invite written rate or
proposal from only one supplier or construction entrepreneur or consultant or service
provider after preparing a written description as prescribed of the special matter
concerning its requirements and quality, quantity, terms and conditions and time of
supply and may procure by holding negotiations according to necessity. Provided that
such procurement shall be made only after obtaining prior approval (possibly from Public
Procurement Monitoring Office) where an approval is required under this Act and by
concluding a contract.
The above quoted articles may be relevant to provision of contracted public transport
services on routes for which an existing operator holds a valid route permit. As there is
no provision for in the Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act for DOTM to revoke
a valid route permit, the existing route operators may be considered to hold an exclusive
right to supply public transport services on the routes for which they hold permits. Article
41(1) (c) may therefore allow direct procurement of contracted public transport services.
The existing route permit holders could also be considered as existing service providers
under Article 41(1) (d) which would also allow direct procurement. Any such procurement
process would require prior approval from the Public Procurement Monitoring Office.
Chapter 6 specifies provisions relating to review of procurement proceedings or

decisions.
Chapter 7 requires a procurement contract between the Public entity and the Contractor,
and includes allowance for Variation Orders, Contract price Adjustment and Contract
period.
Provisions relating to conduct of official and bidders are described in Chapter 8 and the
role of the Public Procurement Monitoring Office is specified in Chapter 9. The Act ends
with Miscellaneous items as Chapter 10.
Public Procurement Rules, 2007, Second amendment 2008
Chapter 2 of The Public Procurement Rules, 2064 (2007) specifies regulations for
procurement proceedings, procurement plan and cost estimates that inter-alia state in
article 13 (4) “In preparing the cost estimate of transportation, the concerned public entity
shall prepare a tentative cost estimate based on the rate fixed by the rate fixation
committee in the case of a district level public entity and based on the departmental rate
and, absent even such departmental rate, based on the prevailing market rate in the
case of a central level public entity.”
Article 17 in Chapter 3 makes allowance for local manufacturing by allowing a 10% price
premium on goods manufactured in Nepal.
Qualification criteria, technical capacity and technical specifications are described in

Chapter 4 for suppliers of goods, construction entrepreneurs, consultants and joint
ventures.
Chapter 5 relates to the contents of the tender. Article 44 has relevance to contracting of
Public Transport Services. “Matters to be set down in specifications of other service: In
setting down the technical specifications of other service in the tender documents, the
public entity shall set down the following matters, as required:
(a) Scope and purpose of the service,
(b) Expected performance, tasks and service to be provided by the service provider,

(c) Descriptive literature or samples to be provided with the tender by the bidder,
(d) Terms to be abided by the service provider,
(e) Criteria and methods to evaluate the service provided by the service provider,
(f) Inspection and quality testing of work or service,
(g) Description of performance and quality guarantee,
(h) Type and quantity of training and supervision to be provided by the service supplier,
(i) Such other necessary matters as determined by the concerned public entity.
Subsection (3) of Section 85 of the regulations allows sole source procurement under 41
(1) (c) of the Act. Subsection (5) of Section 85 of the regulations limits the direct
procurement of proprietary goods under 41 (1) (d) to 30% of the existing contract price
which makes this clause of the Act not applicable for sole sourcing of Public Transport
Contracts.
(a) Section 86 (1) specifies the matters to be ascertained prior to making direct
procurement (a) Whether the goods to be procured are available in store or not,
(b) Whether the proposed construction entrepreneur, supplier, consultant or service
provider possesses the qualifications required to perform the work set forth in the
procurement contract or not,
(c) Whether the proposal submitted by the proposed construction entrepreneur,
supplier, consultant or service provider in response to solicitation by the public entity
conforms to the specifications and technical qualities determined by such entity or
not, and
(d) Whether the price offered by the proposed construction entrepreneur, supplier,
consultant or other service provider is reasonable or not.
Sub-section (2) describes the process to ascertain whether the price referred to in Clause
(d) of Sub-rule (1) is reasonable, as “the public entity may make price analysis based on
market study, previous procurement price and cost estimate and enter into negotiations
with the proposed construction entrepreneur, supplier, consultant or other service
provider”.
Public Transport Code of Conduct 2067 B.S
The Public Transport Code of Conduct 2067 B.S., reported that at the end of 2066/67
(FY) 1,015,271 vehicles were registered in Nepal. It is estimated that 50 thousand
vehicles operated each day, transporting 1,000,000 commuters.
Objectives of the Code of Conduct;
• Ensuring the women, disabled people and children are able to travel comfortably,
enjoyable and safely.
• To reduce sexual harassment on public transport vehicles.
• Provide decent standards in provision of public transport, operators and staffs.

Code of conduct for Public Transport
• Public Transport Driver and helper language should be decent and has to provide a
friendly environment for elderly people, women and children.
• Public transport has to allocate seats for pregnant women, old people, and women.
Night bus services shall allow women to be seated together.
• Rights of access to transport of elderly people, people with disabilities and the sick.
• Prohibition of smoking and placing stickers and pictures provoking sexual indecency.
• Public transport operators requested to display the message to restrict women sexual
violence and immorality and expel passengers from the vehicles if these rules are
violated.
• Prohibit passenger or luggage loading more than the vehicle capacity.
• Restriction using mobile phone while driving vehicles.
• Public transport vehicles need to display fares rate inside the vehicle for the particular
route and prohibition against taking excess fares than specified.
• Public transport vehicles need to have a clearly displayed number place.
• Public transport vehicle are required to be regularly tested and maintained.
• Stoppage, departure and arrival time needs to be followed.
• Vehicle operation related documents need to be produced for checking on request by
a member of an enforcement agency.
• Long and medium distance public transport vehicles require a First Aid box inside the
vehicle.
• Stoppage and passenger loading only at authorized places.
• Public transport vehicle driver and helper need to display their identity card.
• In case of a public transport vehicle failed complete a route, fares are to be refunded
to the passengers.
• Prohibition of any music or video that is loud and / or promotes sexual violence.
• Prohibition of pressure horns, and use of horns only when required.
• Restriction against child labor working in public transport.
• To reduce women sexual violence, women driver and helper will get priority for the
operation.
• Restriction of Public transport parking to defined locations.
For implementation of the Public transport code of conduct, there will be a central level
monitoring and implementing committee headed under Technical Director of DoTM along
with traffic police, FNNTE, labor union, national women commission. Similarly, regional
level of committee will be formed under regional level officer of DoTM to implement and
monitor the code of conduct in public transport.
Nepal Transport Pollution Standard 2069 B.S
The Nepal Vehicle Pollution Standard-2069 and the National Standard on Air Quality-
2069 BS aim to enhance environmental cleanliness at the sites important from the
cultural, religious and touristic perspectives, and to improve the air quality for residents of
these areas.

2.2 Institutional Structure Review
2.2.1 Administrative structure
Public Transport activities within the Kathmandu Valley are regulated, planned,
implemented and enforced at both Central and Local Government Levels. The
Kathmandu Valley area covers portions of three districts, Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and
Lalitpur. Within these three districts there are five Municipalities, Kathmandu Metropolitan
City (KMC), Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City, Bhaktapur Municipality, Kirtipur Municipality
and Madhyapur Thimi Municipality together with one hundred and forty five Village
Development Committees (VDC's).
Figure 2-1 Administrative levels of Government in Kathmandu Valley
The geographical boundaries of the various administrative structures are shown in the
following figure.

Figure 2-2 Administrative boundaries in Kathmandu Valley
2.2.2 Roles and functions of government agencies
Department of Transport Management (DOTM)
3
The Institutional Baseline Assessment of DOTM prepared by this project reported that
the Department of Traffic and Transport Management (DoTM) of the Ministry of Physical
Planning, Works and Transport Management (MPPW&TM) is the main responsible
agency for transport planning, management, policy formulation and regulations. The
Ministry has been subsequently renamed the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and
Transport. DoTM is also responsible for co-ordination with national and international
agencies, relating to management and execution of the functions.
3
Baseline Assessment of Institutional Capacity of Department of Transport Management (DoTM), KSUTP,
October 2011

As specified in the Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Act 2049 (1993) the
functions of the department are as follows;
• To determine policies as required on operation of transport service upon conducting
or causing to be conducted, study and research works on financial and technical
aspects thereof, for operation of the transport service in an organized and effective
manner.
• To give necessary directions to persons, firms, companies or organizations related to
transport service in an organized and effective manner.
• To prescribe the priority of the carriage of goods as per necessity, and give
necessary direction to the persons, firms, companies or organizations related to the
transport service for carriage of goods in accordance with that priority.
• To determine routes, as per necessity, for the operation of the transport service,
having regard to the pressure of passengers and determine the fares of public motor
vehicles plying on the routes.
• To make arrangements for installing traffic signals at public places in accordance with
international practices.
• To determine speed and weight of motor vehicle and the number of passengers to be
seated in a motor vehicle.
• To prepare and determine necessary criteria tests to be conducted on mechanical
condition and status of motor vehicles.
• To perform such other functions as may be necessary for the consolidation of the
transport service.
Other legislated functions of DoTM include:

• Vehicle emission pollution control and monitoring and fixing of pollution standards.
• Implementation of transport security system.
• Time-to-time interaction among transport owners, entrepreneurs, workers and users
and conduction of workshops.
• Issuance of driver and conductor license.
• Vehicle inspection and condition monitoring and issuance of road worthiness
certificate.
• Implementation of vehicle registration system and issuance of blue-book.
• Implementation of road safety audit.
• Installation of road signs and markings.
• Installation, operation and maintenance of traffic signals.
• Improvement of intersection including grade separation.
• Design and construction of subways and flyover.
• Computerized traffic control system implementation.
• Coordination with Customs authorities and Nepal Police.
• International transport operation and management.
• Planning of electric transportation system.
• Posting speed and weight limits of vehicles.
• Giving permission for excavation of pavements and footpath.
• Issuance of license for operation of driver training centre, vehicle body.
The DoTM consists of a central level Government Department and under it there are 13
Zonal Transport Management offices (ZTMO) and 6 service center units. ZTMOs are
responsible for registration, renewal and title transfer of vehicles, collections of vehicle
tax, issuance of driving license, issuing route permits, regulating pollution standards of
vehicles, testing the fitness of vehicles, monitoring and regulating the provisions of laws
regarding transport management.

Within the Kathmandu Valley the Bagmati ZTMO performs this function. The traffic police
under the Ministry of Home Affairs have taken responsibility for ZTMO’s functions related
to traffic management.
Transport Management Committees
Matters relating to routes, fares and operations are handled by Transport Management
Committees in accordance with Chapter 9 of the Motor Vehicles and Transport
Management Act, 2049. These committees are chaired by the Chief District Officer of the
district where the Transport Management office is located, and have representation from
District Police, Transport Entrepreneurs and Transport Workers’ Unions. The committees
have the Chief of the District Transport Management Office as the Member Secretary. A
representative from DOR is invited for the purpose of providing technical expertise. The
functions, duties and powers of the transport management committee are defined in
clause 155 of Chapter 9 of the Act as follows:
a) To engage public motor vehicles in operating the transport service in order to
operate the transport service within its area in an uninterrupted manner;
b) In the event of necessity, to fix a route for a certain period at a place where a route is
not fixed within its area for the operation of the transport service on that route, to fix
a temporary route and make a recommendation to the Department for the fixation of
fares of the public motor vehicles plying on that route;
c) To inspect, or cause to be inspected, whether the public motor vehicles are
operating the transport service within its area upon obtaining the route permit and
have renewed the permit from time to time;
d) To inspect, or cause to be inspected, from time to time, whether the public motor
vehicles plying within its area have undergone the road tests from time to time and
whether they have provided the regular transport service subject to this Act or the
Rules framed hereunder;
e) To conduct study on matters including the pressure of passengers and the number
of motor vehicles within its area, and if it appears necessary to operate the transport
service at any place, to make recommendation to the Department for the
determination of a route at that place; and
f) To perform such other functions as may be necessary for the smooth operation of
transport service within its area.
Other Government Agencies
In addition to DOTM, there are a number of other agencies that are responsible for
related matters, namely:
• The Department of Roads (DOR) is responsible for design and planning of roads.
• Metropolitan Traffic Police Division, with delegated authority through DOTM is looking
after overall management control, and enforcement of traffic rules and regulations.
• Municipal Level Governments are responsible for local roads, footpaths, bus stops
and laybyes. The relevant Municipal structures as shown in the earlier figure are:
o Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC)
o Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City
o Bhaktapur Municiplaity
o Kirtipur Municipality
o Madhyapur Thimi Municipality

2.2.3 Roles and functions of Public Transport Operators
Public transportation in the Kathmandu Valley is exclusively road based, with no railway
service. The road-based modes operated comprise bus, minibuses, micro buses and
tempo. Historically the Government provided transport services, which over time have
been replaced by private sector operations as described below.
Government provision of Public Transport services
In 1962 Sajha Yatayat was established as a cooperative public transportation

organization with majority Government Ownership to provide efficient and affordable
public transport services in, and beyond, the Kathmandu Valley, as well to inter-district
travellers and cross-border services.
Excessive staff numbers, fare revenue leakage and political interference in operational
decisions resulted in Sajha Yatayat ceasing to be viable, and operations were halted in
2007.
The company has subsequently restructured to preclude Government Intervention in

operational maters and with a new Board of Directors. In 2013 the company procured 16
Tata buses with seating capacity of 54 and with Euro III Diesel propulsion. At the time of
reporting Sajha Yatayat operated the vehicles on two model routes, after obtaining the
necessary route permits.
The National Transport Corporation (NTC) (under the then Ministry of Works and
Transport) implemented a trolley-bus service in 1975. Thirty-two vehicles were utilized on
the route of approximately 13 km that ran from Tripeswor in the Kathmandu Metropolitan
Municipality) to Suryabinayak in Bhaktapur Municipality.
In 2001 the NTC was dissolved and the trolleybus operation was suspended. Then in
2002 Kathmandu, Madhyapur Thimi and Bhaktapur municipalities that are served by the
trolleybus line agreed to revive the operation and operated by the Kathmandu
Metropolitan City (KMC). Later in 2003 the route was subsequently shortened to a 5 km
section within Kathmandu from Tripeswor to Koteshwor The shortened service was
subsidized by the KMC.
Reinstatement of the original route extending to Bhaktapur was however not possible due
to a combination of cable theft on the Koteshwor – Surabinayak section, and upgrading of
this section of the Arniko Highway under JICA funded works. The trolley-bus service on
the Tripeshwor – Koteshwor sector was terminated in 2009 due to cost pressures on the
KMC caused by maintenance problems with the aging fleet and infrastructure. All
properties related to the service including the station building in Minbhawan and old
trolley buses were handed over to the government. Currently, its office compound at
Baneshwar is occupied by the Melamchi Water Supply Project. A part of its space is
managed as battery charging station for Safa tempos, where they get uninterrupted
electric supply even during load shedding.
Private Sector provision of Public Transport services
The decline in government controlled public transport created opportunities for private
sector operators to provide services without the constraints imposed on the public sector
operators. Initial informal and independent private sector operations underwent a process
of self-regulation with establishment of route associations that control vehicle dispatching
from route terminals.

After termination of the trolley bus and the previous Sajha Yatayat bus services, all road-
based public transport services are operated by private operators and companies. A
formal structure developed with route associations being affiliated to a national transport
operators association, Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs
(FNNTE). FNNTE was established in 1982 to protect the interest of the road transport
entrepreneurs of all over the country, to work as federal central organization of the
associations, committees and companies of public transport entrepreneurs of all over the
country.
Operators are organised into approximately 100 route- and mode-specific associations
and companies within the Kathmandu Valley. These organisations are predominantly
structures that represent transport entrepreneurs on a specific route or corridor. Each
organisation will typically only represent a single type of vehicle, so different
organisations often exist for services on the same route. The number of individual
operators is not known, but will be several thousand.
The individual operators on a specific route are members of a Route Association based
on a particular area or route, or that may represent operators on several routes. The
route network is rather complex and within a specific corridor there may be several
different routes, which differ only slightly from each other. This situation has arisen when
a new route permit application will not be issued if there were sufficient services on the
existing route. In such a case the new permit application may specify a “new” route that
was, in effect, only a minor variation on the existing route. This has resulted in a number
of different associations representing different operators on the same route or corridor.
The route associations are also mode-specific, so each mode (tempo, micro-bus, minibus
etc) will have its own association. Route Committees exist to coordinate the activities of
the various mode-specific associations that operate on a common route.
Whilst there is no regulatory compulsion for an operator to be a member of a Route

Association, in practice the Route Association restricts issue of new permits for the
operation on its route unless the operator becomes its member. (see para 2.2.4). The
Route Associations for a specific mode (e.g. Micro-bus) are in turn members of Zonal
Associations, which in the case of Kathmandu is the Bagmati zone. At a National level
the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) represents the
interests of both passenger and freight transport operators. FNNTE is registered with the
Ministry of Home Affairs under the National Registration Act of 2018 (1959), and is
therefore legally recognised as a national organisation that may represent the constituent
local associations.
Regulation of routes, public transport permits and terminal space is effectively managed
by the route associations, with the public sector only endorsing the agreements reached
at operator level.
In addition to FNNTE, a further umbrella organisation, the Electric Vehicle Association of

Nepal (EVAN) represents the interests of Safa Tempo Owners, Operators of electric
vehicle charging stations and manufacturers of electric vehicles and associated
equipment.
A process of formalization of independent operators into cooperatives and companies

has occurred since the 1980’s. This has been motivated predominantly by the desire of
operators to seek economies of scale with the managerial and administrative tasks of
operating a public transport vehicle. A cooperative structure allows an owner of one or
two vehicle to achieve substantial time and cost savings by allowing the cooperative to
handle compliance with vehicle licensing, route permits, vehicle tax, pollution check,

fitness check, and in particular insurance and personal injury or death claims. In addition
to transport cooperatives a number of bus management companies have been
established.
Evolution of Public Transport services in Kathmandu
The evolution of public transport governance in Kathmandu is shown in the following

figure.
Figure 2-3 Evolution of the Kathmandu Public Transport Governance Structure
The distinction between the functions of route associations, cooperatives and companies
is somewhat blurred. Sajha Yatayat was re-opened in 2012 structured as a cooperative
free of Government control, but it operates as a commercial bus company with
operations, fleet ownership and revenue collection all managed by the company. In
contrast some bus management companies operate like a cooperative with vehicles
owned by individual shareholders, staff employed individually by vehicle owners and fare
revenue paid directly from drivers to vehicle owners.
At the time of reporting Sajha Yatayat and Nepal Yatayat were the only bus management
cooperative / company that took full responsibility for fleet and revenue management. In
Nepal Yatayat’s case vehicle ownership was not with the company but the individual
shareholders.

From interviews with a number of bus management cooperatives and companies in the
Kathmandu Valley the functions provided by each of these governance structures were
identified. The following table provides a comparison of the functions of route
associations, cooperatives and companies.
Table 2-1 Functions of Public Transport Operator Governance Structures in

Kathmandu
Function Route Public Bus
association Transport Management
Cooperative Company
Management of route operations
Terminal management

Vehicle dispatching

Depot facilities

Vehicle management
Vehicle ownership

See note 1
Provision of short-‐term finance

Vehicle licensing, permits, testing

Vehicle & third party insurance

Claim settlement

Vehicle operation
Vehicle operation costs: fuel, tyres etc

Vehicle maintenance cost

Labour
Collective wage negotiations

Employment of drivers and conductor

Social security for staff (medical,
insurance, pension
Fare / revenue management
Fares received by owner per vehicle

Fares received by company and profit

distribution as dividends
Key
= Shared between co-‐operative and
vehicle owner
Notes: 1. The only “company” that owns the vehicle fleet is Sajha Yatayat, which is structured as a
cooperative. Other companies are interested in purchasing vehicles but currently the vehicle fleet is
still owned by individual shareholders
2.2.4 Management of route permits and route operation
De-facto regulation of route permits by Operator Associations
The Motor Vehicles and Transport Management Act clearly describes the role of DoTM
and Zonal Transport Management Committees in assessing passenger demand on
routes in relation to the supply of transport services on the route when considering
applications for new route permits. A vehicle owner, or potential owner, who wishes to
enter the public transport market, is required to register the name of the transport service

with the ZTMO, and then apply for a route permit for the preferred route. The legislation
specifies that ZTMO, and the relevant Transport Management Committee then considers
existing demand and supply on the route before issue of the route permit. If the ZTMO
considers that additional capacity is required, it may approve the application and issue
the route permit. Conversely if ZTMO considers that there is already sufficient capacity
the application will be rejected. The Transport Management Committee may also
recommend to ZTMO that a permit should be issued to an operator for an additional
vehicle on an existing route, or for an entirely new route.
In practice the procedure for issuing new route permits is effectively under control of the
route associations and the federation. An agreement between DoTM and the FNNTE has
resulted in permits only being issued by ZTMO after approval by the relevant operators
association that controls the route for which the new permit is sought. A prospective new
operator must therefore select the route on which the new service will be operated and
make an application to the operator association that controls the route. If the association
agrees that a new vehicle may operate on the route the new operator is required to join
the route association and pay an entry fee. The amount of entry fee varies in accordance
with the profitability of the route. The association will subsequently apply to ZTMO for
issue of a new permit on the route.
A market for the sale of route permits also exists, whereby a prospective operator may
purchase a route permit from an existing permit holder. As route permits are issued to a
specific vehicle, the relevant operator association then requests ZTMO to issue a permit
to the new owner. If the prospective operator purchases both the permit and vehicle the
relevant operator association then requests ZTMO to transfer the existing permit to the
new owner.
The allocation of routes and route permits governing the number of buses that can
operate on a given route is inefficient. Permits are not based on estimates of existing
transport capacity (supply) and the demand of commuters but is based on the commercial
business interests of transport operators. A related issue is that the DoTM does not have
reliable data on the actual numbers of vehicles in service on a given route, but is
dependent upon the route associations for this information.
Route Management by Operator Associations
The relevant operator association manages operations on each route. This includes
administration of licences for their members, provision of insurance cover, dealing with
accidents, and arranging vehicle finance. Timekeepers at terminals control the departure
of vehicles on the route. Each association will provide its own timekeeper where the route
is served by more than one association. Both DoTM and Operator Associations accept
that there is a general oversupply of public transport vehicles that are licensed to operate.
To counter this situation the Operator Associations have implemented a “Dial System”.
The “Dial System” ensures equal operational trip making for each operator in the
association, as vehicles have to stand in queue and wait for their turn to operate. Thus
transport services are constrained by a cartel of operators.
The effect of the procedures described above were interpreted in the PPTA report as:
In effect, the federations, through the associations, are the regulators of public
transport, and the DOTM is an administrator.

2.3 Institutional Options Evaluation
The present institutional framework and performance of the DOTM have been extensively
4
documented in the Institutional Baseline Assessment of DOTM prepared by this project
and will not be repeated in detail in this document. A table of strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats was presented in Chapter 5 of the above report and is
summarised below:
Figure 2-4 SWOT Analysis of DoTM
Formulation of potential improvements to the institutional structure is included in a

comprehensive report on training and capacity development for the Department of Traffic
Management (DoTM) and is not duplicated in this report.
2.4 Institutional restructuring / strengthening
Implementation of the proposed institutional restructuring and strengthening will follow

approval of the proposed restructuring and strengthening plan. Documentation for this
process will be prepared under a separate report.
4
Baseline Assessment of Institutional Capacity of Department of Transport Management (DoTM), KSUTP, October 2011

3 STATUS-QUO INVESTIGATION OF PUBLIC

TRANSPORT NETWORK, INFRASTRUCTURE AND
OPERATIONS
The Terms of reference for this project specified that the consultant will review the
existing public transport network and practices and will identify current technical
constraints in the sector such as system efficiency, utility operations, and responsiveness
to users, differentiating the degree to which operational issues are a result of
underinvestment, poor investment planning, maintenance, ineffective management, lack
of operational expertise, or other issues. The Status-quo investigation comprises the first
task of Activity 5.2.2 of the PMCBC services: Public Transport Network Restructuring,
namely:
• Status-quo investigation of PT Network and infrastructure

o Route description
o Fleet characteristics per route
o Terminals and depots
o PT Demand characteristics
o Land-use plan
After a description of the existing road network and vehicle registrations in the
Kathmandu Valley the above listed aspects, together with current public transport fares,
are described in sections 3.3 to 3.8 of this chapter. The chapter ends with an evaluation
of existing conditions.
3.1 Existing Road Network

3.1.1 Road Hierarchy
Public transport in the Kathmandu Valley is exclusively road based. Residents are
therefore dependent upon the road network to provide mobility and access to work, social
and recreational activities. The existing road network relevant to Public Transport
generally falls under the jurisdiction of the DOR. Roads managed by DOR comprise:
• National Highways. Three National Highways exist in the Kathmandu Valley. The
Tribhuvan Highway (H02) that runs from Central Kathmandu to the west via, Kalanki,
Thankot and Nagdunga. The portion of H02 within the Kathmandu Valley is 14.46 km
in length, all within Kathmandu District. This Highway is of major national
significance, linking the capital region with the Western areas of Nepal, and India.
The Arniko Highway (H03) runs from Central Kathmandu to the east, via Thimi and
Bhaktapur, and ultimately to link with the Chinese Border. 6.2 km of H03 is in
Kathmandu District and a further 14.12 km in Bhaktapur District. The third National
Highway is the Ring Road (H16) which runs through the Kathmandu (21.00 km) and
Lalitpur (7.00 km) Districts A fourth National Highway, the Outer Ring Road is also
designated (H21) however only short portions of this route exist.
• Feeder Roads. This category of road is lower than National Highway, and consists of
major feeder roads that link district headquarters to the national Highways, and minor
feeder roads that connect major towns and villages to the major feeder roads.
• Strategic Urban Roads. These roads comprise the majority of the primary road
network in the Urban Areas, and also serve traffic through the urban area.

The five municipalities of Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Thimi and Kirtipur. are
responsible for managing urban roads, other than Strategic Urban Roads.
In areas outside the five Municipalities, rural (District) roads are managed by District
Councils while Local Roads and Village Roads are the responsibility of Village
Development Committees.
For the purposes of developing a Public Transport network, Urban Roads have be
classified as:
• Special roads, with 15m Right of Way (ROW). This category only applies to two
routes, namely:
o Durbar Marg, that runs south form Narayanhiti Palace along the eastern side of
Thundikhel and links via Prithvipath to Singha Durbar; and
o Feeder Road F086 linking Jadibuti on H03 to Pepsicola, east of the airport.
• Arterials with 11m ROW. These routes are comprised generally of the major feeder
roads running radially into the city centre, namely:
o F021 from Balaju to Tripeshwor
o F022 from Kirtipur Road to Balkhu
o F024 from Satdobato to Jawalakhel
o F025 from Budhanilkantha to Lainchaur
o F026 from Jorpati to Chabahil and
o F103 from Ekantakuna to Narayanhiti Palace
• Arterials, classified as Strategic Urban Roads, are:

o Pashpupati Road from Hattisar to Gaushala
o Teendhara Marg linking Durbar Marg to Hattisar Road
o Batisputali Road from Gaushala to Old Baneshwor
o Narayanhiti Path from Kantipath to Nag Pokhari
o TU Road between Balkhu and Kalimati
• Connector Roads with 7m ROW. These are generally Strategic Urban Roads.
The importance of a particular road section in the Public Transport Network is primarily
determined by the passenger demand on the road section. The function of the road is, to
a degree related to the passenger demand, as national highways and, to a lesser extent
Feeder Roads, link the main population and employment centres with the City Centre.
The roadway width, however, also has an impact as this imposes a constraint on the
capacity of the road, and hence a limitation on the person carrying potential. For these
reasons the road network map shown on the following page shows both the function of
the road (National Highway and Feeder Roads) with the roadway capacity for urban
arterials and connector roads.

Figure 3-1 Existing Road Network and Village Development Committees

3.1.2 GIS Mapping
A Geographical Information System (GIS) was used to map and present the Public
Transport System in the Kathmandu Valley. The KSUTP GIS system uses the Quantum
Geographical Information System software (QGIS). This software is Open Source, and
thus available for use with no license fees. It provides functionality similar to the industry
standard ArcGIS (ESRI) software. Use of Open Source software will enable DoTM to
utilise the system without costly software license fees. It is intended that this system will
provide a tool for planning and management of Public Transport Operations.
The QGIS software and PDF Manual are available for download from http://qgis.org.
Source data
The primary source data used in the KSUTP GIS system is "Digital Land-use Map of
Municipalities of Kathmandu Valley, January 2008" (prepared by Kathmandu Valley Town
Development Committee, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works). This source has,
inter-alia, road centre-line, road reserve, and building footprint, for Kathmandu
Metropolitan City, Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City, Bhaktapur Municipality, Kirtipur
Municipality and Madhyapur Thimi Municipality. The coordinate reference system (CRS)
5
used by these layers is Everest 1830 Modified (1937 adjustment) / Central Nepal
A second data source for Kathmandu Valley was GIS Datasets for the three Districts of
Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. These were developed by International Centre for
Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) in 2000 for the Publication "Kathmandu
Valley GIS Database Bridging the Data Gap, 2000". This data is at a lower level of
resolution than the Municipal Data, but covers the whole of the Valley plus the areas of
the three districts that fall outside the valley. The PMCBC was unable to determine the
CRS used by this data set, and a custom procedure was therefore developed to
transform the Valley dataset to obtain acceptable correlation with the Municipal dataset.
The procedure was as follows:
• The dataset was imported using the Everest 1830 Modified (1937 adjustment) /
Central Nepal CRS, with modified x and y shift parameters of +y_0=-780
+x_0=604163
• With this CRS the Kathmandu Valley Data sets displayed poor correlation with the
Municipal Data, and the WGS84 data from Google Earth. Through a process of trial
and error it was established that the imported Shape Files must be rotated by
approximately 1.3 degrees to give a reasonable fit with the other data sources.
• The dataset was rotated by applying an Affine Transformation of 1.3 degrees
(0.022689 radians) to the Valley dataset around an origin of x =630171.7, y=
3064271. This gave affine transformation parameters of:
X Y
Scale 0.999742609 0.999742609
Rotation 0.022687334 -0.022687334
Translation 69682.33866 -13508.20078
• After transformation the rotated data was shifted by applying a new CRS with
modified x and x shift parameters of +y_0=1590 +x_0=604145
5
Parameters: +proj=tmerc +a=6377276.345 +b=6356075.41314024 +units=m +y_0=-‐295 +x_0=499981 +lat_0=0 +lon_0=84
+towgs84=296,732,273,0,0,0,0 +no_defs
NB: the x and y shift parameters (+x_0 and +y_0) in the above CRS have been modified by the KSUTP from the standard
values of 500000 and 0 respectively to give a better fit with WSG84 data from Google Earth.

A third data source was mapping of public transport routes in the Kathmandu Valley
prepared as part of the JICA funded project “Traffic Improvement in Kathmandu Valley”.
This data was formatted as compressed Google Earth paths, which were imported into
the KSUTP GIS used WGS84 as the appropriate CRS.
Data developed by the PMCBC
In the course of the project the PMCBC developed various data for inclusion in the GIS.
Spot locations were geo-referenced by either:
• WGS84 coordinates obtained from identification of the site using Google Earth or
Google Maps.
• Identification of the site through site survey and insertion in the GIS in relation to
known points on the municipal or valley road network shape-file in the GIS.
3.2 Public Transport vehicles
There are three categories of public transport services in the Kathmandu valley as
follows:
• City transport services: to operate within the built-up areas or core areas of
Kathmandu Valley, generally within the Ring Road.
• Commuter bus services: to operate services of between 1 and 1.5 hours travel time
beyond the build-up area, serving towns and villages mostly within the Kathmandu
valley, such as Bhaktapur, Thimi, Kirtipur, Nagarkot, Godawari, Dakshinkali, Thankot
and other important towns. These commuter services are also referred to as “Valley”
Routes”.
• Long distance bus services: to connect Kathmandu and cities and towns throughout
Nepal.
A variety of different vehicles are used, namely: Bus, Minibus, Microbus, Safa Tempo,
Gas Tempo and conventional taxis as illustrated on the following page.

Figure 3-2 Public transport vehicle types

Tempo: Three wheeled vehicle, with seating for 13, including driver
Safa Tempo: Battery powered electric vehicle Gas Tempo: LPG powered vehicle
Microbus. Small 4 wheeled vehicle with maximum capacity of 14 including driver

Standard Indonesian Blue
Minibus. Maximum capacity of 25 including driver
Bus: Wide range of vehicles with capacity between 26 and 56 including the driver
Direct service <40 Seats Express service <50 Seats Local service <56 Seats
At the end of the 2069/2070 fiscal year (July 2013) the cumulative number of motorised
vehicles registered in the Bagmati Zone of DoTM was 682,000 as shown in the table
below.

Table 3-1 Cumulative vehicles registered within Kathmandu Valley

Public Truck & Others Car, Jeep, Van Motorcycle Total
Transport & Pickup
2003/04 12752 9694 57047 124610 204103
2004/05 14105 10177 69307 140157 233746
2005/06 15153 11213 72910 162858 262134
2006/07 16021 11879 77106 190104 295110
2007/08 17107 12990 83642 230742 344481
2008/09 18321 14618 89611 272542 395092
2009/10 19233 16393 98753 322542 456921
2010/11 19970 17536 106794 390022 534322
2011/12 20561 18201 113733 459476 611971
2012/13 21462 19129 122628 519077 682296
Notes:
1. Data sourced from DoTM Bagmati Zonal Office
2. Public transport comprises Buses, Minibus, Microbus and tempo
3. Other comprises Dozers, Loaders, Ambulances, Graders, Tractors
4. Pick-ups, Diplomatic and UN vehicles have been added to the category Car, Jeep & Van.
Analysis of the registration data reveals that the number of motorcycles registered in the
Valley has grown at an average of just under 17% per annum over the last ten years.
The last three years, have shown a declining trend, with the annual growth rate reducing
from 21% in 2010/11, to 18% in 2011/12 and 13% in 2012/13.
In comparison the average annual growth rates over the last ten years for Public
Transport vehicles and Cars were 6% and 9% respectively.
The data tabulated above is shown graphically below.
Figure 3-3 Cumulative vehicles registered within Kathmandu Valley

As of July 2013 motorcycles comprised 76% of motorised vehicles registered in the

Kathmandu Valley, while Cars made up 18% of the vehicle fleet. In contrast the
combined Public Transport fleet of 21,462 vehicles only comprised 3% of total registered
vehicles.
Table 3-2 Average growth of registered Public Transport vehicles
Bus Mini Bus Micro Bus Tempo Total PT
2013 Registration 7368 5912 2882 5300 21462

10 year average growth rate 11.3% 7.6% 12.7% 0.2% 6.3%
5 year average growth rate 9.0% 5.4% 3.3% 0.0% 4.6%
As shown in the preceding table, the public transport fleet has grown at an average of 6.3
% per annum over the last ten years, while the average rate over the last five years is
significantly lower at 4.6%.
The high ten-year rate of growth of microbuses is due to a significant fleet expansion
between 2003 and 2005. Subsequently the number of new microbuses being registered
has substantially declined.
There has been very few additions to the Tempo fleet in the last ten years, and negligible
new Tempos registered in the last five years.
New fleet investment has generally been in the larger vehicle types with new bus and
minibus registrations growing at 9% and 5.4% respectively over the last five years.
The declining rate of growth can be clearly seen in the following figure that plots the
cumulative number of public transport vehicles registered within the DoTM Bagmati Zone.
Figure 3-4 Cumulative registered public transport vehicles

The data shown in the preceding tables and figures comprises the cumulative number of
vehicles registered by DoTM Bagmati Zonal Office. As such the cumulative number adds
new registrations to the number of registered vehicles of the preceding year. The
registration system, however does not record the payment of annual licence fees against
the specific registered vehicle. As a result it is not possible to determine whether a
particular registered vehicle is still operational or not. Vehicles that have been registered
outside the Bagmati zone are removed from the data, however there is no mechanism to
remove scrapped or non-operational vehicles from the data. The numbers shown above
therefore reflect a substantial over-estimation of the total vehicle fleet.
An estimation of the operational numbers of each vehicle type was made by the recent
JCA study through interviews with Public Transport Operators. The results are shown in
the figure below.
Figure 3-5 Estimated Public Transport vehicles operating within Kathmandu

Valley
#%&$
!"#$
%&#'$
%&#'$
()*+,$ -./0,123$ -.4.123$ 5607)$823$

Source: JICA Final report Table 6.3.1
3.3 Route description
As described in the preceding section there are three categories of bus services in the
Kathmandu valley as follows:
• City bus services: which operate within the built-up areas or core areas of Kathmandu
Valley, generally within the Ring Road.
• Commuter bus services: which operate services of between 1 and 1.5 hours travel
time beyond the build-up area, serving towns and villages mostly within the
Kathmandu valley, such as Bhaktapur, Thimi, Kirtipur, Nagarkot, Godawari,
Dakshinkali, Thankot and other important towns. These commuter services are also
referred to as “Valley Routes”.
• Long distance bus services: that connect Kathmandu and cities and towns throughout
Nepal.
The PMCBC has extracted route, vehicle and operator data from the DoTM register of
route permits at DoTM Bagmati Zonal Office. This information has been captured in Excel
format and, at the time of reporting, route descriptions for each permit are being captured
in the GIS.

Until such time as the official DoTM route permit descriptions have been captured in the
GIS and error checked the route descriptions presented in the PPTA report, and route
mapping prepared under the JICA funded Traffic Improvement Study have been utilised
by the PMCBC. These two data sources show significant variations in routes, which will
be resolved by the PMCBC later in the project through reference to the DoTM records,
interviews with operator associations and reference to DoTM route permits. The routes
description shown in this section should therefore be considered as only indicative of the
route structure and coverage, until such time as the PMCBC has verified the information.
3.3.1 Bus routes
Seven routes served by Large Buses were identified in the route mapping obtained from
the JICA funded study, with terminal and stop locations identified by the PMCBC.
Mapping shown is output from the KSUTP GIS.
The bus routes comprise services in both directions around the Ring Road, and Valley
Routes to the East, West and South:
1) Ring Road in a clockwise direction.
2) Ring Road in counter-clockwise direction.
3) Old Bus Park to Sisneri, via Tripureshwor, Kalimati, Balkhu and Dakshinkali.
Operated by the Dakshinkali Bus Sewa Committee.
4) Old Bus Park to Melamchi, via SIngha Durbar, Maitighar, New Baneshwor,
Koteshwor, Surya Binayak, Banepa, Dhulikhel and Panch Khal. This route is
operated by the Kathmandu Helambu Yatayat Committee.
5) Old Bus Park to Dhulikhel via Singha Durbar, Maitighar, New Baneshwor,
Koteshwor, Surya Binayak and Banepa. This route covers a shortened portion of
route 4) above, and is operated by the Kavre Bus Entrepreneurs Association.
6) Old Bus Park to Nepalthok in the Kavre District, via Banepa, operated by the Kavre
Bus Entrepreneurs Association.
7) Old Bus Park to Nag Dhunga on the western edge of the Kathmandu valley, via
Tripureshwor, Kalimati, Kalanki and Thankot.
Sajha Yatayat operates on two routes as follows:

1) Kalanki to Tbibhuvan International Airport, via Thapathali and Tinkune.
2) Lagankhel to New Bus via the CBD and Narayangopal Chowk.
These routes are shown in the figure below.

Figure 3-6 Routes operated by Buses

3.3.2 Mini Bus routes
Mini Bus routes comprise a combination of Valley Routes, and City Routes, as shown in
Figures 3-7 and 3-8 respectively, were identified in the route mapping obtained from the
JICA funded study.
Figure 3-7 Routes operated by Mini Buses

Figure 3-8 Routes operated by Mini Buses inside Ring Road

3.3.3 Micro Bus routes
Micro Bus routes are predominantly City Routes, with a limited number of routes
extending outside the Ring Road into the Valley area as shown in Figures 3-9 and 3-10.
Figure 3-9 Routes operated by Micro Buses

Figure 3-10 Routes operated by Micro Buses inside Ring Road

3.3.4 Tempo routes
Tempo routes comprise City Routes, with limited routes extending outside the Ring Road
as shown in Figure 3-11.
Figure 3-11 Routes operated by Tempos

3.4 Fleet characteristics per route

The fleet characteristics per route were obtained from field surveys performed by the
PMCBC at terminals in October and November 2012.
Table 3-3 Fleet characteristics of routes from Inner City Terminals

Name of operating route Vehicle Fleet Service Trips /
type size type veh /
day
Old Bus Park
1. Old Bus Park -‐ Banepa -‐ Barhabise Bus 24 Inter City 1
2. Old Bus Park -‐ Banepa -‐ Chautara Palanchwok Minibus 30 Inter City 1
3. Old Bus Park -‐Panauti Minibus 80 Inter City 3
4. Old Bus Park -‐ Doramba Ramechhap Minibus 10 Inter City 3
5. Old Bus Park -‐ Kandaghari -‐ Mulpani Minibus 15 City 3
6. Old Bus Park-‐ Sallaghari -‐ Duwakot Minibus 10 Valley 3
7. Old Bus Park -‐ Chabhil -‐ New Bus Park Minibus 80 City 4
8. Old Bus Park -‐ Kalanki -‐ Thankot Minibus 50 Valley 6
9. Old Bus Park -‐ Balkhu -‐ Kirtipur Minibus 75 Valley 8
10. Old Bus Park -‐ Chyamasingha Bus 25 Valley 4
11. Old Bus Park -‐ Mulpani -‐ Sankhu Minibus 30 Valley 3
12. Old Bus Park -‐ Balkhu -‐ Pharping -‐ Daxinkali Bus 32 Valley 3
13. Old Bus Park -‐ New Bus Park Bus 50 City 4
14. Old Bus Park -‐ Bhaktapur Minibus 105 Valley 2
15. Old Bus Park -‐ Banepa-‐Dhulikhel Microbus 15 Inter City 3
16. Old Bus Park-‐ check post Thankot Minibus 8 Valley 6
17. Old Bus Park-‐ Sundarijal Minibus 35 Valley 3
18. Old Bus Park -‐ Chabhil -‐ New Bus Park Microbus 55 City 8
19. Old Bus Park -‐ Satungal Microbus 5 City 6
20. Old Bus Park -‐ Thankot Microbus 100 Valley 6
21. Old Bus Park -‐ Jiri Minibus 3 Inter City 3
22. Old Bus Park -‐ Manthali Minibus 2 Inter City 2
23. Old Bus Park -‐ Charikot Microbus 1 Inter City 1
24. Old Bus Park -‐ Charikot -‐ Singali Minibus 5 Inter City 5
25. Old Bus Park -‐ Lishana Bus 1 Inter City 1
26. Old Bus Park -‐ Jiri -‐ Manthali (supar) Microbus 20 Inter City 1
27. Old Bus Park -‐ Melamchi Microbus 14 Inter City 7
28. Old Bus Park -‐ Charikot -‐ Barbre Microbus 1 Inter City 3
29. Old Bus Park -‐ Charikot -‐ Singeh Microbus 2 Inter City 2
30. Old Bus Park -‐ Charikot -‐ Lapiko Microbus 1 Inter City 1
31. Old Bus Park -‐ Daxinkali Bus 32 Valley 6
32. Old Bus Park -‐ Kirtipur Minibus 83 Valley 12
33. Old Bus Park -‐ Thankot Minibus 56 Valley 9
Bhaktapur Bus Park
1. Bagbazar To Bhaktapur Minibus 35 Valley 12
2. Bagbazar-‐Changunarayan Minibus 7 Valley 3
Ratna Park
1. Ratnapark -‐ Singhadurbar -‐ Babarmahal -‐ Tilganga Microbus 30 Valley 8
NAC
1. NAC -‐ Smakhusi -‐ Tokha -‐ Manamaiju Tempo 26 Inter City 8
2. NAC – Naxal -‐ Bhatbhateni -‐ Harigau Tempo 26 Inter City
3. NAC – Anamnagar -‐ Old Baneshwor Tempo 72 Valley 8
4. NAC -‐ Katyani -‐ Milan chock Tempo 125 Inter City 8
5. NAC – Kalimati -‐ Chhauni Tempo 54 Inter City 7
6. NAC – Lainchaur -‐ Teaching Tempo 72 Valley 8
7. NAC -‐ Maitidevi -‐ Naxal Tempo 125 Inter City 8

8. NAC -‐ Jamal – Thamel -‐ Samakhusi -‐ Tokha -‐ Manamaiju Tempo 26 Inter City 8
9. NAC – Jamal -‐ Naxal -‐ Bhatbhateni -‐ Hadigau Tempo 26 Inter City 8
10. NAC -‐ Anamnagar-‐ Naya Baneshwor-‐ Old Baneshwor Tempo 43 Valley 10
11. NAC-‐ Katyani-‐ Milanchock Tempo 20 Inter City 10
12. NAC-‐ Maitidevi-‐ Singhdurbar Tempo 35 Valley 10
13. NAC -‐ Tripureshwor-‐ Kalimati-‐Balkhu-‐Nakhu Tempo 26 Inter City 8
14. Samakhusi-‐ Malpi-‐ Tokha-‐ Manamaiju Tempo 26 Inter City 8
15. NAC-‐Lainchaur-‐Galfutar Tempo 72 Valley 8
16. NAC -‐ Maitidevi-‐Milan Chowk Tempo 125 Inter City 8
17. NAC -‐ Bansbari -‐ Narayanthan Microbus 50 Valley 8
Table 3-4 Fleet characteristics of routes from Kathmandu Municipality Terminals

day
Balkhu
1 Kathmandu – Hetauda – Birgunj – Nijgadh Jeep 237 Inter City 1
Baluwatar
1. Baluwatar – Jamal -‐ Kupandol – Mangalbazar Tempo 17 City 5
Chapal Karkhana
1. Chapal Karkhana – Chandol – Bishalnagar – NAC Microbus 10 City 10
Dallu
1 Dallu paropkar-‐ Teku-‐ Sanepa-‐ Lagankhel Tempo 27 City 7
2 Dallu-‐ Kupandol-‐ Lagankhel Tempo 8 City 8
Gongabu
1. Manamaiju – Gongabu – Lainchaur – NAC Microbus 6 City 6
2. Balajutar – Gongabu – Lainchaur – NAC Microbus 12 City 12
Kalanki
1. Kalanki – Koteshwor Microbus 62 City 6
2. Kalanki – Ratnapark Tempo 28 City 12
3. Kalanki – Kaushaltar Tempo 8 City 12
4. Kalanki – Lubu Microbus 25 Inter-‐City 7
Machha Pokhari
1. Goldhunga -‐ Janamaitri Hospital Microbus 90 City 90
2. Balaju-‐ Phutung Minibus 17 City 17
New Bus Park
1. New Buspark-‐ Gaushala-‐ Surya Binayak-‐ Kamal Binayak Minibus 100 City 3
2. New Buspark-‐ Gaushala-‐ Ratnapark Minibus City 2.5
3. New Buspark-‐ jamal-‐ kapan Minibus 10 City 2.5
4. New Buspark-‐ Purano thimi Minibus 17 City 3
5. New Buspark-‐ Chappal-‐ NB -‐ Koteshwor Minibus 100 City 4
6. New Buspark-‐ Sorha khutte-‐ Ratnapark Tempo 10 City 10
Old Baneshwor
1. Old Baneshwor -‐ New Baneshwor -‐ Bijulibazar -‐ Tempo 43 City 10
Anamnagar -‐ NAC
Samakhusi
1. Samakhusi -‐ NAC Microbus 6 City 6
2. Tokha -‐ Samakhusi -‐ Lainchaur -‐ NAC Microbus 13 City 6
3. Shensha Hotel -‐ Lainchaur -‐ NAC Microbus 18 City 8
Sankhamul
1. Sankhamul -‐ New Baneshwor -‐ NAC Microbus 10 City 10
2. Sankhamul -‐ Boudha Tempo 38 Valley 10
Shwayambhu
1. Shwayambhu-‐ Dallu-‐ Sobhabhagabati-‐ Khusibu-‐ Microbus 26 City 6
Sorhakhutte-‐Lainchaur
Sinamangal
1. Sinamangal -‐ Old Baneshwor -‐ Maitidevi -‐ NAC Tempo 35 City 7

2. Sinamangal -‐ Shanti nagar -‐ NAC Microbus 15 City 7

Sitaplia
1. Sitapaila -‐ Paropakar -‐ NAC Tempo 26 City 6
Table 3-5 Fleet characteristics of routes from Lalitpur Municipality Terminals

day
Bagdole
1. Nakhkhu – Bagdol – Sanepa – NAC Tempo 15 City 15
Gwarko
1 Gwarko – Mangal Bazaar – Tripureshwor – Ratnapark Tempo 12 City 12
2 Gwarko-‐ Old Baneshwor-‐ Singha Durbar – Ratnapark Tempo 46 City 10
Lagankhel
1. Lagankhel -‐ Tikathali Microbus 10 Inter-‐City 5
2. Lagankhel -‐ Daxinkali Microbus 6 Inter-‐City 3
3. Lagankhel -‐ Daxinkali -‐ Kiritpur Microbus 10 Inter-‐City 3
4. Lagankhel -‐ Koteshwor -‐ Chabhil Microbus 30 Inter-‐City 7
5. Lagankhel -‐ Gwarko -‐ Sanagau -‐ Lubu Microbus 40 Inter-‐City 3
6. Lagankhel -‐Bungmati -‐ Khokana -‐ Charikhel Inter-‐City
7. Lagankhel -‐ Chapagaun Microbus 70 Inter-‐City 5
8. Lagankhel -‐ Dharachaur Microbus 4 Inter-‐City 3
9. Lagankhel -‐ Kalanki Minibus 70 City 4
10. Lagankhel -‐ Kita chaur Minibus 13 Inter-‐City 5
11. Lagankhel -‐ Dhulikhel Minibus 15 Inter-‐City 4
12. Lagankhel -‐ Dhapakhel Minibus 50 Inter-‐City 4
13. Satdobado -‐ Lagankhel -‐ Ratnapark Microbus 80 City 8
14. Lagankhel -‐Ratnapark Microbus 20 City 7
15. Lagankhel -‐ Godawari Microbus 25 Valley 4
Mangal Bazaar
1. Mangal Bazaar -‐ Jamal -‐ Baluwatar Tempo 17 City 5
Patan Dhoka
1. Patan Dhoka-‐ Tripureshwor-‐ Shahidgate-‐ Jamal-‐ Bus 30 City 6
Satdobato
1 Satdobato-‐ Lagankhel-‐ Pulchock-‐ Kupandol-‐ Jamal Microbus 40 City 6
Table 3-6 Fleet characteristics of routes from Outlying Terminals

day
Gothatar
1. Gothatar-‐ Subidhanagar-‐N.B.-‐ Ratnapark. Microbus 35 City 4
Jorpati
1. Jorpati-‐ Medical College-‐ Kalanki. Microbus 60 City 4
Naikap
1. Naikap-‐ Koteshwor Tempo 30 City 4
2. Matatirtha-‐ Gurjudhara-‐ Kalanki-‐ Galphutar. Minibus 16 City 3
The above listings will be cross-checked against fleet details obtained from analysis of
the comprehensive listing of route permit data collected from DoTM (refer section 3.3).
The approved passenger carrying capacity of each route will be determined from the
number and capacity of public transport vehicles that have been issued route permits by
DoTM. The approved capacity per route will be cross-checked against the actual
capacity provide on each route, which will be derived from an assessment of the number
of vehicles reported to be operational by each route association. Due to the multiplicity of

routes, and many variations on routes, capacity per route will be aggregated into major
corridors of movement.
3.5 Fares
Fare levels are set by DOTM, with regular reviews and updates to take into account
increases in public transport operating costs. Public Transport fares are a highly emotive
issue and increases evoke vociferous objections from various groups. The absolute level
of fare however reflects acknowledgment by the government of the social nature of
transport and therefore results in a degree of under-recovery by operators.
The current fare structure is distance based and for services within, and up to 4 km
beyond, the Ring Road are shown in the following table. Trips that are beyond 4km from
the Ring Road (or 0 – 25 km in rural areas) are charged at Rs 2.02/km.
Table 3-7 Public Transport Fares (amended in April 2013)

Distance category Fare (NPR)
0 – 4 km 15
0 – 5 km 17
0 – 6 km 18
0 – 8 km 19
0 – 10 km 21
0 – 13 km 23
0 – 16 km 25
0 – 19 km 26
Above 19 km 27
3.6 Terminals and depots

In this report the terminology defined in the PPTA report has been adopted. This defined
the following, where the term “bus” is used to refer to any mass public transport vehicle,
including tempos, microbuses, minibuses and full-sized buses:
• Bus Stop: A place at the side of the road where buses may stop to set down or pick
up passengers en route. Officially designated bus stops should be marked with an
appropriate sign. A lay-by, enabling buses to stop out of the traffic stream, may or
may not be provided. A shelter for waiting passengers may or may not be provided.
• Terminal: The point where a bus route starts or ends. This may be a roadside bus
stop, an off-road parking space with no facilities, or a bus station with limited or
extensive facilities.
• Bus Station: An off-road facility where buses may call to set down or pick up
passengers en route, or where bus routes may terminate. Buses on routes which
terminate at the bus station may stand at the bus station between journeys. Facilities
for passengers and crews, such as shelters, toilets and food kiosks, may be provided.
• Depot: An off-road facility where buses are serviced and maintained, and parked
when not required for service. Passengers are not normally permitted to enter a
depot, although a depot may be constructed adjacent to a bus station; in such cases
there should be measures to prevent passengers from gaining access to the depot.
• Interchange: A bus stop or bus station where passengers transfer from a vehicle on
one route to a vehicle on another route in order to complete their journeys.

3.6.1 Terminals
Inner City Terminals
Four public transport terminals are located within the City Centre of Kathmandu. As
shown in the figure below, these are:
Figure 3-12 Inner City Terminals

Old Bus Park, which is the
main Bus terminal for
Kathmandu. It is located to
the east of the Tundikhel. The
terminal is used by all three of
the service types, namely City
Services within the Ring
Road, Valley services and
Long Distance services. The
surface is paved, covering an
area of approximately 2,600
sq.m.
Bhaktapur Bus Park, also

known as Bagbazaar, is
located off-street just north of
the Old Bus Park. The
terminal is small (approx. 500
sq.m.) and gravel surfaced.
This a very basic terminal with
no shelters, seating or other
passenger facilities. As the
name implies the terminal
serves routes to Bhaktapur
and neighbouring towns. These services are provided by minibuses.
The NAC terminal is located on Kantipath Road west of the Tundikhel and adjacent to the
Nepal Airlines Corporation building. The terminal is used by tempos microbuses and
minibuses which load in a demarcated, on-street, zone south of New Road on the
western side of Kantipath Road.
Ratna Park Terminal is also an on-street facility, north of the Tundikhel, serving tempos
microbuses and minibuses which load on both sides of Ratna Park Road.
Characteristics of the suburban terminals are summarised in the following table

Table 3-8 Physical characteristics of Kathmandu Municipality Terminals
Information systems:
Approx area (sq.m)
Paved footpath
Rubbish bins:
Accessible by
Telephones:
wheelchair?
Capacity:
Lighting:
Location
Seating:
Shelter:
Toilets:
Paving:
Balkhu Kerbside 400 Gravel None None Route None None None Limited Yes None
Baluwatar Kerbside 90 Sealed None None Route None None None None Yes Limited
Chapal Karhana Kerbside 100 Gravel None None Route None None None None Yes None
Dallu Kerbside 150 Sealed None None Route None None Limited None Yes None
Gongabu Kerbside 100 Sealed None None Route None None None None Yes None
Kalanki Offstreet 200 Sealed None None Route None None None None Yes None
Macha Pokhari (Balaju Recessed 200 Sealed None None None None None None None Yes Adequate
Bypass)
New Bus Park Offstreet 600 Sealed Structure Limited Route name, Limited Limited Limited Limited Yes Limited
description &
timetable
Old Baneshwor Kerbside 125 Sealed None None Route None None None None Yes Limited
Samakhusi Kerbside 100 Gravel None None Route None None None None Yes None
Sankhamul Kerbside 500 Sealed None None Route None None None None Yes None
Shwayambunath Kerbside 600 Gravel None None Route None None None None Yes None
Sinamangal 3 200 Gravel None None Route name None None None None Yes None
Sitapalia 3 600 Gravel None None Route None None None None Yes None

Table 3-9 Physical characteristics of Lalitpur Municipality and Outlying Terminals
Information systems:
Approx area (sq.m)
Paved footpath
Rubbish bins:
Accessible by
Telephones:
wheelchair?
Capacity:
Lighting:
Location
Paving:
Shelter:
Seating:
Toilets:

Bagdole Kerbside 120 Gravel None None Route None None None None Yes Limited
Gwarko Kerbside 220 Gravel None None Route None None None None Yes None
Langankel Offstreet 1900 Sealed None None Route None None None None Yes Limited
Mangal Bazaar Kerbside 25 Sealed None None Route None None None None Yes Adequate
Patan Dhoka Kerbside 500 Sealed None None Route None Limited Limited None Yes Limited
Satdobato Kerbside 75 Sealed None None None None None None None Yes Limited
Ghothatar Offstreet 60 Sealed None None None None None None None Partial Limited
Jorpati Kerbside 150 Gravel None None Route None None None None Yes None
Naikap Kerbside 150 Gravel None None Route None None None None Yes Limited

Characteristics of the four city centre terminals are summarised in the following table
Table 3-10 Physical characteristics of Inner City Terminals

Old Bus Park Bhaktapur NAC Ratna Park
Bus Park
(Bagbazaar)
Location Off-‐street Off-‐street Kerb-‐side Kerb-‐side
Capacity: Approx area (sq. m) 2600 500 700 300
Paving: Sealed Gravel Sealed Sealed
Shelter: None None None Structure
Seating: Limited None Limited None
Information systems: Route names Route names Route names None
Lighting: Limited None Limited Limited
Toilets: Limited None None Limited
Rubbish bins: Limited None None None
Telephones: None None None None
Accessible by wheelchair? Yes No No No
Paved footpath Limited Limited Adequate Adequate
The locations of public transport terminals within, and in the vicinity of, the ring road are
shown in the figure below.
Figure 3-13 Terminals within and adjacent to the Ring Road

3.6.2 Depots
Sajha Yatayat has depot facilities on Pulchowk Road in Lalitpur, which were reopened to
accommodate the reintroduction of Sajha Yatyat bus services.
There are no other functioning formal public transport depots in the study area. The
industry structure of numerous individual operators, results in very small fleet sizes, with
informal depot facilities provided by each operator.
The liquidated trolleybus service of NTC had depot facilities immediately east of the
International Convention Centre at Min Bhawan. These facilities are currently used as a
charging station for Safa Tempos.
3.6.3 Stops
Bus stops are generally poorly identified and mostly informal, with public transport
vehicles stopping at any place with significant passenger demand. The major public
transport boarding and alighting points within the Ring Road are shown in the following
figure.
Figure 3-14 Bus stops within and around Ring Road

Outlying public transport stops are shown below:
Figure 3-15 Outlying public transport stops
3.7 Demand characteristics

For the purposes of the Status-Quo investigation secondary data sources were used to
quantify demand characteristics. The main data sources were the PPTA report and the
report “Data Collection on Traffic Improvement in Kathmandu Valley, Draft Final Report,
July 2012, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).”
From household interview data, the JICA study estimated that the 2.444 Million people
living in the Kathmandu Valley make 3.438 million one-way person trips each day.
Figure 3-16 Trip composition by mode (2011)

Walk was identified as the
main transport mode, with
nearly 41% of trips made
by walking. Nearly 28% of
passenger trips were made
by bus (including microbus,
minibus and tempo), while
26% were made by
motorcycle.
Source: JICA Final report Table 6.3.1

Figure 3-17 Passenger trip ends (2011)
Source: Data from JICA Study on mapping from KSUTP GIS
3.7.1 Areas of major trip generation and attraction
Figure 3-18 below shows the relative number of vehicle trip ends per traffic zone by
mode. It can be clearly seen that the central zones within Kathmandu and Lalitpur
Municipalities (zones commencing with 100 and 300 respectively) have the largest
number of trips starting or ending within the zone. The large differences in vehicle trip
ends in Figure 3-18, from passenger trip ends in Figure 3-17, is due to substantially
higher percentages of walk trips in certain zones (Particularly 105, 604 and 605)
Major trip producing and attracting zones generally lie on an east – west axis in the
Southern Portion of Kathmandu Municipality, consisting of Zones:
• 110: Kalanki, Chhauni, Kalimati
• 114: Indrachowk
• 117: Bhrikuti Mandap, Bagbazaar and a portion of Puthali Sadak
• 118: Singha Durbar, a portion of Puthali Sadak, Dilli Bazaar and Maiti Devi
• 106: Old Baneshwor, Sinamangal and Airport
• 107: New Baneshwor
Further major trip producer / attractor zones that are not located on the east west axis
are:
• 103: Located at the northern extremity of Kathmandu Municipality, comprising
Maharajganj and Dhumbarahi.
• 112: Comprising the Balaju Industrial area in the northwest of Kathmandu
Municipality.

The Zones with Lalitpur, in comparison, generate approximately 30 to 50% of vehicle trips
generated to and from the zones located within the Kathmandu Municipality. The
Municipalities of Madhyapur-Thimi, Bhaktapur and Kirtipur have only a minor impact on
total trips.
Figure 3-18 Passenger transport vehicle trip ends by Mode
Vehicle trips are dominated by motorcycles, shown as the pink section of the pies charts.
Purple denotes bus (including tempo, microbus and minibus) vehicles and green denotes
cars (including taxis).
Figure 3-19 shows an enlarged view of the data in the preceding figure, to more clearly
distinguish between zones within the Ring Road.

Figure 3-19 Passenger transport vehicle trip ends within the Ring Road by Mode
3.7.2 Trip distribution and travel patterns
The Kathmandu and Lalitpur Municipalities comprise 50.3% of the Valley’s population
and the travel patterns reflect this fact with 51.5% of daily trips occurring within these two
municipalities.
The travel pattern is highly radial with the vast majority of trips starting or ending in
Kathmandu Municipality, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 3-20 Person trip desire lines for all trip purposes (2011)
Source: Origin Destination data from JICA Study, analysed and mapped by PMCBC

In the preceding figure the person trip origin – destination data has been aggregated for
6
the traffic zones in the CBD , and only one-way trips exceeding 2,000 per day are shown.
The JICA study produced similar figures to that shown above for the different trip
purposes of: To work, To School, To home, Business and Other. There was negligible
difference in the travel patterns found for the various trip purposes.
3.7.3 Corridor passenger volumes
The PMCBC has requested DOR to provide the traffic model developed under the JICA
funded study to enable the PMCBC to assess passenger volumes on each public
transport corridor. At the time of reporting this had not yet been provided. As an interim
measure corridor volumes have therefore been assessed from traffic counts at various
locations on the road network, and average vehicle occupancy figures.
Table 3-11 Average vehicle occupancy
Bicycle 1 Tempo 7.8 Light Truck 1.8

Motorcycle 1.1 Microbus 12.7 Heavy Truck 1.9
Car 1.9 Minibus 17.4
Taxi 2 Large bus 25.6
The following figures show vehicle and passenger volumes, over both 16 and 24 hour
periods of a typical weekday on the following routes:
• Ring Road, National Highway H16
• Thankot – Dulikhel, along National Highways H02 and H03
• Nakkhu – Budhanilkantha, along F103 from Nakkhu, through PUlchowk and
Kantipath and F025 thorough Maharajganj to Budhanilkantha
• Chabal – Mulpani, on F026 passing through Bouddha and Jorpati
• Balaju – Thamel, on F021
The numbers shown on the X axis of the figures refer to the traffic count station number
as defined in the JICA study.
Figure 3-21 Passenger and vehicle volume in major corridors
6
Zones 101, 108, 109, 113,114, 115, 117 & 119

Source: PMCMC based on data reported in JICA Study
The graphics above show similar volumes on the major North-South and East-West
Corridors. These routes each carry approximately 200,000 passengers, and 70,000
vehicles per day on the route sections within the Ring Road.
The Ring Road carries slightly lower volumes, with the heaviest trafficked section being
the North-Eastern Quadrant, between Gaushala and Koteshwor where passenger
volumes are approximately 170,000 per day. The South-West Quadrant, between
Satdobato and Kalanki carries the lowest volume of around 100,000 passengers per day.
The North-eastern corridor running from City Centre through Boudhha and Jorpati carries
approximately 140,000 passengers per day, whilst the North-western corridor to Balaju is
used by approximately 100,000 passengers per day.

3.8 Land-use plans

The following figure, sourced from 2008 data from Kathmandu Valley Town Development
Committee, shows the following current major land-uses in the study area:
• Industrial: Yellow in Figure 3-22, comprising the Balaju Industrial Estate, Patan
Industrial Estate in Satdobato, and Industrial zones in Thimi and Bhaktapur. Although
not shown in the figure overleaf, a further industrial area is located around the
Pepsicola factory in Sinamangal
• Institutional: Purple. This land-use is extensive, with major zones being:
o Kathmandu: Chhauni Military Area, Singha Durbar Government Administration,
Diplomatic areas at Panipokhari and Baluwatar, Hospital and Police services at
Mharrajganj, and an educational area at Bishalnagar.
o Lalitpur: Government and Diplomatic zone at Harihar Bhawan, Lalitpur
Engineering Campus at Kupondole, Science and Technology Academy at
Satdobato, Military Barracks and Courts at Lagankhel and various institutions
along the Ring Road between Satdobato and Gwarko.
o Kirtipur University complex
o Madhyapur – Thimi: Janak Education Centre at Sano Thimi.
o Bhaktapur Military Barracks
• Heritage & Cultural: Red. The predominant areas being the Swayambhu and
Pashpupati temple complexes, and Durbar Squares in Kathmandu, Patan and
Bhaktapur.
• Mixed use: Light Blue

Figure 3-22 Major land-uses
Source: Mapping from KSUTP GIS, using data from Kathmandu Valley Town Development Committee, 2008

Land-use planning for both current and future years has been comprehensively reported
in “Data Collection on Traffic Improvement in Kathmandu Valley, Draft Final Report, July
2012, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).” Population was assumed to grow
at 4.18% per annum, and GDP per Capita at 2.89%. Increasing wealth has a flow through
impact on vehicle ownership, which was assumed to grow at 5.05% and 8.28% for
motorcycles and cars respectively.
Two land use scenarios were developed in the JICA study:
1.The first scenario comprised a trend of expansion of the urbanised area to the suburbs.
It was assumed that the same land use and trip distribution patterns as the present
would continue.
2.The second scenario assumed development in the Kathmandu – Bhaktapur corridor in

order to relieve congestion in central Kathmandu. This involves development along the
Arniko Highway, enabling the Kathmandu City to remain compact and sustainable.
The new development was planned to develop into a “Sub-City-Centre” due to good
accessibility, proximity to the International Airport, and the abundance of open land for
development.
These two development scenarios are shown in the following figure, which illustrates
Cases 1 and 4 from the JICA analysis. Cases 2 and 3, are not shown as they comprise
the same land use development as Case 1, and only differ in the transport infrastructure
supply.
Figure 3-23 Land use development scenarios
Source: Reproduced from Section 8.4.2, JICA Study

3.9 Evaluation of existing conditions

The current public transport route network is complex and comprised of approximately
200 routes as follows:
• Bus, 7 Routes prior to reintroduction of Sajha Yatayat, which added 2 more routes.
These routes are generally on the higher order roads. Bus routes from the west and
east use National Highways H02 and H03 respectively, while services run in both
directions around the Ring Road (H16). A further large bus service links Dakshinkali
to the City Centre along Feeder Road 022. The Sajha Yatayat services. Sajha
Yatayat runs two services Kalanki - CBD - Airport and Satdobato - CBD -
Maharajgunj - New Bus Park .
• Minibus, 93 Routes. Microbus routes run on the National Highways and Feeder roads
in the Valley. They are generally radial, linking outlying areas with the City Centre.
• Microbus, 73 Routes. The coverage of the microbus network is similar to the minibus
network, with slightly greater coverage within, and north-of, the Ring Road than the
mini-bus network. In contrast the microbus network provides slightly less coverage to
southern and eastern valley areas.
• Tempo, 20 Routes, which are generally within the Ring Road.
From analysis of the existing route structure and operations a number of problems are
apparent:
1. Duplication of routes. On most of the main corridors there are duplicate routes
operated by tempos, micro-buses and minibuses. In many cases permits have been
issued for routes that only show minor variations from existing routes. Up to twenty
minor variations on a route have been observed.
2. Inefficient vehicle type. The existing system uses many small tempos and
microbuses to operate line haul services on high demand corridors. The high
numbers of small, low-capacity, vehicles operating on the main corridors results in
increased traffic congestion and overall inefficiency of the public transport system.
3. Concentration of route terminals in the City Centre. Roadside terminals in the City
Centre result in obstruction to general traffic flow due to parked vehicles blocking
traffic lanes and the movement of pubic transport vehicles into and out of loading
areas.
4. Poor passenger facilities at City Centre terminals. The dispersed location of city
centre roadside terminals (Sahid Gate, NAC & Ratna Park) results in significant
walking distance for passengers who need to transfer between routes. There are
negligible facilities such as seats and shelters at these terminals.
5. Poor quality of service. Household interviews by JICA revealed that commuters with
the option to use private transport elected not to use public transport due to:
a. Travel Time longer when Public Transport is used
b. Irregular operation without timetable
c. Delays caused by bus waiting for full capacity before departure
d. Overcrowding
e. Waiting time at bus stops

In contrast existing bus users identified the following as the main aspects of the
existing system that required improvement:
a. Reduced travel time
b. Lower fare
c. Improved safety
d. Comfort in vehicle
The underlying cause of these factors can be attributed to the business structure of
the public transport industry in which the majority of public transport vehicles are either
owner operated or rented to a diver by the owner. This results in the driver of the
vehicle carrying the risks and rewards of collecting fare revenue. This incentivizes
driver behavior that maximizes revenue such as overcrowding, speeding, illegal
stopping, waiting mid-route for passengers etc.
6. On some routes there is an oversupply of vehicles, requiring use of the “Dial”

system to regulate the days on which specific vehicles may operate, and conversely
there is insufficient capacity on other routes.

4 Proposed Public Transport Reform Actions
Chapter 3 has described the status-quo of public transport in the Kathmandu Valley, and
identified weaknesses in the current operations. To summarise the preceding section the
core problems are:
• Duplication of routes, with multiple uncoordinated operators.
• Inefficient and inappropriate vehicle types, causing traffic congestion and
environmental degradation.
• Congestion in the city centre from the multitude of Public Transport terminals and
loading areas.
• Poor quality of service to users.
• Inadequate passenger facilities.
• Weak regulation resulting in old, poorly maintained, vehicles and an oversupply of
vehicles on some routes.
To address these core problems this chapter maps a way forward for reforming the Public
Transport system in the Kathmandu Valley to support the economic development of the
region whilst minimising negative environmental and social impacts. The reforms are
intended to:
• Support the Nepal short and long term national development goals.
• Facilitate coordination between the various Government Agencies responsible for
Transport in the Valley, namely Department of Transport Management, Department
of Roads, Kathmandu Valley Development Authority and the various Municipalities
and Village development Committees.
• Represent the viewpoints of the numerous stakeholders such as business, residents,
academic institutions, NGO’s and other interest groups.
• Align the transport sector interventions of various donor agencies with Government
priorities for investment in transport infrastructure, service improvements, programs
and research.
A Vision of where we want to be…
The transport system in the Kathmandu Valley should be economically, socially and
environmentally sustainable, by:
• Increasing system efficiency by reducing travel distances and/or the need to travel by
integrating urban land use planning with transport planning and implementing travel
demand management measures.
• Promoting trip efficiency through modal shift to higher capacity and more
environmentally sustainable modes of transport.
• Encouraging vehicle efficiency through the use of more resource efficient and
environmentally friendly transport modes and vehicle technology.
• Promoting the non-motorised modes of walking and cycling.
• Ensuring transport infrastructure construction and maintenance practices are
resource-efficient and environmentally friendly.
• Ensuring equitable access to transport services.

To achieve this vision the following actions are proposed:
1. Integration of urban development and transport planning in order to:

a) Develop an efficient city structure.
b) Encourage high-density housing, retail and commercial activities along major
public transport corridors.
c) Encourage mixed-use developments and transit orientated development at
major transport nodes.
2. Managing Travel Demand through promotion of ride-sharing, telecommuting
3. Promotion of Non-motorised transport
4. Reform of the Urban Public Transport System
a) Route restructuring and network integration
b) Fleet renewal
c) Prioritising Public Transport by providing physical infrastructure for bus priority
d) A new Business and Institutional Model comprising:
• Public Sector taking responsibility for Regulation, Planning and Managing
Public Transport Services.
• The Private Sector continuing to operate public transport services, through
newly established company or cooperative structures.
• Public Transport services being operated in terms of a contract or franchise
agreement between the Government and the Route Operator
• Strengthening the capacity of the Public Sector to regulate, plan, manage and
enforce public transport
The scope of services covered by the Public Transport Component of the KSUTP is
limited to point 4 in the above list, namely reform of the Urban Public Transport System in
the Kathmandu Valley. It must be stressed that, although points 1, 2 and 3 are not
covered by this report, they are essential components of achieving the desired vision for
transport in the Valley. An integrated approach to transport planning requires all four
aspects to be addressed.
Figure 4-1 that follows, shows the relevance of the proposed actions to the three major
stakeholder groups, namely:
• Users of the public transport system

• Government
• Operators and labour involved in the public transport industry

Figure 4-1 Public Transport reform objectives and actions

Users:
Access to economic & social opportunities through
an affordable, safe and convenient Public Transport
system

- Integrated urban
& transport - Ensure code of
planning - A logical network conduct
- Using NMT to of restructured routes - Safe, clean &
support & - Physical comfortable
compliment PT infrastructure for bus vehicles
- Manage Travel priority
demand - High capacity
- Improve vehicles on major
passenger facilities routes
- Integrated fares &
ticketing
A Commercial Business
Government: Model comprising:
A Transport system that - Public Sector
supports development of Regulation, Planning & Operators & Labour:
the Kathmandu Valley in Management
A profitable business
an economically, socially - Private Sector
that provides decent
and environmentally Operators
employment
sustainable manner. - Route contracts /
franchises
The proposed public transport system for the short and medium term is exclusively road
based, and is defined as the network of roads that will be used by road-based public
transport vehicles.
In the long term it is possible that the Public Transport Network may include rail based
modes, however the evaluation of rail based mass-transit modes is outside the scope of
this study.
The steps in the reform process are described in the respective sections of this chapter
as follows:
• Develop a public transport route hierarchy. This is presented in Section 4.1, in
which the vehicle type and size is appropriate for the passenger demand and
compatible with the roadway width and alignment on the route. The output of this step

is maps showing the roads used by the primary, secondary and tertiary public
transport networks.
• Restructure the public transport network. The Route restructuring step developed
bus routes for each tier of the route hierarchy based upon passenger demand
characteristics, the existing route structure and the principle of linking major areas of
trip generation and trip attraction. This is reported in Section 4.2
• Rationalise the public transport fleet. Implementation of the route restructuring will
replace large numbers of small vehicles on the primary and secondary public
transport networks with fewer numbers of larger vehicles. The impact of this fleet
rationalization has been defined and is reported in Section 4.3.
• Support the restructured network with terminals and depots. The requirements
for terminals and depots for the restructured routes are given in Section 4.4.
• Provide convenient access to the public transport network. Bus stop design
principles are discussed in Section 4.5 and guidelines proposed for bus stop location,
spacing and design
• Maximise system efficiency by prioritizing public transport services. Section 4.6
investigates the options for improving system efficiency by prioritising Public
Transport through provision of physical infrastructure for bus priority
• Develop institutional structures and capacity to manage and operate public
transport. Implementation of commercial operations on the restructured route network
will require new capacity with the Public Sector to plan and manage the public
transport system as well as formalization of independent operators into commercial
entities. The governance and institutional requirements are discussed in Section 4.7.
• Implement a business model based on bus service contracting. The business
model proposed for use on the restructured public transport network requires
implementation of higher quality services operated by the Private Sector under
contract to the Public Sector. The appropriate bus service contracting models are
discussed in section 4.8.
4.1 Development of a route hierarchy

The inappropriate and inefficient mix of vehicle types on public transport routes, and
imbalance between supply and demand within the system, can be addressed by
restructuring of the route network. The route restructuring will include reallocation of
vehicle types so that the most appropriate type of vehicle operates each route. In
simplistic terms this means that on routes with high passenger volumes the most efficient
vehicle type will be the largest that may be operated within the constraints of the roadway
width and geometry. On routes with lower demand, the size of vehicle should be
determined based upon the trade-off between providing an acceptable service frequency
and keeping the average load factor is as high as possible within the relevant operating
constraints.

Implement a structured and efficient public transport route hierarchy in which the vehicle
and operational characteristics on each portion of the network are optimally suited to the
passenger demand and physical characteristics of the route

The principles upon which the Public Transport Route Hierarchy is based are as follows:
• Meeting the travel demand needs of residents of the Kathmandu Valley through
provision of access to economic and social opportunities by connecting residential
areas with main employment zones and civic amenities.
• Provision of reliable and frequent Public Transport services with acceptable walking
distance between the network and trip origins and destinations.
• To provide an understandable, permanent and recognizable public transport
framework consisting of radial and circular routes.
• Establishment of high capacity / high frequency services in corridors of high demand,
in preference to the current dispersed and lower frequency route patterns.
• Maximisation of the person-carrying capacity of corridors with high demand through
allocation of road space to the vehicle types with the highest ratio of passengers
carried to road space used.
• Utilisation of the most efficient vehicle type, based on the particular roadway and
demand characteristics of each route.
The design of the Public Transport network is based upon a three-tier hierarchy of public
transport routes.
The highest order routes, or primary routes, are the most important public transport
corridors within the Valley. These corridors carry the highest passenger volumes and it
will typically be appropriate to provide dedicated roadways for public transport in the short
to medium term. These corridors will also be candidates for introduction of higher
capacity mass transit services in the medium to long term. Full size (12m) buses are
envisaged on these routes. Where roadway geometry is acceptable, such as on the
National Highways, 18m articulated could be used.
The roadway used by the primary routes should be conducive to public transport or,
stated differently, “public transport friendly”. This requires traffic management measures
that give public transport vehicles priority over private vehicles. Appropriate infrastructure
is required to ensure safe and efficient operation of vehicles and acceptable levels of
passenger safety and convenience. The key aspect of a public transport friendly corridor
is that journeys should be competitive in speed, safety and convenience to private
transport modes. Primary routes should include provision for non-motorised transport
(walking and cycling) in the road corridor. Land-use zoning in these corridors should
support higher density development including residential, commercial and industrial uses.
The second order, or secondary routes, are located on corridors that carry substantial
passenger volumes but which do not meet the criteria for classification as primary routes.
Secondary routes are typically the arterial roads within the city and major feeder roads in
the Valley. The roadway width and geometry is often constrained on these routes. The
appropriate vehicle type is therefore a 9 or 10m bus.
The third, and lowest, level of the hierarchy, are the tertiary routes which should provide
sufficiently dense coverage to ensure that users do not have to walk further than the
maximum walking distance criterion in order to access the public transport system.
Although tertiary routes are primarily designed to serve a collector function, where
passenger volumes are too low, or the right of way too narrow, tertiary routes can be
used to provide access to the CBD along lower order roads. Small vehicles are required
to traverse the constrained right of way of tertiary route. Tempo’s, microbuses and
minibuses, with passenger capacity of up to 25 persons are appropriate for these routes.
Use of electric vehicles is appropriate for tertiary routes in areas with high pedestrian
volumes and substantial roadside activity, particularly in the historic areas of Kathmandu
and Lalitpur Municipalities.

Table 4-1 Criteria for route hierarchy classification
Road function: Road Capacity: Passenger Demand:

Primary Routes National highways and Preferably 2+ lanes per >100,000 passengers
major urban arterials direction, minimum 10m per day (all modes)
pavement width
Secondary Routes Major rural feeder roads, One lane per direction, 50,000 to 100,000
urban arterial roads and minimum 6.0m pavement width passengers per day
major collector roads
Tertiary Routes Urban Roads < 6.0m pavement width
Figure 4-2 Characteristics of the route hierarchy
4.1.1 Primary Corridors
The primary public transport network is predominantly defined by the demand

characteristics described in Chapter 3. The strongly radial desire line pattern, and major
zones of trip generation and attraction, can be simplified into major corridors as shown in
the following figure. In order to quantify the demand on these major corridors the origin –
destination data prepared for the JICA Roads Masterplan was aggregated into a coarser
zoning system comprising the CBD, a ring or collar around the CBD and radial zones /
sectors feeding into the collar zones.

Figure 4-3 Major public transport demand corridors
Source: PMCBC Analysis
From analysis of the travel demand patterns shown in the Figure 4-4, and observed traffic
volumes on the network, it was found that the Swayambhu, Sinamangel and Kirtipur
corridors did not carry the number of passengers required to be classified as Primary
routes. In addition roadway width on the Swayambhu – CBD corridor is extremely narrow,
with steep gradients. The Sinamangel corridor also has portions of the route with
restricted geometry that preclude its use by large buses.
With the exception of the East – West route between Bhaktapur and Thankot, passenger
volumes on each corridor dropped below the threshold for classification as Primary
Routes for the portion of corridor outside the Ring Road. On the East – West corridor the
full section from Bhaktapur to the CBD meets the criteria for classification as a Primary
Corridor. On the western section from Thankot to the CBD, passenger volumes meet the
threshold for Primary Corridors only on the portion of route east of Naikap.
In addition to the above radial corridors the Ring Road also meets all the criteria for
inclusion in the primary network, being a National Highway, carrying high passenger
volumes (around 140,000 pass/day) and having adequate pavement width.
These Primary Public Transport Corridors form the trunk network on which Pubic
Transport priority measures should be implemented such as dedicated bus-lanes and
intersection priority actions.
Based on these principles the Primary Public Transport network was developed and is
shown superimposed in the desire line pattern in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-4 Daily passengers volumes per sector

Figure 4-5 Primary Public Transport Corridors

4.1.2 Secondary Corridors
The criteria for selection of Secondary Corridors were:
• The road function or classification is Minor Feeder Road and Urban Collector Road.
• Road capacity of one lane per direction, minimum 6.0m pavement width.
• Passenger demand between 50,000 and 100,000 passengers per day.
In relation to the travel demand patterns shown earlier in this report, the secondary
corridors fulfil three functions:
1. Direct linkage to the City Centre from outlying locations that have passenger demand
lower than the level required for classification as a primary corridor.
2. Feeder services from outlying locations to an interchange with a primary route.
3. Providing cross-city linkages between origins and destinations not adequately served
by the primary network.
Secondary routes serving the CBD can be either direct services, i.e. directly linking the
outlying origin with the CBD, or feeder services that terminate at a location where
passengers to the CBD or other destinations are required to transfer to a Primary Route
to complete their journey. Feeder trunk services require at least one interchange facility
for the passengers to connect between high capacity buses operating in the trunk corridor
and smaller buses operating in feeder routes. The trunk routes generally have some form
of bus priority measures, whilst feeder routes operate in mixed traffic.
Figure 4-6 Direct vs Feeder Services

The route hierarchy developed for
Direct system
Kathmandu uses a combination of these
two strategies. The choice of feeder
versus direct service was made as a
trade off between passenger
convenience (and travel time) and
Feeder - Trunk system
optimising the person carrying capacity
of the transport network. Passengers
will be reluctant to use a feeder – trunk
service when the time spent waiting to
transfer to another service is high in
comparison to the time that will be spent
completing their journey. In such cases
it is preferable to utilise a direct service (without transfer) rather than a feeder – trunk
service.
The Ring Road is roughly circular at a radius of between 3 and 4 kilometres from the
CBD. As a general approach, when a secondary route joins a primary route outside the
Ring Road the secondary route was planned to serve as a feeder service and terminate
at the closest major interchange point on the primary or secondary network. In cases
where the secondary network joined the primary network within the Ring Road, the
additional route length to continue the tertiary route into the CBD is generally short.
These routes were thus planned as direct services, terminating in the CBD, rather than
requiring passengers to transfer for a very short second journey.

In general secondary routes were therefore designed as feeder services to the primary
network, however direct services are proposed under the following conditions:
• The secondary route does not intersect with a radial primary route until within the
Ring Road. This condition avoids the need for passengers on the secondary route to
be subject to waiting time for a transfer within the Ring Road, and then a short trip of
less than 5 km into the CBD on the Primary network.
• The secondary route reaches the CBD via a route through an area not served by the
Primary Network.
It must be noted that the routing shown in this report are based on a macro-level
assessment of passenger demand. Prior to implementation of any new routes detailed
operational planning should be performed in which the specific alignment, length and
capacity of each route will be determined on the basis of detailed passenger demand and
the relative fleet and operational costs of alternatives
Based on these principles, a concept route structure for the Secondary Public Transport
network was developed and is shown in Figure 4-7.
4.1.3 Tertiary Corridors
The tertiary public transport network comprises those public transport routes that do not
meet the criteria for either primary or secondary corridors. The functions provided by the
tertiary network are:
• Line haul services in corridors where either, or both of the following conditions prevail:
o Passenger demand in the corridor is insufficient to warrant the higher capacity
and frequency services provided on the primary and secondary routes.
o Constraints imposed by the roadway width and/or grade precludes the use of
the large buses that will be used on higher order routes.
• Feeder services the link to the higher order Public Transport in the same corridor.
• Collector distributer services within the Ring Road. These are generally short
distance trips in areas where the distance to the nearest primary or secondary public
transport route is outside an acceptable walking distance.
Figure 4-8 shows the network to be served by Tertiary Public Transport services.

Figure 4-7 Secondary Public Transport Corridors

Figure 4-8 Tertiary Public Transport Corridors

4.2 Route restructuring

The route hierarchy described in the preceding section has identified the road sections
appropriate for each category of public transport service. A route network is required in
which the origin, transfer points and destination are defined for each route. The principles
on which the route network was developed were
• Provision of convenient linkages between areas of trip generation and major trip
attractors.
• Maximisation of network coverage by provision of interchange facilities at locations
where major corridors cross to enable transfers between routes and allow
opportunities for commercial development.
• A combination of direct, point-to-point, services and feeder-trunk services.
• Balancing of the number of transfers required by passengers against system
efficiency.
• Use of through-routing where appropriate.
The reform strategy aimed at maximising the social and economic benefits of the public
transport system, to both passengers and the Metropolitan area as a whole, can be
stated as:

Implement a logical and integrated route structure for each level of the public transport
system that balances system efficiency with passenger convenience
The route structures for primary, secondary and tertiary networks are described in
sections 4.2.1 to 4.2.3.
4.2.1 Primary Routes
The status-quo investigation of the public transport route structure, reported earlier in this
document has identified that the existing route structure is based upon public transport
services running from points in the city centre (Ratna Park, Old Bus Park, NAC and
7
Bhaktapur Bus Park ) to locations in outlying areas. The impact of this arrangement is
that large areas are required in the city centre for public transport vehicles to hold
between services, and then to load passengers. In particular the impact of large numbers
of Public Transport vehicles waiting and loading along Kantipath in the vicinity of NAC
has a significant negative impact on traffic flow along Kantipath and further negative
impact on the general urban environment.
“Through-routing” of primary services
The highly radial nature of passenger demand on the primary network, is highly suited for
use of the route design principle of “through-routing”. This concept means that a route
designed to serve the City Centre, does not end in the city centre, but passes through the
city centre and continues out the other side. This results in the city centre being in the
middle of the route, not the end. The Primary Routes will therefore serve the City Centre
but will not terminate in the CBD. This arrangement is intended to improve connections,
reduce costs, and reduce traffic congestion in the CBD.
7
Refer to Table 4.1

Through-routing has a number of significant benefits:
• Fewer transfers, with passengers destined for locations across the city not required to
transfer in the CBD.
• Reduced terminal facilities in the city centre. All bus routes require some form of
terminal facility at the end of the route, where buses can turn around, and wait for the
their next scheduled departure time. On high frequency routes substantial space is
required for vehicles to queue for departure. In the city centre the land required for
these facilities is much more expensive than for the same size facility at an outlying
location.
• Fewer buses and congestion in the city centre, Through routing uses one bus that
drops inbound passengers in the city centre and, at the same time picks up
passengers for the outbound route. This reduces bus queueing in the city centre and
fewer movements into, and out-of, terminals that will improve traffic flow in the
congested city centre area.
• Fewer terminals. The through routing concept replaces two, end-of-line, terminals in
the CBD with a simple bus stop, or at most bus interchange point. Tis has substantial
benefits in reducing capital cost for construction of terminals and also lower ongoing
operational costs of the terminals.
The primary drawback of through routing is that passenger demand is unlikely to be

equally balanced on the two sides of the City Centre. This will result in either
overcrowding or excess capacity on one of the legs.
The passenger demand pattern that has been shown in Chapter 4, and in Figure 4-4
shows a distinctly radial pattern of movement from outlying areas to the CBD. The cross-
city design of the primary routes therefore follows this pattern with all the primary route
passing through, or very close to, the CBD. Passengers to destinations other the CBD are
in most cases accommodated by a choice of primary route from areas of major trip
generation.
All primary routes have either a terminal or interchange on the Ring Road, and with one
exception the Primary Routes cross in the CBD. Where a direct cross-city service is not
provided the route design makes it possible to transfer between primary routes either in
the CBD or on the Ring Road, and therefore to complete a journey between any two
points on the route network with no more than one interchange.
The primary routes intersect at different points in the city centre, and several routes will
run along the same portions of road. This allows interchanges between routes to take
place at a number of points, with an associated reduction in congestion and crowding.
Considering the above issues, the routing of buses on the primary public transport
network was developed based upon the following principles:
• Wherever possible the bus routes shall follow the major corridors of passenger
demand.
• The primary bus routes will preferably travel through the CBD and terminate at
outlying terminals in preference to terminating within the CBD.
• All major origin – destination combinations shall be reachable using the primary
public transport routes with a maximum of 1 transfer.
• Interchange facilities shall be provided at the locations where these transfers take
place.

On the primary routes the passenger demand pattern shows that a significant proportion
of passengers travel relatively long distances between origin and destination. The
efficiency of the bus operation will be substantially improved by provision of limited-stop
and express services. A limited stop service only stops at major boarding and alighting
points, skipping the low volume bus stops, whilst an express service runs non-stop
between the outer terminals and city centre bus stops.
These services will reduce the travel time per journey that will increase the attractiveness
of the bus service, and potentially increase ridership. The shorter travel time will also
allow more peak period journeys to be made per bus, thus reducing the fleet size needed
for a specific passenger demand. This has a very significant impact on the financial
viability of the service.
Based on these principles a route structure for the Primary Public Transport network was
developed. The passenger demand patterns on the Primary Network can be adequately
met using eight primary routes as follows:
Table 4-2 Proposed primary routes and major stop locations

Route ID Description Length
(km)
P1 Ring Road Clockwise direction 27.3

P2 Ring Road Anticlockwise direction 27.3

P3 Narayangopal Chowk – Maharajganj -‐ Lazimpat -‐ Lainchaur – CBD – 11.2
Tripureshwor – Thapathali – Kupondole -‐ Pulchowk -‐ Jawalakhel –
Lagankhel – Satdobato
P4 Narayangopal Chowk – Maharajganj -‐ Lazimpat -‐ Lainchaur – CBD – 18.3
Singha Durbar – Maitighar – New Baneshwor -‐ Koteshwor, – Thimi
– Sallaghari – Surya Vinayak (Bhaktapur)
P5 Jorpati -‐ Bouddha – Chabahi – Gaushala – Kamal Pokhari – Hattisar 14.5
– CBD – Tripureshwor – Kalimati -‐ Kalanki – Naikap
P6 Jorpati -‐ Bouddha – Chabahi – Gaushala – Kamal Pokhari – Hattisar 13.2
– CBD – Singha Durbar – Maitighar -‐ Thapathali – Kupondole -‐
Pulchowk – Jawalakhel – Ekantakuna
P7 Koteshwor – Sinamangal – Airport – Gaushala -‐ Kamal Pokhari – 11.4
Hattisar – CBD (Ratna Park) – Lainchaur – Sorhakhutte – Balaju
Chowk -‐ New Bus Park
P8 Koteshwor – Tinkune – New Baneshwor – Maitighar – Thapathali – 8.2
Tripureshwor – Kalimati -‐ Kalanki

Total length of Primary Routes 131.4 km

The alignment and characteristics of each of these Primary Routes are described in the
following paragraphs.

P1 & P2: Ring Road in clockwise and anti-clockwise directions respectively. These two
routes are 27.3 km in length. The Ring Road serves the Patan and Balaju Industrial
areas, and runs past Tribhuvan International Airport and public transport terminals
located on major inbound routes. The desire line diagram patterns, shown in Figure 4-4,
display a predominantly radial pattern, with circumferential demand generally restricted to
adjacent sectors. The Ring Road routes are therefore expected to carry high passenger
volumes for relatively short sections of the circumference. P1 runs from Satdobato via
Ekantakuna – Kalanki – New Bus Park – Narayangopal Chowk – Chabahil – Gaushala
and Koteshwor before terminating at Satdobato. P2 serves the same locations, but in the
reverse order.
Figure 4-9 Primary routes P1 and P2
It should be noted that passenger demand is not constant around the Ring Road. The two
primary routes that run the full circumference of the Ring Road may be supplemented by
routes that do not travel the full circumference, but which run only on the limited sections
of the Ring Road.

P3: Narayangopal Chowk – Satdobato. This north – south route is 11.7 km in length.
This route provides a north-south transport axis connecting Kathmandu and Lalitpur
municipalities and thus serving one of the highest demand corridors in the Valley. The
route traverses high concentrations of Commercial activity all along route, and passes
through the heart of the City Centre. Major institutional and employment areas are served
including Harihar Bhawan in Lalitpur and Panipokhari and Maharajgunj in Kathmandu.
From Narayangopal Chowk the routes passes Maharajgunj, Laximpat & Lainchaur before
entering the CBD.
In the CBD, route P3 uses Durbar Marga in a southbound direction and Kantipath
northbound. The one-way routing joins back to two-way at Sahid Gate, from where the
route passes Tripureshwor and Thapathali before crossing the Bagmati River into Lalitpur
Municipality. In Lalitpur the routes runs from Kupondole – Harihar Bhawan – Pulchowk –
Jawalakhel – Lagankhel and Satdobato.
Figure 4-10 Primary route P3

P4: Narayangopal Chowk – Surya Vinayak (Bhaktapur), 18.3 km. This route links the
northern sector with the eastern sector via the City Centre. It follows the same route as
P3 from Narayangopal Chowk through the CBD . At Bhadrakali the route turns east to
Singha Durbar then runs via Maitighar and New Baneshwor to Koteshwor. From
Koteshwor the route continues on the Arniko Highway (H03) to the Surya Vinayak
terminus in Bhaktapur.
With this arrangement of routes from Narayangopal Chowk the central CBD is served by
both routes, with P3 continuing through the south-western CBD to Tripureshwor and
Thapathali, whilst P4 serves the south-eastern CBD at SIngha Durbar and Maitighar
before continuing east.
Routes P5 and P6 both serve the Bouddha – Jorpati corridor that carries the highest
passenger volumes in the network. These three link to the western and southern corridors
respectively. Both routes commence at Jorpati on Feeder Road F026 just west of the
Bagamati River crossing. The routes run via Bouddha to the Ring Road at Chabahil and
then use the Ring Road to Gaushala. From Gaushala the routes turn west and use
Pashupati Road through Kamal Pokhari to Hattisar, and then further west on Teendhara
Marga to Teendhara Pathsala. At this point the routes turn to run along the southbound
one-way of Durbar Marg.

P5: Jorpati – Naikap, 14.5 km. The section of P5 from Jorpati to the CBD is identical to
P5. From Ratna Park route P6 continues south on Durbar Marg to Bhadrakali, then turns
to join Kanti Path in the vicinity of Sahid Gate. The reverse direction in the CBD uses
Kanti Path northwards to Jamal, and then Jamal Rd to Teendhara Pathsala. The
remainder of the route is two-way, using Kanti Path to reach Tripureshwor, then National
Highway 02, via Teku and Kalimati to the Ring Road Junction at Kalanki. From kalanki
the route continues to Naikap.
Note on infrastructure changes on Pashupati Road
The portion of Pashupati Road from Hattisar to the Maiti Devi intersection just east of
Gyaneshwor currently operates as a one-way in an easterly direction. This section of road has
recently been widened and sufficient Right of Way exists to implement a two way bus lane.
The route alignments for P5, P6 and P7 all show two-way bus traffic on this portion. It must be
noted that an administrative decision and appropriate infrastructure improvements will be
required to allow these routes to implemented as shown.
The two-way bus lane is shown continuing west from Hattisar to Teendhara Pathsala.
Significant road works will be required to provide this portion of the bus-lane. If this is
impractical, the route can be altered for west bound buses to turn south at Hattisar into Hattisar
Road and then turn west into Bag Bazaar Road to reach Durbar Marga at the Bag Bazaar
junction. Routes P5 and P6 then turn south into Durbar Marga.
Route P7, however is planned to run from the Bag Bazaar junction via Ratna Park to reach
Kanti Path. If the option in the preceding paragraph is implemented modifications to the Bag
Bazaar junction will be required to allow the straight through, east to west, movement at this
junction.

P6: Jorpati – Ekantakuna. 13.2 km.
The second primary route from Jorpati and Bouddha uses the same route from Jorpati to
the CBD as P5. At Bhadrikali route P6 turn east on Prithvi Path to SIngha Durbar and
then south to Maitighar. From Maitighar the route runs via Thapathali before crossing the
Bagmati River into Lalitpur. The route through Lalitpur uses Kupodole and Pulchowk
Roads to reach Pulchowk and Jawalakhel before turning into Lagankhel Road to reach
the terminus at Satdobato.
P7: Koteshwor – New Bus Park. 11.4 km. This route runs roughly from east to
northwest. From Koteshwor the route uses the Ring Road via Sinamangal and the Airport
to Gaushala. From Gaushala the route follows the same alignment as P5 and P6 to reach
the CBD. From Teendhara Pathsala the route turns south into Durbar Marga and west at
Bag Bazaar to reach the ratna Park junction with Kanti Path. The route then turns north
to Lainchaur. At Lainchaur both directions of the route run along Leknath Marg to
Sorakhutte and on to the Ring Road at Balaju Chowk. The route then uses the Ring
Road to reach the terminus at New Bus Park.

P8: Koteshwor - Kalanki, 8.2 km. This route uses National Highway 03 from the Ring
Road junction at Koteshwor to the Maitighar junction on the southern side of the CBD.
From Maitighar the route travels via Thapathali to join National Highway 02 at
Tripureshwor. This route therefore does not enter the core of the CBD, but passes to the
south of the City Centre. From Tripureshwor P8 runs via Kalimati to terminate at the Ring
Road junction at Kalanki.
Figure 4-16 on the following page shows a schematic layout of the eight primary public
transport routes, the terminals and interchanges on the routes and the location of major
bus stops on the routes.

Figure 4-16 Primary Public Transport Routes

4.2.2 Secondary Routes
To serve the secondary public transport network shown earlier in Figure 4-6, sixteen
secondary public transport routes were defined as follows:
Table 4-3 Proposed secondary routes

Route Description Length
ID (km)
S1 Budhanilkantha – Narayan Gopal Chowk 4.7
S2 Narayangopal Chowk – Maharajgunj – Baluwataar – Jai Nepal – Putali 10.2
Sadak – Ghattekulo -‐ Koteshwor
S3 Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur – Balkhu – Kalimati – Tripureshwor – Jai Nepal – 13.2
Bhat Bhateni -‐ Chappal Karkhana
S4 Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur – Balkhu – Kalimati – Bishnumati Link Road – 16.4
Sorakhutte – Naxal – Chabahil -‐ Jorpati
S5 New Bus Park – Gongabu – Thamel – Bagbazaar – Putali Sadak – Dilli 12.1
Bazaar – Old Baneshwor – Sinamangel -‐ Airport
S6 Gokarna – Bouddha – Chabahil – Gaushala – Old Baneshwor – New 10.4
Baneshwor -‐ Tinkune
S7 Koteshwor – Pepsicola – Mulpani -‐ Jorpati 10.0
S8 Nagarkot -‐Koteshwor 23.6
S9 Sanga -‐ Koteshwor 14.8
S10 Sisneri / Lamata -‐ Satdobato 9.1
S11 Godavari -‐ Satdobato 9.2
S12 Chapagaun -‐ Satdobato 7.4
S13 Bungamati -‐ Ekantakuna 4.8
S14 Pharping – Old Bus park 18.9
S15 Thankot -‐ Kalanki 7.8
S16 Sitapaila Chowk-‐ Ratna Park 5.7
Total length of Secondary Routes 178.3 km
8
S1: Budhanilkantha – Narayangopal Chowk, 4.7 km . This secondary route
commences at the entrance to Budhanilkantha, and runs south on Feeder Road F025 to
terminate at Narayangopal Chowk on the Ring Road. This route acts as a feeder to the
primary network at the Narayangopal Chowk Interchange. At this point passengers can
access primary routes in both direction on the Ring Road , and two primary routes
through the CBD, one serving the eastern CBD ending at Koteshwor, and other serving
the southern, Lalitpur, corridor and ending at Satdobato.
S2: Narayangopal Chowk – Koteshwor, 10.2 km. Route S2 serves the northern
suburbs of Baluwatar and Bhatbateni, and the eastern portion of the CBD, before turning
east and joining with National Highway H03 to terminate at Koteshwor. S2 therefore
compliments primary route P4 that runs between the same origin and destination.
S3: Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur - Chappal Karkhana, 13.2 km. The Kirtipur corridor, while
carrying lower passenger volumes than the primary corridors, was treated in a similar
8
Given the relatively short length of route S1, the secondary routes S1 and S2 could be combined into one
route. They have, however been shown as two separate routes, as S2 corresponds closely with an existing
route operated by Nepal Yatayat.

manner to the primary corridors when defining the routes serving this area. The demand
pattern to and from Kirtipur is strongly radial to and from the Central Business District.
Secondary Routes S3 runs diagonally across the City, from Naya Bazaar in Kirtipur,
passing through the CBD, and terminating on the Ring Road at Chappal Karkhana.
Within the CBD the route uses the north-south one-way pair of Kantipath and Durbar
Marg.
Figure 4-17 Secondary routes S1, S2 and S3

S4: Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur – Jorpati, 16.4 km. This route follows the same routing as
S3 from Kirtipur to Kalimati, then uses the Bishnumati Link Road to run west of the CBD,
before crossing the Bishnimati River and turning east to Sorakhutte. S4 then runs
eastward, north of the CBD to cross the Ring Road at Chabahil. A portion of the primary
network is then used to extend the route to its terminus at Jorpati. In addition to serving
Kirtipur this route also compliments the primary network by serving the Bishnumati
corridor, and providing an east-west linkage north of the CBD.
S5: New Bus Park, Balaju – CBD - Sinamangal – Airport, 12.1 km. Route S5 provides
an alternative alignment to Primary Route P5 for passenger between the CBD and New
Bus Park. The New Bus Park – Airport route runs east along the Ring Road from the New
Bus Park in Gongabu to reach Samakhusi Chowk in Gongabu, where the route turns
south to run through Samakhusi on Samakhusi Marg (F081) to Thamel, The route then
uses Leknath Marg to Kanti Path at Lainchaur. The two-way portion of Kanti Path is used
to Jamal. At Jamal the two directions of the route split. The route to the airport turns left at
Jamal, runs past Teendhara Pathsala to Hattisar Junction. From Hattisar the east-bound
route uses Pashupati Road past Kamal Phokari and Jain Mandir until the junction with
Maiti Devi Marg. The route then turns south along Maiti Devi Marg to the junction with Dilli
Bazaar / Sinamangal Road. At this point the route again becomes two-directions using
SInamangal Rd from Maiti Devi to reach the Ring Road at Sinamangal, and then the
route uses a short portion of the Ring Road to the airport. The return (west-bound)
direction continues along Dilli Bazaar Rd from Maiti Devi to Dilli Bazaar, Putali Sadak and
Bagbazaar. At the Bagbazaar junction with Durbar Marg the route will continue straight
onto Rata Park Road, turn right into Kanti Path to regioin the two-direction portion at
Jamal.
Figure 4-18 Secondary routes S4 and S5

Note on infrastructure changes on Samakhusi Road
The current roadway with on Samakhusi Road, also designated feeder Road F081, is currently
very narrow with width of only 1.5 lanes between Samakhusi and Thamel Chowk. At the time of
reporting (June 2013) this portion is currently being widened. On completion of these works
Samakhusi Road shoud be suitable for use by 9 to 10m rigid buses, proposed for use on the
secondary network. If the widened right of way proves unsuitable for large buses an alternative
alignment will be required. This alternative route will use the Ring Road from New Bus Park to
Balaju Chowk and then Naya Bazaar Road to Sorakhutte and Lainchaur.
Note on infrastructure changes at Bagbazaar Junction
The preferred alignment is planned to run from the Bag Bazaar junction via Ratna Park to reach
Kanti Path. This will require modifications to the Bag Bazaar junction to allow a bus-only straight
through, east to west, movement at this junction. Preliminary investigation by PMCBC indicates
that this is technically feasible, however if such a change is either impractical or not approved by
DOR, a substantial deviation will be required. This would require the westbound route on
Dillibazaar to turn North at Putali Sadak, run north to Hattisar then turn west to Teendhara
Pathsala, then south on Durbar Marg to reach the Bagbazaar junction where a right turn can be
made to Ratna Park.
The following figure shows the alternative alignment of S5 via the Ring Road and Naya
Bazaar Road if Samakhusi road is too narrow to allow 9 to 10m rigid buses, and the
realignment in the CBD if an East-West straight through movement cannot be provided at
Bagbazaar junction.
Figure 4-19 Alternative alignment for Secondary route S5

S6: Gokarna – Tinkune, via Old Baneshwor, 10.4 km. This service has a dual function.
It firstly acts as a feeder route for passengers from Gorkana to access the primary routes
at the Chabahil ans Gaushala Interchanges. It secondly provides a north-south linkage
between Pashupati Road and National Highway H03 through the Old Baneshwor area.
S7: Koteshwor – Pepsicola – Mulpani – Jorpati, 10.0 km. This route provides an outer
linkage between the primary network at Jorpati in the north and Koteshwor in the south.
The Pepsicola industrial area is served by the route, A secondary function provide a
feeder service from the Mulpani area to the primary network at Jorpati.
S8: Nagarkot –Koteshwor, 23.6 km. Secondary route S8 uses feeder Road F028 to link
Nagarkot to Bhaktapur and Kathmandu at Koteshwor. S8 joins primary route P8 on the
Arniko Highway (H03) at Sallagari. S8 then continues along the same alignment as P8
before terminating at Koteshwor. This apparent duplication of services was chosen to
minimise passenger transfers, by continuing the route to a point (Koteshwor) where a
transfer can be made to a far greater number of destinations.
S9: Sanga – Koteshwor, 14.8 km. The route from Sanga uses the Arniko Highway to
reach Bhaktapur, and then continues westwards to terminate at Koteshwor. The same
rationale described in the preceding paragraph regarding minimisation of transfers was
applied to S9.
Figure 4-20 Secondary routes S6, S7, S8 and S9

S10: Sisneri – Satdobato, 9.1 km. This route runs along Feeder Road F072 from
Sisneri / Lamatar, through Lubhu to join the Ring Road at Gwarko. To provide improved
connectivity to the primary network the route continues on the Ring Road to terminate at
Satdobato.
S11: Godavari – Satdobato, 9.2 km. Feeder Road F024 is used by S11 from Godavari
to Satdobato.
S12: Chapagaun – Satdobato 7.4 km. S12 also is a service that provides accessibility
to the Primary Public Transport Network from the outlying areas of the Kathmandu Valley.
The route runs on F023 from Chapagaun to end at Satdobato.
S13: Bungamati – Ekantakuna, 4.8 km. Similarly to the previously described routes,
S13 runs on a Feeder Road, F103, to link Bungamati to the primary network at
Ekantakuna.
S14: Pharping – Old Bus park, 18.9 km. The route from Pharping differs from the
preceeding routes by providing a direct service from the outlying area to the CBD. This
alternative approach was applied because the first logical transfer point on the inbound
route would be at Kalimati. Whilst Kalimati is a significant trip generation point due to the
fresh produce market and other commercial activities in the vicinity, it was decided that
the additional trip length of 3.5 km to continue the route into the CBD was less negative
than forcing a transfer at Kalimati for passengers to and from the CBD.
Figure 4-21 Secondary routes S10, S11, S12, S13 & S14

S15: Thankot – Kalanki, 7.8 km. This route runs from the western edge of the
Kathmandu Valley, along National Highway H02 to link with the Primary Public Transport
Network at Naikap and Kalanki.
S16: Sitapaila Chowk- Ratna Park, 5.7 km. From Sitapaila Chowk on the Ring Road,
S16 runs along F075 through Chhauni to link with the Bishnumati Link Road (BLR) at
Tamkeshwor. A short portion of the BLR is used to reach National Highway 2 at Kalimati.
The Route thane follows the National Highway to Tripureshwor, and then Kantipath into
the CBD. Within the CBD the route uses the one-way system of northbound on Kantipath
to Ratna Park and South Bound on Durbar Marg to Sahid gate.
Figure 4-22 Secondary routes S15 & S16

4.2.3 Tertiary Routes
The tertiary route network supports the primary and secondary routes by:
• Acting as feeder routes from outlying areas to the outer terminal points of the higher
order network.
• Serving areas where passenger demand is insufficient, and/or roadway geometry to
constrained, to warrant higher capacity services.
• Acting as collector / distributors within residential areas on roads with narrow right of
way that makes them unsuitable for the larger buses used on primary and secondary
routes. These tertiary routes reduce the walking distance to access the Public
Transport network and are therefore often located midway between two higher order
routes.
The route design philosophy regarding direct versus feeder services, as discussed under
the section on Secondary Routes, was also applied to tertiary routes. As a general
approach, when a tertiary route joined a primary or secondary route outside the Ring
Road the tertiary route was planned to serve as a feeder service and terminate at the
closest major interchange point on the primary or secondary network. In cases where the
tertiary network joined the higher order network within the Ring Road, the additional route
length to continue the tertiary route into the CBD is generally short. These routes serving
residential areas close to the city centre were thus planned as direct services, terminating
in the CBD, rather than requiring passengers to transfer for a very short second journey.
Tertiary routes have also been planned to serve the historic city core. This planning has
taken into account the proposed pedestrianisation in this area. The small, electric
vehicles, envisioned for these routes will be compatible with activities on pedestrianised
streets where all other motor vehicles will be prohibited.
To serve the tertiary public transport network shown earlier in Figure 4-8, forty (40)
tertiary public transport routes, plus two routes in the Historic Core, were defined as
described in the table that follows.

Table 4-4 Proposed tertiary routes
Route Description Length

ID (km)
1 Ranipauwa – Tinpiple – Balaju Bypass -‐ New Bus Park 11.5
2 Dharmasthali – Balaju Bypass -‐ New Bus Park 3.0
3 Chunigaon -‐ Phutung – Balaju Bypass -‐ New Bus Park 7.5
4 Balaju Bus Park – Banasthali – Swayambhu – Chhauni -‐ Kalimati -‐ Balkhu 7.7
5 New Bus Park – Balaju Bridge – Bishnumati Link Road -‐ Kalimati 5.3
6 New Bus Park – Mhyepi – Old Bus Park 5.2
7 Baniyatar -‐ New Bus Park 3.3
8 Tokha Jhore – Tokha – New Bus Park 8.2
9 Dhapasi – New Bus Park 3.4
10 Golfutar -‐ Chabahil 4.0
11 Tusalgaon – Kapan – Tenzing Chowk -‐ Chabahil 5.5
12 Dhaulagiri Chowk -‐ Dhobi Khola River Bank -‐ Gopi Krishna Cinema Hall -‐ Chabahil 3.2
13 New Bus Park – Samakhusi Chowk – Raniban – Lazimpat – Baluwatar – Bishalnagar 6.2
Chowk – Gopi Krishna Cinema Hall -‐ Chabahil
14 Gokarna – Tinchuli -‐ Chabahil 5.4
15 Gagalphedi – Sundarijal -‐ Gokarna – Jorpati -‐ 10.0
16 Sankhu -‐ Jorpati 9.1
17 Bouddha – Bahundhara – Nayabasti – Adarshanangar – Gaurighat -‐ Gaushala 5.0
18 Gaushala – Old Baneshwor – New Baneshwor -‐ Sankhamul 6.6
19 Tilganga – Bhimengola – Shantinagar -‐ Sankhamul 7.3
20 Jorpati – Basuki Chowk – Thapagaon – Pepsicola -‐ Koteshwor 7.4
21 Jorpati -‐ Thimi 7.5
22 Jorpati – Mulpani – Gamphedi – Duwakot -‐ Sallagari 10.0
23 Changunarayan – Kamal Binayak -‐ Sallagari 8.3
24 Sallagari -‐ Koteshwor 8.3
25 Koteshwor – Lokanthali – Sirutar -‐ Lubhu 6.7
26 Thimi – Gancha -‐ Lubhu 4.7
27 Lele – Tikabhairav – Chapagaon – Dhapakhel -‐ Satdobato 13.1
28 Nakhu Dobato – Sanepa – Teku – Paropakar – Sawa Bhagwati – Khusibu (Sorakhutte) 6.8
29 Nakhu Dabato – Jhamsikhel – Summit Hotel – Kupondole – Ratna Park 5.4
30 Balkhu – Sanepa – Jhamsikhel -‐ Pulchowk – Mangal Bazaar -‐ Gwarko 4.7
31 Balkhu – Bagmati River Corridor – Sankhamul -‐ Balkumari 5.9
32 Balkhu – Sanepa Heights -‐ Kupondole 5.4
33 Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur – Machchhegaon -‐ Naikap 6.8
34 Matatirtha – Naikap -‐ Kalanki 6.1
35 Thankot – Balambu -‐ Kalanki 7.9
36 Syuchatar -‐ Kalanki 2.3
37 Ramkot -‐ Soaltee Dobato -‐ Baphal -‐ Soaltee Mode -‐ Kalamti -‐ Teku -‐ Ratna Park 7.3
38 Bhimdungha – Sitapaila Chowk 5.5
39 Swayambhu – Dallu – Sorakhutte – Ratna Park 5.8
40 Ichangu – Swayambhu – Dallu -‐ Teku 6.3
HC1 Historic Core 1: Sorhakhutte – Kesharmahal – Thahiti – New Road – Chhetrapati -‐ 2.4
Sorhakhutte
HC2 Historic Core 2: Lagan Tole – Kathmandu Durbar Square – Chhetrapati -‐ Kesharmahal 1.5
Total length of Tertiary Routes 263.5 km

Tertiary Routes T1 to T9 inclusive serve the north-west sector of the Valley, with one
terminus at either the New Bus Park or the Balaju Bypass. Rotes T1, T2, T3, T7, T8 and
T9 are all feeder routes from northern areas of the Kathmandu Valley that terminate at
the New Bus Park. T4 and T5 serve as collector / distributor services for the western
residential areas that lie within the Ring Road and along the Bishnumati River corridor
respectively. T6 links the New Bus Park with the CBD through Mhyepi. These routes are
shown in the figure below.
Figure 4-23 Tertiary routes from Balaju & New Bus Park (T1 to T9)
Tertiary routes T10 to T14 inclusive are all feeder routes to the proposed interchange
facility at Chabahil. At Chabahil, passengers on these tertiary routes will be required to
transfer to the Primary Services that are proposed to operates to Balaju, Kalanki, Lalitpur
and around the Ring Road. T13 from New Bus Park to Chabahil, has a different function,
providing an east – west linkage between the two interchanges, through Raniban,
Lazimpat and Baluwatar.

Figure 4-24 Tertiary routes from Chabhil (T10 to T14)
Routes T15 and T16 are feeder services from Gagalphedi and Sankhu respectively that
terminate at the Jorpati Primary terminus. From this point the primary network will
provide excellent accessibility to all other parts of the Valley. T17 is designed as collector
/ distributor route that link to the Primary network at Gaulshala. T17 runs in a loop from
Bouddha, serving the residential areas north of the Bagmati River before ending at the
Gaushala Interchange facility on the Ring Road.
Figure 4-25 Tertiary routes from Chabhil (T15 to T17)

T18 and T19 were designed as collector / distributor routes that link to the Primary
network at Gaulshala. T18 and T19 are similar routes, both serving the densely
populated area of Old Baneshwor. T18 has a southern terminus at the Sankamul
pedestrian bridge over the Bagmati. Both T18 and T19 would have very short routes, 3.3
km and 4.5 km respectively, if they were purely used as collectors for the primary network
at New Baneshwor and Gaushala.
These routes would not be viable as feeder routes because they would be in competition
with walking for collector services to the primary network, and the additional waiting /
transfer time between the tertiary and primary services, with the relatively short distance
of travel on the primary network to the CBD would render these services unattractive. To
avoid the need for a transfer on the short distance between Old Baneshwor and the CBD,
both T18 and T19 were extended to provide a direct linkage to the CBD. T18 therefore
accesses the CBB via Gyaneshwor and Hattisar, whilst T19 runs via New Baneshwor and
Maitighar to Ratna Park.
Figure 4-26 Tertiary routes in Old- and New Baneshwor Area (T18 & T19)

T20 links the Jorpati and Koteshwor Primary terminal via a route east of Thribhuvan
International Airport, thus providing access to the Pepsicola Industrial area.
T21 and T22 provide linkage between the Jorpati Terminus and the Madhyapur / Thimi
Municipality. T23 serves the area north of Bhaktapur. T24 is a loop route between
Sallagari and Kteshwor, both on the Arniko Highway Primary route. The route alignment
of T24 however uses the Old Bhaktapur Road north of Thimi, through Sano Thimi and
Pepsicola, before turning back to Koteshwor.
Figure 4-27 Tertiary routes in Eastern Sector (T20 to T24)
In the South-eastern sector, the town of Lubhu is served by Secondary Route S10, which
links to Gwaro and Satdobato. Two tertiary routes commence at Lubhu. T25 runs north-
west to Kaushaltar and terminates at Koteswor, whilst T26 runs north to link with the
Arniko Highway at Thimi.
Tertiary route T27 runs south from Satdobato, through Dhapakhel. South of Dhapakhel
T27 shares a portion of route with S12 (Chapagaon – Satdobato), then continues south of
Chapagaon through Tikabhairav before terminating just out of the Kathmandu Valley at
Lele.

Figure 4-28 Tertiary routes in South-eastern Sector (T25 to T27)
Routes T28 to T32 serve Lalitpur as follows:

• T28 runs roughly north south through Lalitpur and along the western fringe of the
CBD. The route starts from Nakhu Dobato on the Ring Road and runs north through
Dhobighat, Jhamsikhel and Sanepa. The route crosses the Bagmati River at Kalo
Pul and then traverses a short portion of National Highway between Teku and
Kalimati. The route then follows the eastern bank of the Bishnumati River to
Bijeshwari where the route turns east to terminate at Khusibu in the vicinity of
Sohrakhutte.
• T29 also runs north from Nakhu Dobato, but north of Jhamsikhel the route passes the
British School and Summit Hotel to reach Kupondole an eventually terminate in the
CBD.
• T30 runs east west between Balkhu and Gwarko, passing through Pulchowk and
Mangal Bazaar.
• T31 is also an east – west route, which uses the Bishnumati River corridor to link the
eastern and western portions of the Ring Road at Balkumari and Balkhu respectively.
• T32 also commences at Balkhu on the western Ring Road. This route runs through
Sanepa and Kupondole to serve the CBD.

Figure 4-29 Tertiary routes in Lalitpur (T28 to T32)

Tertiary route T33 serves the area south west of Kirtipur, by linking Naya Bazaar with
Machchhegaon and then joining the Primary Public Transport Network at Naikap. Routs
T34, T35 and T36 all act as feeder routes to the Public Transport Interchange at Kalanki.
Passengers on these routes therefore require a transfer to reach their final destination.
T37 runs from the Ramkot Distriict, crosses the Ring Road at Soltee Dobato, then runs
through the residential area of Baphal and Soltee before joining the National Highway at
Soltee Mode. With the principle destination being the CBD, and relatively short distance
from Soltee Mode to the CBD it was considered preferable to extend the route to
terminate in the CBD rather than forcing a transfer to the Primary Route at Soltee Mode.
T38, in contrast, terminates at Sitapaila Cowk on the Ring Road, where passengers to the
CBD will transfer to Secondary Route S16 to Ratna Park.
T39 from Swayambhunath on the Ring Road runs through steep and narrow road to the
Bishnumati River at Dallu, where the route turns north to pass through Sorhakhutte to
reach the CBD.
T40 serves the same corridor, but originates at Ichangu and travels via Swayambhunath
and Dallu before turning south along the Bishnumati Link Road to terminate at Teku.
Figure 4-30 Tertiary routes in Western Sector (T33 to T40)

Two tertiary routes are proposed in the historic city core:

1. Route HC1 links with the Primary Public Transport Network at Sorhakhutte in the north
and New Road to the east. Due to the highly restricted Right of Way, and desire for
compatibility with pedestrian zones, a one way circulation system is proposed. From
Sorakhutte the route runs south via Thahity to the intersection with New Road. The
route runs east on New Road to Kantipath then return along Ne Road and Ganga Path
to Kathmandu Durbar Square. From this point the route runs north to Chhetrapati and
terminates at Sorhakhutte.
2. Route HC2 links with the Primary Network at Kesharmahal. A portion of two-way route
is used between Kesharmahal and Thahity. A one-way circulation is then used to
reach Thahity and Kathmandu Durbar Square. From Durbar Square a portion of two-
way route is used to run to and from Lagan Tole, before the route returns north to
Chhetrapati, Thahity and Kesharmahal.
Figure 4-31 Tertiary routes in the Historic City Core

4.2.4 Coverage of Restructured Routes
The area of Kathmandu Valley within a walking distance of 600m from a public transport
route is shown in the figure below.
Figure 4-32 Area within 600 metres of the restructured public transport network
Primary Network Only
Primary & Secondary Network
Full Network
Primary, Secondary & Tertiary

4.3 Fleet rationalisation impact

The type of vehicle, and fleet size of each type of public transport vehicle, has an
enormous impact on the efficiency as well as the cost of the public transport system.

Replace old and low-capacity public transport vehicles with modern, low-emission,
vehicles with capacity appropriate to the passenger demand on the route served.
This section describes the types of vehicles regularly used in road based urban transport
systems, makes recommendations on the type of vehicle most appropriate for use on the
different levels of the route hierarchy and estimates the fleet requirements for the primary
and secondary route networks.
4.3.1 Vehicle characteristics
Fuel and propulsion type
The most common power source is a diesel engine although other power sources are
available (e.g. electric or CNG). These vehicles have a life expectancy of about 15 years.
The cost of an electric trolley bus version of the standard bus roughly double that of the
diesel version.
Floor height
The options regarding floor height are;
High floor buses: This type of bus is standard for public transport
services in the Kathmandu Valley. The bus is entered by climbing
stairs to get to the floor of the bus. The bus floor is usually around
1.2 m above the ground. This makes this bus difficult to access for
elderly and some people with disabilities.
Semi-high Floor buses: These are also accessed by climbing stairs

however the bus floor is usually between 800-1100mm above the ground. It is not as high
as the high-floor buses but the stairs reduce accessibility for the elderly and some people
with disabilities.
Low Entry buses: These buses have no stairs at the

entry points. Its entry point is the same level as the front
floor of the bus. There are steps at the back of the bus
leading to seats with a raised floor level. These buses
are friendlier to elderly and persons with disabilities.
Wheel chair accessible buses: These buses use a lift that enables disabled passengers
with wheel chairs to access the buses. These buses, even though effective, are very
expensive and the use of the lift increases boarding times at bus stops.

Vehicle size
The choice of vehicle size is dependent upon the demand characteristics in the corridor to
be served by the vehicle, and to a lesser extent by the physical characteristics of the
roadway. The main advantage of larger vehicles is lower in operating costs per
passenger carried. However in lower-demand corridors larger vehicles will operate lower
frequency, which will result in longer waiting times for passengers. The following table
gives typical capacities for a range of vehicle types.
Table 4-5 Typical vehicle capacities

Vehicle type Vehicle length Capacity (passengers per
(metres) vehicle)
Bi-‐articulated 24.0 240 -‐ 270
Articulated 18.5 120 -‐ 170
Tandem 15.0 80 -‐ 100
Double decker 12–15 80 -‐ 130
Standard 12.0 60 -‐ 80
Midi-‐bus 6.0 25 -‐ 35
Mini-‐bus 3.0 10 -‐ 16
Source: BRT Planning Guide, 2007
The width and alignment of the majority of roads in the city, and the layout of several
junctions, would make it impractical or unsafe to operate rigid vehicles longer than a 12
metre bus or articulated vehicles on routs other than the Ring Road and the east – west
route using National Highway 02 & 03. Similarly, overhead cables and some bridges
preclude the operation of double-deck buses on most routes.
It is therefore recommended that single decker rigid buses, 12 metre in length, will
operate on the majority of Primary routes. This size of bus can be configured with many
different combinations of seats versus standing room. With minimal seating capacity 12
metre buses can carry up to 100 passengers with a capacity of up to 100 passengers.
Typically a 12m urban transit bus will have between 35 and 50 seats, with a total capacity
(including standing) of between 60 and 80 passengers. Longer articulated buses 18
metres in length can carry between 120 and 170 passengers, however the application of
this type of vehicle will be limited to primary routes on which exclusive right of way can be
provided. The main advantage of a larger vehicle size stems from the lower operating
costs, usually driver labour costs per passenger carried. However in a low demand area
these buses tend to mean low frequencies and longer waiting times for passengers.
Restricted roadway width and poor geometric alignment of the secondary routes, makes
substantial portions of the secondary network unsuitable for use by 12m rigid buses. It is
therefore proposed that slightly smaller buses of 9 to 10m length will be used on the
secondary routes, with capacity of approximately 60 passengers.
Services on tertiary routes will operate on the narrow roads, of four or five metres width,
that characterize most of Kathmandu’s residential areas and the historic central core.
These routes are unsuitable for larger buses and will initially be served using the existing
fleet of 11-passenger Safa tempos. It is envisaged that, over time, these will be replaced
by slightly larger, more comfortable and accessible electric vehicles seating up to 15
passengers.

4.3.2 Fleet requirements
Passenger demand estimates for primary and secondary routes were made using the
results from JICA classified traffic volume counts and average vehicle occupancies. For
the purpose of estimating fleet requirements per route peak period, peak directions
passenger volumes are needed. Where vehicular volume per direction was available the
specific peak hour directional volume per vehicle category was used. In cases where only
aggregated data was available the following ratios, averaged from actual data were
used:
• Peak hour factor 9.0% of 24 hour volume
• Peak Direction = 56% of two-way
Vehicle occupancy in the peak hour was assumed to be 130% of average daily
occupancy reported in the JICA study. It was further assumed that generally 75% of
existing public transport passengers at each traffic count location would utilize the
restructured services. This figure was reduced to 50% on the Ring Road routes as many
existing public transport routes use only a small portion of the Ring Road.
From the available data, and the above assumptions, peak hour peak direction
passenger volumes (PPHPD) were derived for each primary and secondary route.
Insufficient traffic counts were available on Tertiary routes to make meaningful
assessment of fleet requirements on the lowest order routes.
The analysis of fleet size for primary and secondary routes is shown in the table on the
following page.
A total fleet of 467 Buses, each with a capacity of 80 passengers, is estimated to be

required to service the Primary Routes, while 437 buses, each with a capacity of 60
passengers, are required for the Secondary Routes.
It is envisaged that existing vehicles displaced from the Primary and Secondary Routes
would be utilized initially on Tertiary Routes. Minimal fleet purchases for tertiary routes
are therefore expected in the short-term.

Table 4-6 Fleet requirements on Primary and Secondary routes

Daily PPHPD Max Pk Hour Route Ave Layover Round trip time Buses Availability Fleet
Pass. Pass per Trips Length Speed time reqd rate reqd.
vehicle reqd. (km/h) (min) (minutes) (hours)
Primary Routes
Ring Road P1 & P2 85400 3500 80 44 27.3 20 5 86.9 1.45 64 95% 68
Narayangopal Chowk -‐ Satdobato P3 46800 2310 80 29 11.225 15 5 99.8 1.66 49 95% 52
Narayangopal Chowk -‐ Surya Vinayak P4 84900 4200 80 53 18.3 15 5 156.4 2.61 139 95% 147
Jorpati -‐ Naikap P5 70400 3300 80 42 14.5 15 5 126 2.1 89 95% 94
Jorpati -‐ Ekantakuna P6 21700 1200 80 15 13.18 15 5 115.44 1.92 29 95% 31
Koteshwor -‐ New Bus Park P7 47900 2100 80 27 11.38 15 5 101.04 1.68 46 95% 49
Koteshwor -‐ Kalanki P8 53900 3200 80 40 8.2 15 5 75.6 1.26 51 95% 54
Secondary Routes
Budhanilkantha – Narayan Gopal Chowk S1 35400 1700 60 29 4.7 15 5 47.6 0.79 23 95% 25
Narayangopal Chowk – Koteshwor S2 28600 1400 60 24 10.2 15 5 91.6 1.53 37 95% 39
Naya Bazaar -‐ Chappal Karkhana S3 18800 900 60 15 13.2 15 5 115.6 1.93 29 95% 31
Naya Bazaar -‐ Jorpati S4 18800 900 60 15 16.4 15 5 141.2 2.35 36 95% 38
New Bus Park -‐ Airport S5 42700 2100 60 35 12.1 15 5 106.8 1.78 63 95% 67
Gokarna -‐ Tinkune S6 19900 1000 60 17 10.4 15 5 93.2 1.55 27 95% 29
Koteshwor – Jorpati S7 2000 100 60 2 10 15 5 90 1.5 3 95% 4
Nagarkot -‐Koteshwor S8 12100 600 60 10 23.6 15 5 198.8 3.31 34 95% 36
Sanga -‐ Koteshwor S9 29700 1500 60 25 14.8 15 5 128.4 2.14 54 95% 57
Sisneri / Lamata -‐ Satdobato S10 17300 800 60 14 9.1 15 5 82.8 1.38 20 95% 22
Godavari -‐ Satdobato S11 11100 700 60 12 9.2 15 5 83.6 1.39 17 95% 18
Chapagaun -‐ Satdobato S12 25200 1200 60 20 7.4 15 5 69.2 1.15 23 95% 25
Bungamati -‐ Ekantakuna S13 18400 900 60 15 4.8 15 5 48.4 0.81 13 95% 14
Pharping – Old Bus park S14 2000 100 60 2 18.9 15 5 161.2 2.69 6 95% 7
Thankot -‐ Kalanki S15 47600 2300 60 39 7.8 15 5 72.4 1.21 48 95% 51
Sitapaila Chowk-‐ Ratna Park S16 3000 200 60 4 5.7 15 5 55.6 0.93 4 95% 5

4.3.3 Fleet utilisation impacts
Implementation of the restructuring proposals will have a significant positive impact on the
operational efficiency of the public transport system by replacing a large number trips by
small vehicles such as tempo, Microbus and Minibus with fewer trips by larger vehicles.
On the primary routes the new fleet of 12m rigid buses will travel approximately 87,500
kilometres per day. These new services will allow a reduction of 298,500 daily vehicle-
kilometres by the current fleet, yielding a net saving of 211,000 vehicle-kilometres per
day.
The greatest reduction comes from routes currently operated by microbuses which
require approximately 135,000 less veh-km of operation per day. Travel on routes
currently operated by mini-buses is reduced by approximately 95,000 veh-km per day.
Figure 4-33 Change in daily travel by Public Transport on Primary Routes
The impacts on secondary routes are significantly less than on the primary routes. The
proposed new route structure will require 67,500 veh-km of travel by 9-10m buses per
day. Travel by the existing public transport fleet will be reduced by a total of 184,800 per
day, yielding a net saving on secondary routes of 121,100 vehicle kilometres per day.

Figure 4-34 Change in daily travel by Public Transport on Secondary Routes
4.3.4 Vehicle Operating Cost impacts
The following table shows the impact on Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC) of the proposed
restructuring on Primary and Secondary Routes, assuming annual travel by the public
transport fleet is equivalent to 300 typical weekdays.
The components of VOC considered in the analysis are fuel consumption, lubricants,
tyres, spare parts, maintenance labour, crew cost, depreciation and interest. Values
customised for current Nepal conditions, as used in HDM4 analysis were applied.
The table shows that total travel by public transport vehicles will be reduced by
approximately 100 Million vehicle-kilometres per year.
This reduction in travel corresponds to an annual saving in VOC of US$34 Million per
year.
Table 4-7 Vehicle Operating Costs on Primary and Secondary routes

New Tempo Microbus Minibus Large Bus Net Change
Bus
Daily Veh-‐km: Primary Routes 87500 -‐37500 -‐135300 -‐95100 -‐30600 -‐211,000
Daily Veh-‐km: Secondary Routes 63700 -‐29900 -‐85900 -‐58100 -‐10900 -‐121,100
Annual Veh-‐km (Million): Primary 45.4 -‐20.2 -‐66.4 -‐46.0 -‐12.5 -‐99.6
& Secondary Routes
VOC (NPR/km) 142.0 19.4 89.7 112.3 142.6 n.a.
Annual VOC (Million NPR) 3220.6 -‐196.1 -‐2977.6 -‐2581.1 -‐887.9 -‐3422
Annual VOC (Million US$) 32.2 -‐2.0 -‐29.8 -‐25.8 -‐8.9 -‐34.2

4.3.5 Congestion reduction impacts
The preceding table has shown the impact on Vehicle Operating Cost (VOC) of the
proposed restructuring measures. This savings shown are however conservative as they
are based purely on vehicle kilometres of travel by each type of Public Transport vehicle.
Further saving will accrue, not only to Public Transport vehicles but to all vehicles, as a
result of reduced congestion. Reduction in congestion will result from having fewer, albeit
larger, public transport vehicles using the road network.
The amount of road space used by each type of vehicle is defined by the number of
equivalent Passenger Car Units (PCU’s) as follows:
• Passenger Car = 1 PCU

• Tempo = 1 PCU
• Micro-bus = 1.5 PCU
• Minibus = 3 PCU
• Large Bus = 4 PCU
These PCU factor take into account the physical size of the vehicle, the acceleration and
deceleration characteristics and the impact of stops to load and unload passengers.
For each of the primary and secondary routes the change in Peak Hour Peak Direction
PCU’s resulting from the fleet rationalisation proposals was calculated. Current Peak
Hour Peak Direction PCU’s for all vehicles were calculated for each route were calculated
from 2011 JICA traffic counts. The percentage reduction in PCU’s was subsequently
calculated for various sections of the primary and secondary networks as shown in the
following two tables.
Table 4-8 Reduction in PCU’s on Primary network

Section of Primary Network Routes Current Peak Reduction %
on Hour Peak in PHPD Reduction
section Dir PCU’s PCU’s
Ring Road P1 & P2 1750 275 16%
Kalanki -‐ Thapathali P5 & P8 2567 512 20%
Maitighar – New Baneshwor P4 & P8 2550 368 14%
New Baneshwor -‐ Tinkune P4 & P8 2471 483 20%
Koteshwor -‐ Jadibuti P4 3127 537 17%
Jadibuti -‐ Sallaghari P4 2082 308 15%
Balaju Chowk -‐ Lainchaur P7 1399 102 7%
Maharajganj -‐ Lainchaur P3 & P4 1604 86 5%
Jorpati Terminus -‐ Jorpati P5 & P6 636 -‐75 -‐12%
Jorpati -‐ Boudhha P5 & P6 896 32 4%
Boudhha -‐ Chabahil P5 & P6 1803 252 14%
Thapathali -‐ Pulchowk P3 & P6 2823 280 10%
Pulchowk -‐ Jawalakhel P3 & P6 1973 158 8%
Average on Primary Network 12%

Table 4-9 Reduction in PCU’s on Secondary network

Section of Primary Network Routes Current Peak Reduction %
on Hour Peak in PHPD Reduction
section Dir PCU’s PCU’s
Budhanilkantha – Narayan Gopal Chowk S1 691 58 8%
Narayangopal Chowk – Jai Nepal S2 1244 57 5%
Balkhu -‐ Kalimati S3 & S4 945 80 9%
CBD -‐ Sinamangel S5 953 66 7%
Gokarna -‐ Jorpati S6 259 39 15%
Nagarkot -‐Koteshwor S8 331 36 11%
Sanga -‐ Koteshwor S9 898 84 9%
Sisneri / Lamata -‐ Satdobato S10 580 38 7%
Godavari -‐ Satdobato S11 272 24 9%
Chapagaun -‐ Satdobato S12 654 49 8%
Bungamati -‐ Ekantakuna S13 586 51 9%
Thankot -‐ Kalanki S15 833 104 13%
Sitapaila Chowk-‐ Ratna Park S16 463 2 0%
Average on Secondary Network 8%
The analysis shown in the above tables found that, on average, traffic density on sections
of road used by the primary transport routes was reduced by 12%. The impact on the
road sections used by secondary routes was less pronounced, but still significant at 8%.
It should be noted that, as the volume of vehicles on a road approaches capacity, the
degree of congestion (number of stops and length of delay) increases exponentially with
volume. Therefore a 10% decrease in volume (PCU’s) will result in a much larger
reduction in congestion. The values shown in the table above are therefore a very
conservative estimate of the congestion reduction impact of the proposed restructuring
measures.

4.4 Rationalisation plan for terminals and depots

Efficient operation of the restructured public transport system requires supporting
infrastructure for vehicle parking, servicing, holding and dispatching.

Provision of supporting terminal and depot infrastructure to support the operational
efficiency of the public transport system.
The route restructuring proposals described in section 6.2 used the principle of routes
running through the Central Business District, in preference to routes starting and ending
in the CBD. As a result the need for public transport terminal infrastructure in the CBD is
greatly reduced, as terminal facilities will be relocated to peripheral areas. Figure 4-14, in
section 4.2 illustrated the proposed primary public transport routes, with associated
terminal and interchange locations.
4.4.1 Terminals for urban bus services
Terminals are required at the start and end points of all the primary routes. Six of these
terminals are located on the Ring Road, and must therefore also serve as interchanges
between routes. Only three of the terminals do not also have an interchange function with
other Primary Routes. All terminals, however, have either secondary or tertiary routes
acting as feeder routes.
Table 4-10 Terminal requirements for Primary Routes

Terminal location Primary Route(s) terminating Primary Routes interchanging
Narayangopal P3 Narayangopal Chowk – P1 & P2 Ring Road
Chowk Satdobato
P4 Narayangopal Chowk – Surya
Vinayak
Jorpati P5 Jorpati – Naikap
P6 Jorpati – Ekantakuna
Koteshwor P7 Koteshwor – New Bus Park P1 & P2 Ring Road
P8 Koteshwor -‐ Kalanki P4 Narayangopal Chowk – Surya
Vinayak
Surya Vinayak P4 Narayangopal Chowk – Surya
Vinayak
Satdobato P1 & P2 Ring Road P1 & P2 Ring Road
P3 Narayangopal Chowk -‐
Satdobato
Ekantakuna P6 Jorpati -‐ Ekantakuna P1 & P2 Ring Road
Kalanki P8 Kteshwor – Kalanki P1 & P2 Ring Road
P8 Naikap – Surya Vinayak
Naikap P5 Jorpati – Naikap
New Bus Park P7 Koteshwor – New Bus Park P1 & P2 Ring Road
Only the Jorpati, Surya Vinayak and Naikap Terminals do not also have interchanges
with other Primary Routes. Satdobato Terminal serves as the terminal for route P3 to
Narayangopal Chowk, and for the Ring Road Services P1 and P2, so there will also be
interchanges between passengers on these routes.

The primary route structure and associated terminal positioning does away with the need
for a terminal within the CBD. There is however a need for interchange facilities on each
of the Kanti Path and Durbar Marg, in the vicinity of Ratna Park.
Further interchange facilities will be required at Chabahil, Gaushala and Thapathali.
4.4.2 New Terminal at Koteshwor for inter-city bus services
Current terminal facilities within the CBD have been described earlier in this report. The
9
City and Valley routes served from the Old Bus Park will almost all no longer terminate at
the Old Bus Park but at one of the terminals described above. The Old Bus Park also
currently serves a number of Inter-City routes to the east of Kathmandu. The restructuring
of secondary routes has shown Valley Services to Nagarkot and Sanga (renamed S8 and
S9 respectively) terminating at Koteshwor. It is proposed that all intercity services that
currently terminate at Old Bus Park should be moved to a new Inter City Terminal to be
constructed with the Urban Bus Terminal in the vicinity of Koteshwor. A potential site for
such a terminal exists just north of the Arniko Highway at Lokanthali and east of the
Manohara Khola.
With the proposed restructuring, the Bhaktapur Bus Park, located just north of Old Bus
Park at Bagbazaar, will also not be required. The current routes from this terminal are:
• Kamalbinayak & Dudha Pokhari (Bhaktapur)
• Saraswotikhel (Madhyapur – Thimi)
• Changunarayan
These routes have all been incorporated into the proposed route restructuring, and will no
longer travel into the CBD. Routes that will be served from the New Koteshwor terminal
will be:
Primary: P1 & P2 Ring Road
P4 Narayangopal Chowk – Koteshwor
P8 Naikap – Surya Vinayak
Secondary S7 Pepsicola – Jorpati
S8 Nagarkot
S9 Sanga
Tertiary T20 Jorpati – Basuki Chowk – Koteshwor
T24 Sallaghari - Old Bhaktapur Road - Koteshwor
T25 Lubhu - Koteshwor
Intercity Thimi - Sallaghari - Surya Vinayak - Chayamansingh -Tathali - Nala
Thimi - Sallaghari - Surya Vinayak – Banepa – Dhulikhel
Banepa - Nepalthok (Kavere districts)
Banepa - Panch Khal - Melamchi
Banepa - Barabise - Manthali - Tatopani - Jiri
The new inter-city bus park at Koteshwor will compliment the New Bus Park at Balaju by
serving routes to the East and South, whilst the Balaju facility will serve routes to the
North and West. The proposed Primary Public Transport provides direct connections
between the two intercity terminals via the Ring Road Services (P1 and P2).
9
The one exception is the current bus service from Old Bus Park to Dakshinkali and Pharping, renamed as
Secondary Route S14, is planned to continue to terminate in the CBD. S16 from Sitapaila is also planned to
terminate in the CBD although this service does not currently use Old Bus Park.

4.5 Rationalisation plan for bus stops & lay-byes

Provision of convenient and safe access to the bus system is a prerequisite for attracting
sufficient passengers for a sustainable service. Bus stops are the points where
passengers access the bus system, and it is therefore essential that they are
appropriately located and designed in order to provide appropriate levels of convenience
and safety.

Promote ridership of the public transport system by providing safe and convenient bus
stops that present a consistent network identity.
This section of the report proposes guidelines for spacing of bus stops, location of stops
in relation to other components of the road network, and design standard for bus stops.
These guidelines are subsequently applied to the public transport network in the City
Centre and Pilot Routes.
4.5.1 Bus stop spacing
The choice of an appropriate spacing for bus stops is a trade-off between passenger
convenience and operational efficiency of the bus system.
Closely spaced bus stops reduce the distance that passengers will need to walk to
access a bus. But closer bus stops results in more bus stops along the route which
increases the travel time, also result in lower bus operating speeds. Lower speeds have
two effects, firstly for the passenger it increases travel time, thus counteracting the
shorter walking time that results from closely spaced stops, and secondly increased trip
time decreases the number of peak period trips a bus can make, which increases fleet
10
size. Analysis of the various factors has found that bus stop spacing of around 550m is
an optimum to minimize passenger travel time.
The International Association of Public Transport (UITP) recommends stop spacing

related to area type as follows:
• City centre with dense commercial, service, administration and general activities,
300m
• Urban areas with high density, dense residential areas, commercial activities and
educational sites, 400m
• Low density urban and residential areas, 600m
The UITP guidance on bus stop spacing, is consistent with transit authorities in the US,
Canada, Australia and New Zealand. These countries generally use 400m walking
distance to access a transit service. In Europe slightly longer walking distances are
accepted. In Kathmandu typical walking distances have been found to be considerably
1112
longer than these international norms, varying between 600m and 6.0 km .
10
White, Peter. 2009. Public Transport, its planning, management and operation (5th Edition) & Wright, L and
Hook,W. 2007. BRT Planning Guide, ITDP
11
Pendakur, V. S., Guarneschelli, M. (1991), ‘Motorised and Non-‐motorised Transport in Kathmandu, Nepal:
Where Do the Pedestrians Fit?’ TRR 1294, TRB.

Taking consideration of the international norms described above, with modifications

based upon the analysis of limiting walking distances in Kathmandu (Parajuli), bus stop
spacing is proposed that is approximately 50% wider than used in cities in developed
countries. The following table shows the guidelines for spacing of bus stops in
Kathmandu:
Table 4-11 Bus stop spacing guidelines for Kathmandu

Area type Proposed station
spacing
City Centre 400m
Municipal areas of Kathmandu outside of the City Centre, and the 600m
Municipalities of Lalitpur. Kirtipur, Thimi and Bhaktapur
Areas outside the five Municipalities 1000m
4.5.2 Bus stop location
The choice of bus stop location is affected by numerous factors, and site-specific
conditions have a major role in deciding where to place a particular bus stop. It is
important to note that a bus stop is not merely a location to board, or alight from, a bus.
The bus stop is a key location from where bus passengers gain access to the surrounding
land-use or a subsequent travel mode. Wherever possible bus stops should therefore be
located to maximise the ease of access to commercial, retail, community, residential and
other activities in the area. Transport for London identified the key issues impacting bus
stop location as shown in the following figure.
Figure 4-35 Aspects influencing bus stop location
Source: Accessible bus stop design guidance, Transport for London, 2006
12
Parajuli, P. M., Wirasinghe, S. C. and Hunt, J. D. (1998), ‘A Method for Establishing Limiting Walking and
Bicycling Distances’, Proceedings of 3rd International Workshop on Transportation Planning and
Implementation Methodologies for Developing Countries: Emerging Trends), School of Transportation Systems
Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, 9 – 11 December 2008

The location of bus stops is generally described in relation to the proximity to

intersections as follows:
• Near-side (upstream) of the adjacent intersection. Near-side stops can be used

where traffic and/or pedestrian conditions on the far-side of the intersection are
substantially better than on the far-side or where a major trip attractor such as
shopping centre, is located on the near-side of the intersection. They are, however,
generally discouraged for a number of reasons:
o Creates conflict with left turning vehicles
o Stopped buses may obscure traffic signals and pedestrians
o Sight distance obstruction for vehicles and pedestrians on the cross street, to
the left of the bus.
o Queueing buses may block the through lane during peak periods,
o Buses using indented bus bays may have difficulty re-entering the traffic
stream.
• Far-side (downstream) of the intersection. This is the preferred bus-stop location as it
minimises conflicts between left turning vehicles and buses, minimises sight distance
problems on intersection approaches, and encourages pedestrians to cross behind
the bus. Bus drivers can take advantage of gaps in traffic flow created at traffic
signals to re-enter the traffic stream. This location can, however result in a double
stop, first at a red traffic light and subsequently at the downstream bus stop.
• Mid block (midway between intersections). This location is optimum for vehicle and
pedestrian sight distance, and is likely to have less pedestrian congestion as bus
passenger waiting areas are not in proximity to the pedestrian crosswalks at the
intersection. The distance from adjacent intersections has two substantial drawbacks:
o It encourages passengers to cross the street at mid-block (jay-walking)
o The coverage area within walking distance of the stop is greatly reduced due
the distance to reach the cross-street
The use of mid-block stop locations is therefore only recommended where conditions
at intersections are problematic or a major trip generator is not near an intersection.
4.5.3 Bus stop types
Kerbside stop.
a) Kerbside stops using the traffic lane require minimum design and cost, and can be
easily moved. This layout provides maximum operational efficiency for the bus service as
there is no delay for the bus to re-enter the traffic stream. In areas with high traffic there
can, however be significant delays to general traffic blocked behind the bus. When
passenger volumes are high, and boarding times accordingly long, the bus will block
traffic flow for a significant period. This arrangement should only be used when traffic
speeds are low, as a stopped bus in the traffic lane presents a potential road safety
hazard. Kerbside stops in the traffic lane should therefore be only used at locations with
low passenger volumes, low traffic volumes and low traffic speeds.
b) Kerbside stops can also be provided by removal of on-street parking areas, to allow
loading to take place at the kerbside, yet out of the traffic stream. The bus stopping area
must be designated as “No parking” and diligently enforced to prevent use for parking or
deliveries.

Indented bus bay
An indented bus bay is also known variously as lay bye, turn-out, or berth. It is
constructed as an inset into the kerb, and typically has tapered ends for acceleration and
deceleration. An indented bus bay requires enough right-of-way so that sidewalk capacity
is not adversely affected. This layout allows passengers to board and alight outside of
the travel lane, which allows unobstructed traffic flow while the bus is stopped. Safety is
improved by increasing the distance between waiting passengers and traffic and reducing
the chances of a vehicle rear ending a stopped bus.
The indented bus bay may make it more difficult for the bus to re-enter traffic, particularly
during peak periods.
Open bus bay
Open bus bays have similar advantages to indented bus bays, but require less length as
entering buses decelerate as they cross the intersection, thus avoiding the need for a
entry taper and deceleration zone.
Queue jumper bus bay
This layout modifies an exclusive left turn lane upstream of the intersection by also
allowing straight through buses to use the lane. These buses proceed through the
intersection into an open bus bay. Buses can therefore bypass traffic queued in the
straight through lanes by using the “queue-jumper lane”.
Figure 4-36 Summary of types of bus stop

Kerbside stop. Low-cost &
minimal delays for bus. Blocks
traffic lane. Only recommended
on low-volume roads.
Indented bus bay. Allows

passengers to board & alight out
of traffic lane. Protection for bus
and passengers away from
moving vehicles. Minimal delay for
through traffic. Often difficult to re-
enter traffic stream.
Open bus bay. Same advantages
as indented bus bay, and allows
bus to decelerate through
intersection.
Open bus bay with queue jumper.

Uses a “left turn only, excluding
buses” lane that allows buses to
bypass queues at traffic signal
Source: TCRP 19, Guidelines for the location and design of Bus Stops, 1996.

4.5.4 Bus stop recommendations
Bus stops should be generally located on the far side of an intersection. Near-side and
mid block locations should only be implemented when:
§ Traffic conditions or road geometry on the downstream side of an intersection create
are unsuitable for buses to stop on the far-side of the intersection.
§ A major trip attractor, such a shopping centre, community facility (hospital, school
etc) is located upstream of the intersection or in the middle of the block.
Kerbside bus stops are the most desirable layout from a bus operation perspective as the
bus is already in the traffic lane and therefore does not suffer from a delay to re-enter the
traffic stream. This fact must be balanced against the traffic delays and road safety
implication of a stationary bus in a traffic lane. Kerbside stops are therefore preferred
when:
§ It is physically possible for a vehicle to pass bus that is stopped at the kerbside. This
occurs where there is more than one lane in the direction of travel used by the bus
or, in the case of a single lane per direction sufficient roadway width and sight-
distance to allow a safe passing manoeuvre.
§ Traffic volumes are low (less than 250 vehicles per hour), and therefore only low
numbers of other vehicles will be queued behind a stopped bus.
§ Bus volumes are low (less than 10 in peak hour), resulting in infrequent occurrence
of buses stopped in the traffic lane.
§ Passenger boarding and alighting numbers are low (less than 40 boardings per
hour), so that the bus is stopped for only a short period of time (dwell time less than
30 seconds per bus).
§ Vehicle speeds are low, with low risk of rear-end collisions with the stationary bus.
This constraint precludes use of kerbside stops on National Highways and Feeder
Roads in the areas of the Valley outside the built-up, or Municipal area, as speeds
on these routes high and rear-end collision risk is significant.
Kerbside bus stops are therefore likely to be the preferred layout for tertiary routes
(excluding the outlying Valley areas), where traffic volumes are low, and the small vehicle
size results in fewer boarding and alighting passengers and accordingly shorter dwell
time at the stop. Site-specific investigation of the Right-of-Way is needed to determine if
adequate roadway width exists to allow passing of the stopped bus.
The larger vehicle size used on the secondary routes, will result in significant boarding
and alighting numbers at City Centre stops, which will limit the applicability of the kerbside
layout in the CBD. The more dispersed boarding and alighting that occurs further out on
the routes reduces the number of passengers at each stop, which in turn makes the kerb-
side layout an appropriate option. The higher design standard of the roads used as
secondary routes increases the opportunities to pass a stopped bus. The kerb-side layout
is therefore the preferred layout for stops on secondary routes in built up, municipal
areas.
High vehicle and passenger volumes, together with higher speeds and increased collision
risk, on the primary routes make the kerb-side layout inappropriate for use on the Primary
Public Transport Network.
When the conditions appropriate for kerb-side layout are not met, the bus stop must be
recessed from the traffic lane through use of Indented, Open or Queue Jump bus stops.
Indented bus bays are commonly used in Nepal, and therefore well understood by
motorists. The concepts of Open Bays and Queue Jump Bays are new to Nepal and will

require an information campaign and on-going enforcement to ensure that they are
correctly used. Indented bus bays are therefore the preferred layout where kerb-side
layout is inappropriate.
Use of the Open layout should be limited to the primary network where higher bus
volumes will require more than one stopping bay per site, and locations where kerb-side
length available for bus use is limited and the shorter length required for an open bay
becomes critical. The Open bus bay is therefore only preferred on the Primary Network
in the CBD and Municipal areas.
Open bus bays with queue jumper lanes have significant potential to reduce bus travel
times, thus improving service efficiency and passenger service. This layout is only
appropriate at signalised intersections, which limits its application to the primary route
network. The new (for Kathmandu) concept and requirement for stringent enforcement
limits application to uniquely identified sites.
The following table provides guidance on the preferred bus stop layout for the three level
of public transport hierarchy, with reference to the type and intensity of land-use and
traffic conditions of the surrounding area.
Table 4-12 Preferred bus stop layout
Kerbside Indented bus Open bus Open bus bay +

bay bay Queue Jumper
Tertiary routes S
CBD

Urban areas

Valley areas

Secondary routes
CBD

Urban areas

Valley areas

Primary routes
CBD

Urban areas

Valley areas

Key
= Preferred, = Site specific, = Not desirable
Note: The indicator “Site Specific” is used to identify a situation where a particular layout may be
appropriate, but site-specific investigation of conditions is required.

4.5.5 Bus bay dimensions
Bus bay dimensions for kerbside, indented and open configurations are shown in the
figure below.
Figure 4-37 Typical dimensions of bus stops
Kerbside bus bay
Indented bus bay
Open bus bay

Source: VicRoads, Bus stop guidelines, 2006
The minimum width of the bus bay layouts shown above is 3.0 metres.
The capacity of a bus stop capacity is dependent on the frequency of bus arrivals and the
dwell time at the stop. Where more than one bus is required to be accommodated at the
bus stop, the length of the bus stop must be increased by:
§ The length of the bus plus 5 metres, where nose to tail operation is used.
§ The length of the bus plus 12 metres, where buses will enter and leave the stop
independently.
The number of spaces required, based on a 20 – 30 second dwell time, is shown in the
following table.

Table 4-13 Number of bus spaces required at a stop

Buses passing stop in busiest hour Number of bus spaces required
Up to 15 1
30 -‐ 45 2
60 – 75 3
75 – 90 4
90 -‐120 5
120 -‐180 6
Source: New South Wales Transit, Bus Infrastructure Guide. rev 1, 2011
4.5.6 Bus stop infrastructure
Bus stops are the primary interface between passengers and the bus system, and should
provide appropriate facilities for passengers. The requirements for bus stop infrastructure
comprise:
Passenger waiting and loading area. The passenger waiting, or hard stand, area at
bus stops should provide sufficient space for boarding and alighting passengers and to
allow passing pedestrians to move through the waiting area. The hard stand should be
level, paved and accessible for persons with vision or other disabilities. Tactile indicators
should be used to indicate the boarding point. The area adjacent to the points where the
doors of a stopped bus will open should be free from obstacles to allow unobstructed
loading and unloading of passengers, and facilitate use of the stop be people with
disabilities.
Identification signage and markings. Bus stops should be clearly identified and provide
timetable and route information. As a minimum this should comprise a post mounted bus
stop sign or bus stop marker, that identifies the location as a bus stop, and gives the
route number. This also marks the point where the bus driver should stop the front of the
bus, thus allowing placing of tactile indicators and other infrastructure at defined points in
relation to the bus stop sign. At low volume stops timetable information should be
provided on the bus stop pole, while at higher use locations a more prominent display
may be achieved by placing the timetable on the bus shelter.
Bus passenger seating and shelters. Provision of shelter from rain, wind and sun is an
important service to bus passengers. The design should allow passengers to see an
approaching bus, and conversely for the bus driver to see if there are any passengers at
the stop.
Other street furniture. Where shelters are not provided seating and other street
furniture such as rubbish bins, ticket machines, real-time passenger information can be
provided. This must be located away from the boarding and alighting zone, and also not
obstruct passing pedestrian movement.
Lighting. Lighting a bus stops can be provided through ambient lighting from adjacent
street lights, or specific lights in the shelter which may be solar powered. Provision is
dependent upon the characteristics of the location and the volume of passengers using
the stop.

The requirements for bus stop infrastructure, on Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Routes
are shown in the following table, and illustrated in the three figures after the table.
Table 4-14 Bus stop infrastructure
Tertiary Route Secondary Primary Route

Route
Bus stop identification marker

Paved Hard Stand area with tactile indicators

Pedestrian footpath

Information signage
Location, number & name

Fare information

Information display
Timetable

Route information

Route destination

Locality map

Furniture
Shelter

Seating

Rubbish bin

Shelter lighting

Key

= Site specific = Preferred = Required
Note: The indicator “Site Specific” is used to identify a situation where a particular layout may be
appropriate, but site-specific investigation of conditions is required.
Figure 4-38 Typical bus stop infrastructure on Primary Routes
Source: TransLink Transit Authority, Public Transport Infrastructure Manual, May 2012

Figure 4-39 Typical bus stop infrastructure on Secondary Routes
Figure 4-40 Typical bus stop infrastructure on Tertiary Routes

4.6 Bus priority and system efficiency measures

Bus priority measures have been widely used to improve the quality of public transport
and support development of an integrated transport system. In the Kathmandu context
bus priority measures can ensure that public transport can offer a viable and realistic
alternative to motorcycle or car travel.

Maximize public transport fleet productivity and minimize passenger travel time by
introducing priority measures on the public transport network that increase average travel
speed on the primary network to at least 20 km/h.
Bus priority measures are designed to give preference to bus services (which carry more
passengers per unit of road-space) over low occupancy on congested sections of the
road network.
Current pubic transport operations are severely impacted by traffic congestion that results
in very low commercial speeds, which has negative impacts on the operators by
increasing operating costs and reducing passenger capacity. It also has negative impacts
on users of the system by increasing travel time. Measures to reduce the effects of traffic
congestion on bus operations have positive impacts on bus journey times, service
reliability and punctuality, passenger demand, revenue and the level of subsidy required
to deliver a high quality passenger transport network.
Financial viability of the Public Transport System can be substantially improved by

reducing the impact of traffic congestion through use of dedicated bus lanes, traffic signal
priority, safe and efficient stops and passenger interchanges. These measures increase
the average running speed of Public Transport vehicles, which in turn results in more
peak period trips and fare revenue per vehicle.
Implementation of bus priority measures will be essential component of the Primary

Routes. Without priority measures bus services operating in mixed traffic will have
uneconomically low average operating speed. This will result in high fleet costs, and high
operating costs. Unless fare rates are substantially increased it will not be possible to
commercially operate a high quality bus service in mixed traffic without a substantial
operational subsidy.
Operational subsidies remove or reduce the necessity for operators to run commercially
viable services, and lead to increasing inefficiencies and subsidy dependence. It is
therefore proposed that government assistance to public transport services should be
focused on providing an operating environment in which public transport vehicles on
primary routes can achieve average speeds in excess of 20km/h. This will require
implementation of bus priority infrastructure as described in the various following sub-
sections.

The spectrum of bus priority measures is illustrated in the figure below.
Figure 4-41 Quality spectrum of road based public transport
Informal transit Conventional Basic BRT-Lite BRT Full BRT

service bus service busways
Source: Adapted from BRT Planning Guide, June 2007
4.6.1 Segregated bus priority lanes: Bus ways
Implementation of bus priority lanes is one of most commonly used strategies used to
improve efficiency of a bus service. Segregated bus priority lanes separate the bus
service from general traffic by using dedicated and separate, bus-only, roads or busways.
This enables the bus service to bypass congested urban arterial routes used by general
traffic. High operating speeds are possible and delays are substantially reduced, or
eliminated. Journey times therefore are
shorter and more reliable.
Dedicated busways provide the highest

possible level of bus priority and can offer a
service equivalent to rail based systems with
reliable travel time and adherence to
timetables. The high level of service offered
by segregated busways results in higher
passenger numbers and resultant fare
revenue increase.
A segregated bus-only street in Curitiba is

shown opposite.

Segregated busways can also be used with express services in which higher speed
(express) buses to share the same busway as lower speed local buses, but only stop at
selected stations.
Segregated bus ways are an integral component of a BRT network. They are normally
“unguided” where the bus is steered as normal by the driver along the length of the
segregated busway.
A higher level of service, although at greater cost, can be achieved with “Guided”
busways where buses are guided automatically using rails, kerbs, or an optical guidance
system. The bus driver retains control of braking,
accelerating, controlling the bus doors and
sometimes ticket issuing. Normal bus operation is
possible if the bus leaves the guideway.
An example of a guided busway is the Adelaide O-

Bahn, which uses guide wheels and concrete
kerbing to achieve operational speeds of 100
km/h. The Leeds system, shown opposite is 11
minutes faster in peak periods than general traffic.
Short sections of bus only roadway can also be used to allowing the operation of a bus
service to a specific area whilst excluding general traffic. This is particularly effective to
support inner city traffic restraint zones, or to enable buses to bypass traffic queues on
heavily congested arterial routes. Physical measures, such as sump-busters or rising
barriers, are often used to restrict unauthorized entry.
4.6.2 Bus lanes
A bus lane is a dedicated lane for buses either permanently or at only certain specified
periods of the day. Bus lanes are normally created where fully segregated bus ways
would either not economically viable, or impractical due to narrow right of way. To warrant
a bus lane the road in question generally is significantly congested as well as heavily
travelled by bus.
Bus lanes require clear markings to indicate the

exclusion of other vehicles and are often sealed or
painted with a different colour to the adjacent
mixed traffic lanes.
Priority bus lanes must be rigorously enforced to

prevent private vehicles from using reserved bus lanes. Kerb-side bus lanes are
particularly vulnerable to blockage from left turning vehicles, private cars picking up or
dropping off passengers or by stationary delivery vehicles.
Bus lanes can be in the same direction as general traffic (”with-flow”), against the traffic
flow on a one-way street (”contra-flow”), or where space constraints allow only a single
lane use of a tidal-flow lane where the direction of bus travel reverses between morning
and evening periods.

4.6.3 Bus priority traffic control systems
Bus priority over general traffic can be provided by a number of technological

approaches, that are often used in conjunction with physical bus priority measures.
The simplest measures are passive priority where the intersections approaches used by a
bus route are given longer green time, irrespective of the presence of a bus. A similar
passive approach is to coordinate adjacent traffic signals, and time the start of green time
on consecutive traffic signals to provide a “green wave” for the running speed of a bus.
Selective Vehicle Detection at intersections controlled by traffic signals can be used to

give buses priority access to the intersection stop line (queue jumping) on highly
congested routes. Vehicle detection equipment, either roadside beacons or loops under
road are placed upstream of an intersection. The detection equipment registers a
transponder fitted to a bus, and communicates with the traffic signal to halt general traffic,
allowing a bus to use a dedicated bus only lane to take a place at the front of the traffic
queue, thus giving the bus full priority over other traffic. Alternatively, if a bus is in a
queue of mixed traffic queue, the queue will be given temporary priority over all other the
other approaches to the intersection by extending the green time allocated to the
approach used by the bus.
In areas where traffic control is provided by a system linking traffic signals over a network,
or corridor, traffic signal priority can be applied over larger portions of a route. Transport
for London has implemented the iBus system of GPS tracking in place of transponders.
Roadside beacons and lops are also eliminated, with satellite communication used
between the bus and traffic signals giving priority to the bus a successive intersections
along a route.
4.6.4 Bus stop design

13
Transport for London found that “bus stop dwell times are considerably reduced by
filling in bus lay-bys. Illegal parking and obstruction of the bus stop is almost eliminated
and accessibility for all users is greatly increased, assisting in improving social inclusion”.
Section 5.5.4 on bus stop design in this chapter proposed use of bus lay-byes under
certain conditions. The main factors influencing this recommendation are reducing
potential for rear-end collisions between general traffic stationary buses, and to reduce
delays for traffic queued behind a stationary bus. The drawback of using lay-byes is that
in congested conditions the bus will experience delays re-entering the traffic flow, with
resultant increase in journey time and decrease in reliability. For these reasons lay-byes,
or indented bus bays, are only proposed on routes in valley areas where speeds are
likely to be higher than in urban areas and the city centre.
Transport for London subsequently adopted a policy of filling in lay-byes on all urban
roads where the speed limit is below 50 km/h, with the lay-bye replaced by an in-lane
stop. This is a strategy that strongly supports a policy to give priority to Public Transport
in preference to general traffic.
13
Transport for London, Accessible bus stop design guidance, Bus Priority Team technical advice note BP1/06,
January 2006.

A variation of this concept is “Bus boarders”

which are built out from the existing kerb line, to
provide a platform for boarding and alighting
passengers.
An example of a London Bus Boarder is shown

opposite.
Reducing the height differential between the

platform level and the bus floor reduces the
number of stairs that passengers are required to
climb when boarding or alighting from a bus. This
in turn has substantial benefits in reducing the
boarding time and consequently dwell time at a stop.
Full BRT systems generally use high-level

station platform at the same height as the bus
floor, thus allowing rapid entry and exit from the
bus with no height change.
Significant benefits can be achieved with using

low-floor buses on conventional bus routes.
4.6.5 Fares and ticketing
The current, fragmented and uncoordinated, public transport system requires users to
pay separate fares for each portion of journey that requires transfers. A major benefit of
the proposed route restructuring is that it introduces network benefits by providing a
system where transfer between routes is facilitated thus making trips with transfers more
convenient. The proposed restructured public transport replaces low capacity vehicles
running direct services with high capacity vehicles on the primary route network,
supported by low capacity feeder and collector routes. The substantially improved
system efficiency achieved with this system however requires a transfer from the feeder
service to the trunk service on the primary route. An integrated fare and ticketing system
is therefore required.
Significant benefits related to bus stop dwell time, overall journey time and service
reliability can be achieved by bus passengers purchasing tickets off-bus. This can be
achieved through a combination of off-bus ticket sales outlets or ticket machines and the
use of smartcard technologies. Passengers pay their fare prior to boarding the bus and
then have their fare verified as they enter a bus station or board the bus.
This system requires ticket vending machines or ticket sales booths, and fare verification
equipment, which can add clutter to the bus stop location, and has ongoing operation and
maintenance costs.

4.6.6 Recommended bus priority measures
The priority measures proposed for the primary network are intended to provide the
physical infrastructure required to:
§ Provide a high quality public service on the major corridors as the backbone of an
integrated public transport system. The priority measures proposed will result in an
operating environment that will enable the high capacity bus services on these
routes for operate at sufficiently high speed, with resultant fleet productivity, that
operational costs are likely to be covered from fare revenue.
§ Provide a high level of service to passengers by improving travel time to a level
competitive with private modes of travel.
§ Reduce economic and external costs of travel through reducing travel time, vehicle
operating costs, congestion and environmental impacts.
An integrated fare and ticketing system is proposed for all levels of the hierarchy. This
will support the network integration inherent in the route restructuring proposals. With an
integrated fare and ticketing system transfers between routes are facilitated and the
attractiveness of the system to potential users is increased. This will maximize network
benefits of the proposed restructuring.
The various priority measures for each level in the route hierarchy are shown in the
following table.
Table 4-15 Bus priority measures

Tertiary Secondary Primary
Route Route Route
Segregated bus priority lane (Bus way)

Bus lane

Queue-‐jumper lane

Bus priority traffic control

Level boarding and alighting at stops/stations

Off-‐bus fare payment

Integrated fares and ticketing

Key

= Not = Preferred = Site specific
required
The priority measures proposed for the primary network have been developed with the
objective of supporting commercial operations of the bus system and minimizing subsidy
requirements. The priority measures shown are consistent with key design elements of a
Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, however the feasibility of BRT on the primary network
will be assessed in a subsequent element of the KSUTP.

4.7 Governance and Institutional model

4.7.1 Business structure of Private Operators
The current governance structure of the public transport industry in Kathmandu places
the full risks of operation onto private sector. This encourages operation in manner that
seeks to maximize fare revenue and leads to a number of the problems identified earlier
in Chapter 3 of this report. The problems directly attributable to operators seeking to
maximize fare revenue are:
• Delays at terminals caused by vehicles waiting until full before departure
• Delays along the route while waiting for passengers
• Speeding, overtaking and unsafe stopping
• Poorly maintained vehicles, many of which are older than 20 years
• Overcrowding and uncomfortable vehicles
Regulation has proven to be ineffective in addressing these issues, as the commercial

imperative for operators to maximize profits (or just survive as a business) is a stronger
motivation than regulatory compliance. The experience of bus companies and
cooperatives such as Sajha Yatayat and Nepal Yatayat that run timetabled services has
gone some way to addressing the above issues by removing the incentives for the bus
driver to maximize passenger volume.

For transport operators to provide a modern and efficient public transport system it is
necessary that the current fragmented structure of small independent operators is
replaced with larger operating entities capable of procuring and managing a fleet of public
transport vehicles. Corporate management of revenue will remove the incentive for
undesirable fare maximizing behavior.
4.7.2 Public Transport Institutional Structure
The problems of duplication of services, small and inefficient vehicles on high volume
routes and lack of service integration impose social and economic costs on public
transport users and the Valley as a whole. These costs include lost productivity, air and
noise pollution, and increased vehicle operating costs. Resolution of these problems
requires implementation of a cohesive and structured public transport network. The
physical components of such a network for Kathmandu have been described in sections
4.2 to 4.6 of this chapter.
Implementation of these route-restructuring proposals is, however, not possible

under the current governance structure.
The current situation of a weak regulatory role of DoTM with bus operators taking all the
operating risk needs to be replaced with strong Public Sector leadership that sets policy
and strategic objectives together with institutional risk sharing between private and public
sectors.
The following figure shows the institutional risk-sharing model proposed by World Bank
funded assistance in 2013 to DOTM on National Transport Management Strategy.

Figure 4-42 Institutional risk sharing model
Source: F Olyslagers, Presentation on National Transport Management Strategy, Kathmandu,

August 2013
The first key element in the risk sharing model shown above is the establishment of public
sector capacity to budget and disburse funds for public transport services and
infrastructure, develop policy, formulate strategies, undertake tactical planning and
contract with the private sector for provision of public transport services. The Transport
Coordinating Committee and Bus Agency shown in the preceding figure would perform
these functions.

Strengthen existing, and establish new, public sector institutional structures to budget and
disburse funds for public transport services and infrastructure, develop policy, formulate
strategies, undertake tactical planning and contract with the private sector for provision of
public transport services
In order to implement the proposed restructuring, Government will be required to actively

take control of planning and management of the contracted Pubic Transport services.
This will require establishment of a Public Sector entity responsible for Public Transport.
Public Transport in general is a local issue and should therefore planned and managed at
the lowest level of government with the legal mandate and appropriate mandate to do so.
Commuter transport services cross many local government boundaries, with the Valley
comprising five municipalities and outlying Village Development Committees. So the
Public Transport function cannot be effectively carried out at local government level but
should therefore preferably be considered as a metropolitan function and fall under the
control of an agency that covers the entire Valley.
The demand for Public Transport is derived from the spatial pattern of residential, cultural,
recreational and economic activity in the Kathmandu Valley. Planning and management
of Public Transport should therefore be done in conjunction with land-use and road
network planning. DOTM’s mandate is restricted to transport only, which implies that
either KVDA, or a new Kathmandu Valley Transport Management Committee (or
Authority), is the logical agency to handle Public Transport in the Kathmandu Valley.

The World Bank assisted study “National Transport Management Strategy 2070” has
recommended the formation of a Kathmandu Transport Management Committee (KTMC)
to handle this function. The KSUTP supports this recommendation.
DOTM currently exercises the legislative and regulatory powers to manage public
transport in terms of the Motor Vehicle and Transport Management Act 2049 (1993 AD).
Under this Act DOTM currently manages the public transport route permit system.
Transfer of the Public Transport function to the new KTMC will require legislative
amendment, which is considered to be unachievable the short term. It is therefore
proposed that, as an interim measure, appropriate capacity be created within DOTM for
development and implementation of restructured Public Transport operations.
Whilst it is preferable that this Public Transport Unit should be located within the Bagmati
Zonal Office of DOTM, it is recognised that there are extremely few professional staff In
Nepal with transportation panning skills. In consideration of this fact, it is considered
preferable that the public transport functions should be centralized within the DOTM to
enable the scarce skills to deployed throughout the country and not just within
Kathmandu.
It is proposed that, as an interim measure until the new KTMC and Bus Agency are
established, a new Public Transport Division should be created within DOTM for
development and implementation of restructured Public Transport operations
Creation of a Kathmandu Transport Management Committee with responsibility for

integrated transport planning and implementation in the Kathmandu Valley, and creation
of a commercially driven Bus Agency responsible for tactical planning and route
contracting, are however a medium term priorities.
The phasing of implementation of these institutional structures is shown in the figure on

the following page.

Figure 4-43 Implementation of institutional responsibilities of various parties
Current Interim Phase 1 Interim Phase 2 Desired
Policy:
Transport Policy National Transport National Transport
Budgeting and funding allocation MoPIT MoPIT
Management Committee Authority
Interagency coordination
Regulation:
Fares
Route permits DoTM DoTM DoTM DoTM
Vehicle & driver standards
Vehicle & driver licensing
Strategic Planning: Kathmandu Transport

Transport Strategy Kathmandu Transport
Ad-hoc DoTM Management
Transport Masterplan Management Committee
Committee
Tactical Planning:
Route planning
Kathmandu Valley Bus Kathmandu Valley Bus
Timetable Operators DoTM
Agency Agency
Vehicle type
Infrastructure
Operational:
Ticket sales
Service information Operators Operators Operators Operators
Fleet management
Staff management
Enforcement Metro Traffic

Metro Traffic Police Metro Traffic Police Metro Traffic Police
Police

Functions of the Public Transport Division
The function of the Public Transport Division of DOTM will, in broad terms, be to develop
and manage the public transport system. The unit will have to undertake conventional
central level functions as well as metropolitan and local level functions.
This will comprise a number of technical and administrative tasks as follows:
§ Public Transport Development Section

o Provide input on Public Transport to the National Policy on Urban Transport
o Develop strategies for implementation of the Public Transport components of
the National Policy.
o Coordination with Municipal and Metropolitan structures to ensure effective
and efficient execution of the National Policy.
o Coordination and liaison with other Government Departments at national level
with responsibilities that impact on public transport issues.
o Develop Public Transport policy, strategy and implementation plans, initially
for the Kathmandu Valley but subsequently for other urban areas, that support
the spatial development policies of the area.
o Development of appropriate governance and operational structure for the
public transport industry that may include route contracting and route
franchising.
o In concert with legal section to develop bus franchising laws and regulations
setting out the rights and responsibility for both government and the
franchisees.
o To detail out the procedures and conditions as to where appeal can be
registered against the decision of concerned authority
o Regular monitoring and measurement of passenger flows in urban areas
o Set operational and technical standards for public transport vehicles,
infrastructure, facilities and services
o Determine fare structures and fare levels and periodically adjusting fares
o To develop policy on concessionary fares and compensation
o Determine concessionary fares for special categories of passengers such as
scholars and elderly.
o To develop and deliver procedure for applying for compensation and the terms
of compensation to those who are adversely affected by any changes
o Ensuring adequate provision for the needs of the elderly, people with
disabilities and other special categories of passengers on public transport
vehicles and infrastructure.
o Planning and design of new public transport routes, fleet requirements,
frequencies, operating hours, service standards etc.
o Planning and design of Public Transport Infrastructure (including bus-stops,
terminals and depots)
o Identification of routes for contracted services
§ Public Transport Management Section

o Produce and update standardised procedures for Public Transport operation
o Management and control (issue and renewal) of public transport route permits
o Preparation of contract documents
o Facilitate formation of new Operators
o Procurement of, and negotiation with, Route Operators
o Finalisation and implementation of Route Contracts

o Develop and implement inspection and contract management policies and

procedures
o Regular meetings with Route Operators
o Monitoring and reporting compliance with operational and technical standards
for public transport vehicles, infrastructure, facilities and services
o Monitoring and reporting of compliance with route, and timetable
specifications
o Monitoring and reporting daily exception reports
o Ensuring adequate maintenance and cleaning of immovable assets (public
transport interchanges, stations etc)
o Ensuring safety and security for passengers and staff of public transport
services and infrastructure
o Encouraging, promoting and facilitating public consultation and participation in
the planning, regulation and implementation of public transport,
o Marketing, branding and promoting public transport and promoting publicity
associated with the public transport system:
o Providing information to users or potential users of public transport such as
timetables, fares etc
o Liaising on a continuous basis with the relevant law enforcement authorities or
agencies, with a view to ensuring co-ordinated transport law enforcement.
§ Financial administration
o Develop and implement systems and procedures to ensure financial control
and administration
o Determine amount payable to the Operator
o Facilitate approval and payment of amounts payable to the Operator
o Record keeping of contractual payments
o Manage revenue collection on “Fee for service” contracts (where payment to
Operator is based upon veh-kilometres)
o Manage revenue collection and allocation amongst operators of the integrated
fare collection system (if any)
§ Legal and contractual administration

o Review and approval of contract documentation for bus operations
o Review and approval of contract documentation for any sub-contracted
services such as station management and cleaning, fare collection, security,
maintenance etc.
o Review and approve penalty and incentive claims
Structure of the Public Transport Division
It is proposed that the financial and legal functions described above should be handled by
the existing administrative sections within the DOTM. The Public Transport Division would
therefore consist of only two sections, Public Transport Development and Public
Transport Management.
The Division could potentially be structured with the positions, and associated skills, as
shown in the following figure.

Figure 4-44 Structure of the Public Transport Division

4.8 Route contracting

Due to the weak role of DoTM in defining transport needs and allocating route permits,
the current public transport operations can be classified as unregulated entry to the
market without quality control of the services. The risk sharing model proposed above
shows clear continuation of the role of the Private Sector for provision of contracted
passenger transport services. The major change from the current situation is that instead
of operators taking all risks related to provision of services the risks are shared between
government and the operator.
This will be achieved by the Public Sector contracting a bus operator to provide bus
services in either an area of the Valley (Area Contract) or on a specific route (Route
Contract).

Implement bus service contracting as a mechanism to ensure appropriate service levels
and allocate risk between the public and private sectors.
The bus service contract comprises a legally enforceable agreement between the Public
Sector Authority and the Operator that will specify the rights and obligations of each party
and specify service quality standards. Incentives for good performance and penalties for
non-compliance are generally applied. These contracts will initially be awarded on the
basis of negotiation with incumbent operators, but ultimately be subject to competitive
tendering.
A fundamental principle of risk sharing agreements (or public private partnerships) is that
risks should be borne by the party most able to manage the risk. In the context of urban
passenger services the operator is clearly best placed to manage fleet operation,
maintenance and staff costs. If Government specifies fare levels and concessions then
these issues are outside the control of the operator and the risk of revenue per passenger
should be borne by the public sector. Other risks can be managed by both parties. For
example if the public sector specifies routes, frequencies and service levels then the
operator has very little control over passengers volumes and this risk should be borne
primarily by the public sector. The operator can however influence volumes by making the
service more or less attractive through the level of service and staff interaction with
passengers, so a portion of the passenger volumes risk can reasonably be allocated to
the operator.
There are two basic models for revenue risk sharing, known as Gross Cost and Net Cost
Contracts. A comparison between these two models is shown in the following table.
It is clear from the comparison table that implementation of gross cost contracts allows for
greater network benefits and passenger convenience by facilitating use of integrated fare
collection and ticketing. Gross cost contracting is therefore commonly used by BRT
systems.

Table 4-16 Comparison between Gross and Net Cost Contracts

Gross cost contract Net cost contract (Franchise)
The authority pays the operator a specified The operator provides a specified service for a
sum to provide a specified service for a specified period and retains all revenue.
specified period.
All revenue collected is for the account of the The authority pays a fixed subsidy to the
Authority. Operators are paid (usually by km) operator if the bus services in an area are
to provide set levels of service. unprofitable. This amount is fixed and able to
be budgeted.
If the services are profitable, the authority
pays the operator a royalty
The authority is responsible for all tactical The operator has flexibility to amend routes
decisions such as route planning, stops, and schedules to make the network as
schedules etc. attractive and efficient as possible, while the
authority only monitors service standards
The authority has flexibility to improve Difficult for the authority to make changes to
service, amend routes and schedules within network or route plan as it will affect operator
the constraints of the contract revenue

The operator has no incentive to maximise Provides an incentive to the operator to
route efficiency. increase ridership and revenue.
The operator does not keep the revenue
collected and so may not pay sufficient
attention to revenue collection. The authority
must monitor fare collection and cash
handling to ensure all fares are handed over.
Avoids on-‐street competition for passengers On-‐street competition where routes overlap
Most revenue collected off-‐bus. Maximizing Most revenue collected on-‐bus without
network revenue and revenue sharing across possibility of developing network-‐wide
the network revenues.
Allows free or discounted interchange
between routes, and operators.
Allows use of an integrated fare and ticketing
system
Avoids discrimination against concession fare Operator may favour full fare paying
passengers passengers
No need to apportion route revenue Need to share off-‐bus revenue between
operators
Source: Based on information from PPIAF Urban Bus Toolkit
To implement and manage gross cost contracts, however requires a strong capacity
within the authority to plan the system, develop the contracts, monitor compliance with
service conditions, manage fare revenue and make contractual payments to the operator.
This capacity does not exist within the current institutional structure, and will not be in
place until the first phase of implementation of institutional strengthening, shown in Figure
4-43, has been completed.

A phased approach to implementation of route contracting is therefore proposed, where

net cost contracts, or route franchises, are initially used to familiarize the Public Sector
and Operators with the concept of bus service contracting. In the first phase of
institutional reform responsibility for strategic and tactical planning will lie with the DOTM.
Given the budgetary and capacity constraints of the DoTM it is considered unlikely that
DoTM will be able to develop the capacity, or secure commitment from the Ministry of
Finance for stable and long-term budget allocations required for gross cost contracts of
up to ten years. While DOTM is responsible for planning and management of public
transport it is recommended that only net cost contracts should be used, and that these
contracts should be based on a business model that does not require ongoing subsidy
payments.
In the second phase of institutional development the Kathmandu Transport Management

Committee and Kathmandu Valley Bus Agency will be established as shown in Figure 4-
43. Once these organizations have been established, with appropriate staffing and
funding, it is recommended that gross cost contracts should be used on the primary
routes in order to maximize benefits from route network and fare integration.
Once the institutional capacity has been developed, and there is a political decision to
support development of the public transport system through commitment of funding, it will
be possible to implement gross cost contracts, and subsequently achieve the full benefits
from an integrated public transport system.

5 Summary of impacts of restructuring
The reform strategies proposed and described in the preceding chapter can be
summarised as follows:
Operational reform:
1. Develop a public transport route hierarchy in which the vehicle type and size is
appropriate for the passenger demand and compatible with the roadway width and
alignment on the route.
2. Restructure the public transport network based upon passenger demand
characteristics, the existing route structure and the principle of linking major areas of
trip generation and trip attraction.
3. Rationalise the public transport fleet to replace large numbers of small vehicles
on the primary and secondary public transport networks with fewer numbers of larger
vehicles.
4. Support the restructured network with terminals and depots.
5. Provide convenient access to the public transport network by rational location
and design of bus stops.
6. Maximise system efficiency by prioritizing public transport services through
provision of physical infrastructure for bus priority.
Industry and Institutional reform
1. Consolidate independent operators into larger operating entities capable of
procuring and managing a fleet of public transport.
2. Develop Public Sector institutional structures and capacity to manage and

operate public transport.
3. Implement a business model based on bus service contracting.
The following sections of this chapter describe the impacts of these reforms on various
elements of society and the economy.
5.1 Impact on the public transport fleet

The overall impact of introduction of the proposed restructuring measures will be the
replacement of the majority of small vehicles (Tempos, Microbuses and Minibuses that
currently operate on the Primary Network) with fewer, much larger, buses. On the Ring
Road and East – West National highway these could be 18 meter articulated buses with a
capacity of 120 people, however the majority of the Primary Routes will be served by
standard 12 meter rigid buses with a capacity of up to 80 passengers. This is
approximately four times the capacity of a Minibus and five times the capacity of a Tempo
or Microbus.

The existing fleet of small public transport vehicles that operate on a Primary Route will
be withdrawn from service if the vehicle age exceeds the maximum specified Motor
Vehicle and Transport Management Rules. Vehicles less than the maximum age will be
redeployed on the secondary and tertiary network, to serve lower volumes routes and act
as feeder services to the Primary Routes.
5.2 Impact on bus stops and terminals

Terminals are required at the start and end points of all the primary routes, namely;
Narayangopal Chowk, Jorpati, Koteshwor, Surya Vinayak, Satdobato, Ekantakuna,
Kalanki, Naikap and New Bus Park (Gongabu).
Six of these terminal are located on the Ring Road, and must therefore also serve as
interchanges between routes. Only the Jorpati, Surya Vinayak and Naikap Terminals do
not also have interchanges with other Primary Routes. All terminals, however, have either
secondary or tertiary routes acting as feeder routes.
The primary route structure uses routes that start and end on the Ring Road or further
away from the City Centre. The primary routes therefore pass through the CBD and do
not require terminals within the CBD. There is however a need for interchange facilities
on each of the Kanti Path and Durbar Marg, in the vicinity of Ratna Park.
Routes will be designed with specific bus stop locations. These will have space to allow
other traffic to pass the stopped bus, and will preferably have shelter, seating, route
information and timetables.
Almost all of the City and Valley routes served from the Old Bus Park will no longer use
the Old Bus Park but will utilise one of the terminals described above. The Old Bus Park
also currently serves a number of Inter-City routes to the east of Kathmandu. It is
proposed that all intercity services that currently terminate at Old Bus Park should be
moved to a new Inter City Terminal at Koteshwor. This is to be integrated with the
proposed Urban Bus Terminal in the vicinity of Koteshwor.
5.3 Impact on traffic flow

Introduction of higher capacity vehicles on the Primary Routes will result in a significant
reduction in the number of Public Transport vehicles on these major corridors. A standard
bus takes roughly twice as much road space as a minibus, but with approximately four
times the capacity. A large bus is therefore twice as efficient in terms of people moved in
relation to road space used. A substantial number of small Public Transport vehicles will
remain on the Primary Network, as portions of their routes will use sections of the Primary
Network. The number of small vehicles on the Primary Network is, however, expected to
decrease to less than a quarter of the current numbers. Public Transport vehicles on the
Primary Network comprise approximately 15% of traffic, so the impact of introducing large
buses on the Primary Network is expected to be equivalent to a decrease in traffic
volumes of 10%.
Where dedicated bus lanes can be provided there will be substantial reduction in travel
time for Public Transport vehicles. There may, however, be a reduction in the roadway
width available for general traffic that may result in a deterioration of operating conditions
for private vehicles. These cases will be investigated in detail prior to implementation, to
assess the overall impact of any proposed changes.

Further decreases in congestion will result from reclusive bus stops. By having
specifically designed locations where buses will pick up and drop off passengers, the
impact of stopped Public Transport vehicles blocking traffic will be reduced. This impact
will be particularly noticeable within the City Centre where the large number of vehicles
waiting at roadside terminals will be replaced stops and interchange facilities where
vehicles do not wait, but simply load passengers and continue the route.
5.4 Impact on existing operators

Existing operations on the Primary Network will be replaced by the new Primary Public
Transport Routes, while other existing operations may be shortened so that they act as
feeders to the Primary Route. These affected operators will be given the opportunity to
become the operators of the new Primary Route.
The Primary Routes will operate under a contract between the DOTM and the Operator.
This contract will be for a defined period that could range from 5 to 12 years. For this to
be possible the affected operators will need to form a new legal entity such as a company
or co-operative. This is a fundamental change in the way public transport operators
currently run their business. Instead of being the owner of a small number of vehicles, an
existing operator will become a shareholder in the new Operating Company. Instead of
receiving income from fares and payments from the driver, a vehicle owner will receive a
share of the profits from the Company.
The Operating Company will need to procure a new vehicle fleet to operate each route.
Financial assistance may be made available to assist the Operating Company to
purchase the new vehicles. An alternative is that the fleet could be procured by DOTM
and leased by the Operating Company.
As a general principle one Operating Company will be established for each Primary
Corridor, however each corridor will be evaluated to determine whether adjacent corridors
can be amalgamated to allow a single contract.
Existing route permits for individual vehicles on routes that will be replaced will be
withdrawn. New permits will be issued for the Operating Company to run the service on
identified routes. Equity, or shareholding in the Operating Company, will be issued to
existing operators in proportion to the number of route permits surrendered by an
operator. The option to classify the surrendered permits into different categories to reflect
differing route profitability will be investigated. This would allow an operator who
surrenders a permit for a highly profitable route to receive more shares than one who
surrenders a permit on a marginal route.
With removal of the existing route permits the vehicles that currently provide services on
the new routes will no longer be allowed to operate on that route. The treatment of these
vehicles will require negotiation between the affected operators and the DOTM.
Approaches which could be investigated include:

• Payment of a scrapping allowance to the owner, and then scrapping or auction of the
vehicle by the DOTM. This would be attractive to owners of old vehicles.
• Owners of new vehicles would have options to either sell the vehicle, use the vehicle
on other public transport routes or use it for activities not related to Public Transport.

5.5 Impact on labour

Reduction in the number of Public Vehicles will have a direct impact on employment of
Drivers and Conductors, and a less direct impact on employment in industries related to
the repair and maintenance of vehicles. Employment opportunities with the new
Operating Companies will be roughly equivalent to the number of direct job losses from
the current, informal, operations. A portion of current drivers and conductors can be
retrained for jobs as bus drivers and ticket collectors, while others will need to have
substantial changes to their work to act as office staff, maintenance, security, cleaners etc
within the new company. As employees of a formal company working and employment
conditions are likely to be significantly better than the current situation.
5.6 Impact on passengers

The most positive impact of implementation of the proposed restructuring is expected be
experienced by the users of the new system. Benefits will depend on the exact nature of
operation that will be implemented on the Primary Network, but are likely to include:
• Reduced travel time due to bus priority measures on the Primary Network
• Reduced waiting time as buses will run to a timetable
• Reduced crowding on vehicles
• Improved accessibility for people with disabilities, due to larger vehicle size and
formal design of bus terminals, stops and interchange facilities
• Possibility of integrated fare systems to allow one payment for multi-leg journeys
5.7 Impact on Government

In order to implement the proposed restructuring, Government will be required to actively
take control of planning and management of the contracted Pubic Transport services.
This will initially require establishment of a Public Transport Division (PTD) within DoTM
with subsequent establishment of a Kathmandu Transport Management Committee and
Kathmandu Valley Bus Agency.
The function of the PTD will, in broad terms, be to plan and manage the public transport
system. This will comprise a number of technical and administrative tasks as follows:
• Public Transport planning and management

• Preparation, Monitoring and Enforcement of Public Transport Contracts
• Financial administration of payments
• Management of Secondary functions (which can be out-sourced)
DoTM will need to recruit, train and retain the specialised expertise required to staff this
unit.
The current public transport operations are only marginally viable. Low profitability of
operations is reflected in poor maintenance standards, aged vehicles and operating
procedures aimed at ensuring maximum vehicle occupancy. Implementation of higher
quality public transport services will result in higher costs. Specifically:
• Enforcing contractual requirements related to vehicle type and quality will increase
fleet procurement and replacement costs.
• Contractually specified cleanliness and maintenance standards will push operational
costs up.

• Average fares are politically very sensitive, which is likely to result in fares for the new
system closely matching current rates.
Replacement of the current aged vehicle fleet is likely to reduce operating and
maintenance costs, and bus priority measures will reduce round trip travel time and
improve fleet utilization. These cost reduction factors are, however, unlikely to outweigh
the cost increases resulting from the improved system. It is highly likely that ongoing
Government funding of Public Transport operations will be required in order to provide the
higher level of service envisaged with the restructuring proposals.
5.8 Impact on city sustainability

Introduction of higher capacity public transport vehicles, using cleaner burning diesel
engines or electric propulsion systems, will have a significant positive impact on
emissions of green house gases and particulate emissions. This will result in improved air
quality, and indirectly provide health benefits such as reduction in respiratory problems.
Walkways and bicycle lanes will be incorporated with the design of dedicated busways on
the primary network and areas around terminals and interchanges will be developed to
provide a pedestrian friendly environment. This will encourage use of these non-polluting
and low impact transport modes, reduce pedestrian and bicycle road accidents and
create a more attractive urban environment.
These measures will make public transport vehicles, terminals, interchanges and stops
more accessible for people with disabilities
Provision of a high quality public transport system on the primary road network will also
provide an opportunity for high-density commercial and residential development along
these corridors. The interaction between transport and land-use development is mutually
beneficial as higher development densities increase ridership on the public transport
system as well as reducing urban sprawl. Increased density of development along the
corridors served by the primary public transport network will support the “Sustainable
Compact City with twin center” development strategy that has been proposed by the JICA
master-planning study.

6 Selection of routes for pilot implementation
The scope of work specified in the Terms of Reference for the PMCBC services included
implementation of contracted bus services on two pilot routes.
6.1 Criteria for selection of routes

The objective of implementation of contracted services on pilot routes is to demonstrate
the ability of the contracting mechanism to allow public transport entrepreneurs to operate
profitably, whilst providing safe and affordable transport at an improved level of service
for public transport users and reducing green house gas and particulate emissions.
The routes selected for pilot implementation should therefore have characteristics that will
enable evaluation of the effectiveness of the pilot service in meeting the stated objective.
The pilot routes should also demonstrate the applicability of the contracting mechanism
under a range of operating conditions.
The criteria for selection of the pilot routes were therefore defined as follows:
• Passenger volume: The key factor influencing the potential of a route for
profitable operation is selection of vehicle size and frequency appropriate for
passenger volume. The proposed hierarchy consists of primary routes operated by
12m buses, secondary routes with 9-10m min buses and tertiary routes on which
micro bus sized vehicles will operate.
• Directional distribution of passengers: Travel desire lines in Kathmandu are
highly radial in nature, with Kathmandu as the major trip destination. Passenger
volumes therefore show a strong directional distribution, with high volumes towards
the City Centre in the morning, and outbound flows in the afternoon. Route viability
is greatly enhanced by passenger volumes in the counter-flow direction.
• Supporting accessibility to economic opportunity: The function of public
transport is to provide access to economic, social and cultural opportunities. The
public transport network, and hence the pilot routes, should provide relatively direct
connectivity between residential areas and major employment, retail or community
services.
• Linkage with existing infrastructure: The pilot routes should support the access
to areas in other parts of the city by linking with existing transport infrastructure,
and in particular facilitate transfers by linking with existing Public Transport
Terminals.
• Roadway geometry: Roadway width and grade must be sufficient to allow
unhindered passage of the public transport vehicles.
• Congestion: Congestion has a large impact on the profitability of Public Transport
Operations, due to the resultant increase in cycle time for vehicles, and resultant
increase in fleet size. Congestion also increases the variability of travel time, with
resultant lack of adherence to timetable. Preference will be given to pilot routes
with low congestion levels.
• Operator structure: Implementation of contracted services on the pilot route will
require formalisation of the operators currently providing services on the route into
a formal collaborative or company structure. This process will increase in difficulty
as the number of operator associations or committees on the route increases.

6.2 Potential routes

A long-list of potential pilot routes was extracted from the primary, secondary and tertiary
routes described in section 4.2, taking consideration of the criteria specified above. The
long-list comprises potential routes identified by both the PMCBC and DoTM.
• Primary Routes
o P1, P2: Ring Road
o P3: Narayangopal Chowk – Maharajganj - Lazimpat - Lainchaur – CBD –
Tripureshwor – Thapathali – Kupondole - Pulchowk - Jawalakhel –
Lagankhel – Satdobato
o P7: Koteshwor – Sinamangal – Airport – Gaushala - Kamal Pokhari –
Hattisar – CBD (Ratna Park) – Lainchaur – Sorhakhutte – Balaju
Chowk - New Bus Park
o P8: Koteshwor – Tinkune – New Baneshwor – Maitighar – Thapathali –
Tripureshwor – Kalimati – Kalanki
• Secondary Routes
o S3: Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur – Balkhu – Kalimati – Tripureshwor – Jai Nepal
– Bhat Bhateni - Chappal Karkhana
o S4: Naya Bazaar, Kirtipur – Balkhu – Kalimati – Bishnumati Link Road –
Sorakhutte – Naxal – Chabahil - Jorpati
o S5: New Bus Park – Gongabu – Thamel – Bagbazaar – Putali Sadak –
Dilli Bazaar – Old Baneshwor – Sinamangel - Airport
• Tertiary Routes
o T4: Balaju Bus Park – Banasthali – Swayambhu – Chhauni – Kalimati –
Balkhu
o T5: New Bus Park – Balaju Bridge – Bishnumati Link Road - Kalimati
o T9: Tilganga – Bhimengola – Shantinagar - Sankhamul
o T12: Dhaulagiri Chowk - Dhobi Khola River Bank - Gopi Krishna Cinema
Hall – Chabahil
o T13: New Bus Park – Samakhusi Chowk – Raniban – Lazimpat –
Baluwatar – Bishalnagar Chowk – Gopi Krishna Cinema Hall -
Chabahil
o T18: Gaushala – Old Baneshwar – New Baneshwar - Sankhamul
o T28: Nakhu Dobato – Sanepa – Teku – Paropakar – SawaBhagwati –
Khusibu (Sorhakhutte)
o T30: Balkhu – Sanepa – Jhamsikhel – Pulchwok – Managal Bazar –
Gwarko
o T31: Balkhu - Bagmati River Corridor – Sankhamul - Balkumari
Descriptions and maps for the above routes can be found in section 4.2.

6.3 Quantification of criteria on potential routes

P1/P2: Ring Road
The various sections of the Ring Road carry between 110,000 and 170,000 people per
day. The most heavily loaded section is the north-eastern quadrant between
Narayangopal Chowk and Koteshwor.
The number of Public Transport Passengers using the Ring Road varies between 73,000
and 108,000 per day. With these high passenger volumes, the route is highly suitable for
mass transit. Implementation of a pilot route will therefore be an interim measure to
demonstrate the effectiveness of contracted services in a mixed traffic environment. The
appropriate long-term transport solution will however require additional infrastructure to
provide exclusive right-of-way for public transport vehicles.
The desire line diagram patterns, shown in chapter 4, display a radial pattern. The Ring
Road therefore has a large number of public transport routes that use relatively short
sections of the circumference. A high number of operators therefore provide services on
various portions of the route, which will increase the complexity of reforming the route
permit structure on the route.
As the route is circumferential there is no return leg, and therefore this route does not
have the problem of empty return legs in the off-peak direction.
The Ring Road serves the Patan and Balaju Industrial areas, and runs past Tribhuvan
International Airport and public transport terminals located on major inbound routes. The
ring road therefore provides excellent linkages to economic and transportation
infrastructure.
The road cross-section is appropriate for public transport, with a minimum of 2 lanes,
widening to 4 lanes in places. The roadway width is however insufficient for current traffic
with demand exceeding capacity by more than a factor of 2 in places. The high
congestion levels increase travel time, and will increase fleet requirements on this route.
Provision of a contracted public transport system will therefore have limited benefits in
terms of service reliability and punctuality, whilst the service continues to be run in a
congested mixed-traffic environment. It is therefore suggested that this corridor should be
considered for upgrading to an exclusive public right of way, under the mass transit
feasibility component of the KSUTP, and not considered further for Pilot Route
implementation.
P3: Narayangopal Chowk – Ekantakuna & Satdobato
This potential pilot route provides a north-south transport axis connecting Kathmandu and
Lalitpur municipalities and thus serving the one of the highest demand corridors in the
Valley. The route traverses high concentrations of Commercial activity all along route,
and passes through the heart of the City Centre. Major institutional and employment
areas are served including Harihar Bhawan in Lalitpur and Singha Durbar, Panipokhari
and Maharajgunj in Kathmandu.
The route carries high daily passenger volumes, around 200,000 over the central portion
between Pulchowk and Lainchaur. The southern portion between the Ring Road at
Ekantakuna and Pulchowk carries just less than 150,000 passengers per day, whilst the
northern portion between Lainchaur and Maharajgunj, has daily passenger volumes of
around 125,000.

Representative public transport passenger volumes on this route are between 70,000 and
80,000 per day, once the effects of route overlap in the central area and private vehicle
occupancy have been removed.
The road infrastructure is generally four lanes, yet operates just at capacity at Kupondole,
and is over capacity at Lazimpat. The Lazimpat section is currently being widened, which
will alleviate the current congestion on the northern section.
The tourist / cultural area of Royal Palace is directly served, and the route is in close
proximity to the World Heritage sites of Kathmandu and Patan Durbar Square.
The route traverses the full north-south diameter of the Ring Road. The northern and
southern sections of the route will therefore display opposite directional flows, i.e.
Northbound vehicles in the morning peak will be fully loaded on the southern portion of
the route (into the CBD) and lightly loaded on the northern portion (away from the CBD).
The route passes the major CBD terminals at Old Bus terminal and NAC in Kantipath,
and terminates at the southern bus terminals at Satdobato and Ekantakuna. Additional
terminal infrastructure will be required at the northern end of the route.
Implementation of restructured Pubic Transport operations on this corridor will be

hampered by a multitude of existing operators and modes that utilise portions of the
route.
As was noted for route P1, the volumes on this corridor are appropriate for exclusive
right-of-way to minimise delays to public transport vehicles from general traffic. It is
recommended that this route should be evaluated under the Mass Transit Feasibility
Study, to be performed later in the KSUTP.
P7: Koteshwor - New Bus Park
This route runs from Balaju on the north-western quadrant of the Ring Road, passes
Lainchaur and Jamal on the northern side of the CBD and then links to Sinamangal (and
then to Koteshwor) on the eastern side of the Ring Road. It therefore serves the Balaju
Industrial Estate, commercial activity in northern areas of the City Centre, and the Thamel
tourist area. The heavily trafficked Koteshwor and Gaushala area to the east of the City
Centre are also served. Economic linkages of this route were therefore deemed
moderate.
Linkages with transport infrastructure are the Gongabu Bus Park in the west and
Koteshwor. The route links the eastern and western sections of the Ring Road, and
provides a strong network impact. A good rating was therefore given to transportation
linkages.
Passenger volumes per day are 100,000 on the western portion of the route between
Balaju and Thamel. The number of Public Transport Passenger volumes is 48,000 at
Balaju. The figure above does not show the heavily loaded section of the route in the
CBD, as the high volumes in this area result from the combined effect of many corridors
and therefore do not reflect the true corridor volumes.
The roadway width is generally 2 lanes. The route is shown as utilizing the east-west one
way system, namely: Eastbound from Jamal using Pashpupati Road via Hattisar and
Kamalpokhari to Gaushala and Westbound from Gaushala on Pashpupati Road, crossing
the Dhobi Khola at Ratopul, then south past Maiti Devi Temple before again turning west
at Maiti Devei into Dilli Bazaar Road.

With the current road widening operations along the two one-way sections, it will be
possible in the future to redefine this routing to use Pashpupati Road for two-directional
services.
No operators run services along the full length of the route, however there are numerous
operators that serve specific portions of the route.
P8: Koteshwor - Kalanki
The section of this route between Naikap and Bhaktapur has daily passenger volume in
excess of 100,000, whilst the portion of the route within the Ring Road carries roughly
double that volume. The portion of the east-west route under consideration for inclusion
as a pilot route, from Kalanki to Koteshwar is therefore the heaviest trafficked section of
the route, and in fact carries the heaviest traffic load in the Kathmandu Valley, with
around 200,000 passenger trips per day. Of this figure between 120,000 and 130,000 are
Public Transport users.
Adequate capacity for current conditions is provided by four lanes over the whole route.
The volume / capacity ratio is around 1.0 indicating that delays and congestion will
increase rapidly with future increases in vehicle volume. Widening work is currently in
progress.
The route traverses the full east - west diameter of the Ring Road. The eastern and
western sections of the route will therefore display opposite directional flows, i.e.
Eastbound vehicles in the morning peak will be fully loaded on the western portion of the
route (into the CBD) and lightly loaded on the eastern portion (away from the CBD).
Given the extremely high volume on this corridor it is important to allocate priority to
public transport vehicles in order to maximise the person moving capability of the
transport system. A mass transit option utilising exclusive right of way is therefore
appropriate for this corridor, rather than the short-term, mixed-traffic, operation envisaged
for the Pilot Routes.
S3: Naya Bazar (Kirtipur) - Chappal Karkhana
From Chappal Karkhana on the north-eastern quadrant of the Ring Road the route runs
through the commercial areas of Bhathateni and Tangal to reach the City Centre and
passing through Old Bus Park, Tripureshwor, Kalimati and terminates at Naya Bazar
(Kirtipur). Route S3 passes relatively closely to the Institutional activity centers of Central
Campus of Tribhuvan University, Baluwatar and Bishalnagar.
No passenger data is available for the northern section of the route between the CBD and
Chappal Karkhana. 32,000 Passengers per day use the route between Kirtipur and
Balkhu. This section is shared by S3 and S4 and, in the absence of more detailed data,
this volume was assumed to be split equally between the two routes giving daily
passenger volume of around 16,000 on S3.
Approximately half the route is 2 lane, however the remainder is either single lane or 1.5
lane. No traffic volume was available, and accordingly no volume/ capacity ratio is
available. A highly directional traffic flow is expected as a result of the radial nature of the
route.
Only three microbus routes were identified, making route permit allocation relatively
straightforward.

S4: Naya Bazar (Kirtipur) – Jorpati
Potential route S4 runs in a roughly northeasterly direction from Naya Bazar (Kirtipur)) to
north of CBD to Khusibu (Sorhakhutte) and then to Bouddha and Jorpati. The route
passes the commercial areas of Naya Bazar (Kirtipur), Kalimati, Sorhakhutte, the cultural
/ tourist areas of Royal Palace and Boudanath Stupa.
Passenger volumes vary along the route, from 16,000 between Kirtipur and Balkhu,
18,000 at the Kalo Pool bridge crossing of Dhobi Khola and 92,000 on the Bouddha Road
east of Chabahil. The lower value can however be taken as representative of the route as
the volume at Chabahil includes a large volume of traffic that will not use the central
portion of the route.
The cross-city nature of the route has the effect of reducing the directional traffic flow,
giving a more balanced volume.
The route is predominantly 2 Lanes, but highly congested with volume capacity ratio as
high as 2.8.
Multiple operators ply the section of route from the Ring Road to Bouddha, however only
one Microbus route was identified inside the Ring Road.
S5: New Bus Park - Airport
The route commences at New Bus Park at Gongabu then runs through Samakhusi at
Gongabu Chowk, before turning in a southerly direction, initially along F081, to the Old
Bus Park, serving commercial areas of Samakhusi, Sorhakutte and the City Centre.
Passenger volumes are moderate with 26,000 Public Transport passengers per day at
Golkopakha, north of Lainchaur. Passenger demand is highly directional. On the section
from Old Bus Park to Tribhuvan International Airport, moderate public transport
passenger volumes of 43,000 per day occur at the DobiKhola crossing between Old
Baneshwor and Maiti Devi. Passenger flow is also expected to be moderately directional,
with some counter flow expected.
Existing terminals are located at New Bus Park and Singamangal, with a mid route
terminal at Old Bus Park.
The northern section of the route has 4 Lanes in the City Centre, reducing to 1.5 lanes to
Samakhusi. Demand exceeds capacity with a V/C ratio of 1.5.Roadway width on the
eastern portion is acceptable for a mid volume route with 2 Lanes along Sinamangal Rd.
Congestion levels are borderline acceptable with V/C = 1.1.
Six Microbus routes use the section of route from Samakhusi to the City Centre, while
only two Tempo Routes were identified in the corridor to the airport.
Economic linkages to the commercial areas of Old Baneshwor, Maitidevi and City Centre
are also in the middle of the range of potential routes.
T4: Balaju Bus Park - Balkhu
Potential route T4, runs for 7.7 km in a north – south direction between Balaju Bus Park
and Balkhu on the Ring Road. This cross city route passes to the west of the CBD, and
is expected to have reasonably balanced flows in both directions. The route serves the
Balaju Industrial Estate, Swayambunath Temple, Chhauni Army Barracks and the
Kalimati and Kuleshwor Commercial areas.

Good linkages with transportation infrastructure exist with terminals at both route ends,
namely Machha Pokhari (Balaju Bypass) and Balkhu.
Moderate passenger volumes of 38,000 per day were observed at Kuleshwar between
Balkhu and Kalimati. The section of route on which the count was performed is however
part of the proposed secondary public transport network. The passenger volumes on the
remainder of the route are therefore expected to be considerably lower.
Road cross-section varies considerably along the route. North of Kalimati the route is
generally of 1.5 lanes, with 1 km single lane. South of Kalimati, TU Road is 4 lane with a
section on the southern portion of 2 lanes. Volume and capacity are roughly equal with
V/C ratio of 1.1.
One Tempo route was identified on the section north of Kalimati, whilst 3 Mini & 2
Microbus routes on the southern section along TU road.
T5: New Bus Park - Kalimati
From Kalimati the route runs northwards, following the western bank of the Bishnumati
River. High density residential areas are located on the western side of the route from
Kalimati to Dallu Bridge. The route then crosses Dallu Bridge to run on the eastern side
of the river, serving high-density residential areas in the historic city centre. From the
Shova Bhagwati Bridge the route runs north past the newly developed residential area of
Naya Bazaar to Balaju Bridge. The route continues on the Eastern side of the river from
Balaju Bridge to Gongabu Chowk before terminating at the New Bus Park in Gongabu.
There are minimal commercial or industrial activities along this route. The religious and
culturally significant Mhyepi Ajima Temple is located on the route.
The portion of route using the Bishnumati Link Road has 12m width, and has been
classified as a Secondary Public Transport Route. The roadway narrows for the portion
through Naya Bazaar to the route terminus. Traffic volumes and congestion on this route
are low.
T12: Dhaulagiri Chowk - Chabahil
A large multiplex cinema (Gopi Krishna) and Om Hospital are located at the start of the
route. The route runs in a north-westerly direction through a newly established residential
area, following the southern bank of the Dhobi Khola. At the end of the route there are
two Gumbas and one temple.
T13: New Bus Park - Chabahil
This route runs from the high-density residential area at Gongabu Town Planning Area to
north of Lazimpat where it crosses the Feeder Road F025 between Narayangopal Chowk
and the City Centre. At this point there is a small commercial area, The route then runs
east to Baluwatar, passing the Chief Justice and Prime Ministers residences. The head
office of Nepal Ratsra Bank and other commercial developments are located at
Baluwatar. The route runs through a high-income residential area before the route
terminates at Bishal Nagar Chowk.
No traffic or passenger data is available for this route.

T18: Gaushala - Sankhamul
This short route of just over 6.6 km runs from Sankhamul to Gaushala, and is a north –
south route, bypassing to the east of the city centre. This characteristic gives the route
good potential for bi-directional traffic.
Moderate to high passenger volumes of 54,000 per day between the two commercial
areas of New and Old Baneshwor the route terminate close to the tourist and cultural site
of Pashupati temple, however economic linkages are relatively poor for this route.
Transportation linkages are moderate with a terminal located at the southern route end at
Sankhamul, and mid route at New Baneshwor. The bridge crossing the Bagmati River at
Sankhamul cannot be used by four wheeled vehicles, but still carries approximately
19,000 bicycles and motorcycles per day.
Road characteristics are good with 4 Lanes north of Old Baneshwor and the remainder
generally 2 lanes.Volume / capacity of 0.8 indicates acceptable congestion levels, whilst
the number of existing operators is also good with only 2 Microbus & 1 Tempo route on
northern section, and 1 Microbus route on Southern section
T19: Tilganga - Sankhamul
This route serves purely residential areas to the west of the Bagmati River. Tilganga
Hospita and Sinamangal Medical College are located on the route.
From Min Bhawan the route starts as two lane, with a short portion of 1.5 lane road
before the intersection with Sinamangal Road. North of Sinamangal Road, the alignment
follows the west bank of the Bagmati River, with 1.5 lane width.
No traffic or passenger data is available for this route.
T28: Nakhu Dobato - Khusibu (Sorhakhutte)
Low passenger volumes use route T1, with 5,000 Public Transport passengers per day
crossing the Bagmati Bridge between Sanepaand Teku. At this same location 13,000
Motorcycle per day were observed indicating a moderate general traffic demand, but low
public transport usage.
Similar to S4, route T1 runs in a north – south direction, avoiding the CBD. TA is however
located closer to the CBD than S4, using the road on the eastern side of the Bishnumati
River.
Due to being bounded by the Bishnumati River for a significant portion of the route, T1
does not have substantial economic linkages, serving only the commercial area of
Sorakutte, and running within walking distance of Kathmandu Durbar Square. The
southern portion of this route will serve high-density apartment developments in Sanepa
and Jhamsikhel
Linkages to transport infrastructure are poor with a supporting bus terminal at the
southern end only at Bagdole
The route cross section is adequate, comprising four Lanes from Sorhakutte to
Bishnumati Bridge at Dallu, with the remainder having 2 lane roadway. Congestion levels
are also acceptable with V/C 1

Complexity of existing operator structures is very low, with only 1 Tempo route on the
northern section and a further single Tempo route on Southern section.
T30: Balkhu - Gwarko
The route traverses the second tier commercial areas of Gwarko and Mangal Bazaar,
with the larger Pulchowk area in the middle of the route. The developing high-density
residential area around Jhamsikhel is also served, as is the cultural / tourist area of Patan
Durbar Square.
Passenger volumes were not available for this east – west route through Lalitpur. As it is
a cross-city route, avoiding the CBD passenger volumes should be moderate in the
counter flow direction giving a good rating for directionality.
Transportation linkages are good with existing terminals at both route ends, namely
Balkhu and Gwarko, with a mid-route terminal at Mangal Bazaar.
Road width is rather narrow, generally 1.5 Lanes, with a specific bottleneck east of
Mangal Bazaar. Portions of the route through Jhamsikhel are currently being widened to
2 lanes.
Operator structure is very simple, and accordingly rated good, with one tempo route
partially overlapping the western section of T4, and 3 tempo routes on the eastern
section.
T31: Balkhu - Balkumari
Potential pilot route P4 follows alignment of Feeder Road F101 on the southern side of
the Bagmati River, from Balkhu to Balkumari.
The route is bounded on the northern side by the Bagmati River. Low-density,
predominantly residential, development is located on the southern side of the route. AT
the route mid point the alignment passes underneath Kupondole Road, just south of the
Bagmati Bridge, providing access to the Kupondole shopping area, and allowing linkage
to North-South transport services. On the eastern portion of the route there are a few
educational establishments, however negligible retail or commercial development.
From Balkhu to Sankhamul the right of way is un-encroached and the roadway 2 lanes in
width. From Sankhamul to Balkumari the Feeder Road alignment is incomplete and a
substantial deviation is required. This eastern portion of the route is also narrow in
places, reducing to 1 to 1.5 lanes at times.
No traffic data was available for this route.

Table 6-1 Quantification of evaluation criteria on potential pilot routes
Public Directional split Economic Linkages Transport Linkages Roadway Congestion Existing
Transport geometry Operators in
Passengers corridor
/day
P1/P2: Ring Road 106,000 North Non-directional. Balaju Industrial Estate Extensive linkages Generally 2 V/C between 8 Bus, Minibus &
27.3 km + 27.3 km of Kalanki This is a circular to Airport and road lanes, with 0.6 and 2.7. Microbus
98,000 at route requiring Patan Industrial Estate based terminals as limited portions Generally operators run the
Balaju separate services follows: 4 lanes. approx. 2 whole route. Many
per direction Swayambunath & Pashupati •Kalanki operators use
107,000
temples •Sitapalia portions of the
between
•Shwayambhunath route. Ave 5-6
Sinamangal & Commercial hubs at Kalanki, •Balaju microbus and
Tinkune Gongabu, Maharajganj, Chabahil & •New Bus Park minibus routes on
92,000 Koteshwor •Samakhusi any section.
Manohara •Narayangopal
Bridge Chowk
73,000 between •Chapalkarkhana
Ekantakuna & •Sinamangal
Balkhu •Koteshwor
•Gwarko
•Satdobato
•Ekantakuna
•Balkhu
P3: Narayangopal 66,000 Northern and High concentration of Commercial Terminals at both Generally 4 V/C between Northern section:
Chowk - Satdobato (Lazimpat) – Southern portions of activity all along route, including southern route end: lanes, with 0.75 and 1.8* 4 Minibus,
11.2 km 80,000 the route have City Centre. Satdobato & southern * V/C of 1.8 at 2 Micro,
(Pulchowk) opposite directional Institutional hubs of Jawalakhel, Lagankhel extremity 2 Lazimpat prior
flows, both inbound lanes 1 Tempo.
HariharBhawan, SIngha Durbar, Mid route at NAC & to widening
to City Centre in AM Panipokhari and Maharajganj. Old Bus Park Southern section:
and outbound in PM.

Passengers corridor
/day
Moderate Tourist / cultural area of Royal No existing terminal 2 Minibus,
counterflow volume. Palace directly served. on northern route 1 Micro,
Patan Industrial Area. end.
2 Tempo.
P7: New Bus Park 48,000 Cross city, avoiding Balaju Industrial Estate Road terminal on Generally 2 V/C 1.6 at Northern section:
– Koteshwor (Bishnumati CBD. Balaju link Commercial activity in Naya both end: New Bus lanes. Balaju Chowk 1 Minibus,
12.2 km Bridge at non-directional. Bazaar, Khusibu and Koteshwor, Park & Koteshwor Steep grade at Improvement
9 Micro,
Balaju) Koteshwor link highly Sorakhutte. expected after
Proximity to tourist area of Thamel. Eastern section:
directional Sorakhutte
Widening in
junction Bus,
progress
upgrade. 1Minibus,
Sorakhutte to
Thamel Chowk 1 Micro,
P8: Kalanki – 124,000 – Eastern and Western High concentration of Commercial Existing terminal at 4 Lanes V/C approx. 1.0 Western section:
Koteshwor 128,000 portions of the route activity all along route. Kalanki. No terminal 5 Minibus,
8.2 km have opposite Close proximity to institutional area at Koteshwor
7 Micro,
directional flows, of SIngha Durbar and Babarmahal. Mid route at New
both inbound to City 1 Tempo.
Baneshwor
Centre in AM and Eastern section:
outbound in PM. 10 Minibus,
Moderate
6 Micro,
counterflow volume.
2 Tempo.
S3: Naya Bazar Approx 16,000 Highly directional Commercial areas of Naya Bazar, Terminal at both Route length V/C < 1.0 3 Microbus
(Kirtipur) - from Kirtipur to Kirtipur, Bhathbateni, Tangal and Naya Bazar and generally 2
Chappalkarkhana Balkhu. No data City Centre. Chappalkarkhana lanes.
13.2 km on northern Proximity to Central Campus (TU),
section Baluwatar & Bishalnagar

Passengers corridor
/day
Institutional activities.
High density / high income
residential area.
S4: : Naya Bazar Approx 16,000 Cross city, avoiding Commercial areas of Naya Bazar, Naya Bazar, 2 Lanes, V/C 2.8, before Multiple serving
(Kirtipur) - Jorpati from Kirtipur to CBD. Moderately Kirtipur, Chabahil, Bouddha, Naxal Khusibu and Jorpati except narrow widening of Bouddha, 1
16.4 km Balkhu. directional & Sorhakhutte. terminals portion west of Dhobi Khola Microbus inside
18,000 (Kalo Cultural / Tourist areas of Thamel, Chabahil Bridge. Ring Road
Pol crossing of Royal Palace & Boudanath Stupa. Generally < 1.0
Dhobi Khola) –
92,000 (east of
Chabahil)
S5: New Bus Park - 26,000 at Highly directional on Commercial areas of Samakhusi Airport 4 Lanes in City V/C 1.1 to 1.5 6 Microbus routes
- Airport Golphupakha, northern section Chowk, Sorhakutte, City Centre. Existing terminals at Centre. on Nothern
12.1 km north of Moderately Commercial areas of Old both route ends: 1.5 lanes to Section.
Lainchur directional to and Baneshwor & Maitidevi. New Bus Park & Samakhusi. 2 Tempo Routes
43,000 at Dobi from airport, some Dense residential area of Old Samakhusi in the 2 Lanes along on Airport section
Khola crossing counterflow Baneshwor, Putali Sadak, Dilli north, Sinamangal at Sinamangal Rd
between Old expected. Bazaar & Bag Bazaar. the eastern route
Baneshwor and end, with Old Bus
Maiti Devi Park mid-route.
T4: Balaju – 38,000 at Cross city, avoiding Balaju Industrial Estate. Existing terminals at North of V/C 1.1 1 Tempo route on
Balkhu Kuleshwar CBD. Lowly Swayambunath Temple, both route ends: Kalimati northern section.
7.7 km between Balkhu directional Machha Pokhari generally 1.5 3 Mini & 2
Chhauni Army Barracks.
& Kalimati (Balaju Bypass) lanes, with Microbus routes on
Kalimati & Kuleshwor Commercial &Balkhu short section of Southern section
areas single lane.
South of

Passengers corridor
/day
Kalimati, TU
Road is 4
lanes.
T5: New Bus park - Not available Cross city, avoiding New Bus Park (Gongabu) Linkages to existing Generally 2 Not available No public transport
Kalimati CBD. Lowly Sawabhagwati Temple, Kalimati terminal at New Bus lanes. services currently
5.3 km directional and Khusibu commercial areas. Park. operational.
Kalimati Vegetable Market

T12: Dhaulagiri Not available Out of city, avoiding Gopikrishna hall None Generally 1.5 Not available Partial overlap with
Chowk - Chabahil CBD. Directional SetoGumba lanes. 2 micro bus and 1
3.2 km mini bus route
T13: New Bus Park Not available Cross city, avoiding Prime minister’s residence, Nepal Existing terminals at 1.5 Lanes Not available No public transport
- Chabahil CBD. Lowly Rastra Bank and GO and NGO Baluwatar and services currently
6.2 km directional offices. Samakhusi and a operational.
High density residential area. bus stop in
Bishalnagar.
T18: Gaushala - 20,000 between Cross city, avoiding Commercial areas of Old and New Southern end at 4 Lanes north V/C 0.8 2 Microbus & 1
Sankhamul New and Old CBD. Lowly Baneshwor. Sankhamul, and mid of Old Tempo route on
6.6 km Baneshwor directional Close to Pashupati temple route at New Baneshwor. northern section.
Baneshwor Rest generally 1 Microbus route
2 lanes. on Southern
section
T19: Tilganaga - Not available Cross city, avoiding Pashupatinath, Airport and Kantipur Linkages to airport Generally 1.5 Not available Southern portion of
Sankhamul CBD. Lowly hospital. with Tilganga lanes. route similar to 1
7.3 km directional High density residential area. hospital micro bus route
T28: Nakhu Dobato 5,000 at Cross city, avoiding Commercial area of Sorakhutte. Both ends at 4 Lanes from V/C <1.0 1 Tempo route on

Passengers corridor
/day
– Khusibu Bagmati Bridge CBD. Moderately Proximity to Kathmandu Durbar Bagdole and Sorhakutte to northern section.
(Sorhakhutte) between directional Square. Sorakhutte. Bishnumati 1 Tempo route on
6.8 km Sanepa &Teku High density apartment Bridge at Dallu. Southern section
(NB 13,000 developments in Sanepa and Remainder 2
M’cycle at same Jhamsikhel lanes
point)
T30: Balkhu– Not available Cross city, avoiding Commercial areas of Gwarko, Existing terminals at Generally1.5 Not available Western section: 1
Gwarko CBD. Lowly Mangal Bazaar &Pulchowk. both route ends: Lanes, with 2 tempo route partial
4.7 km directional Developing high density residential Balkhu & Gwarko lanes from overlap.
area around Jhamsikhel. Mid route at Mangal Pulchowk to Eastern section:
Bazaar Sanepa
Cultural / tourist area of Patan 3 Tempo routes
Durbar Square Microbus
T31: Balkhu- Not available Cross city, avoiding Low density housing, apartments, Existing terminal at Generally 2 Not available. No public transport
Bagmati river CBD. schools and colleges. Balkhu and bus stop lanes up to services currently
corridor-Balkumari Lowly directional in Balkumari Sankhamul and operational.
5.9 km 1 to 1.5 lane
beyond.

6.4 Evaluation of potential pilot routes

The ratings described for each criterion, on each route, are summarised below.
Table 6-2 Summary of criteria rating on potential pilot routes
Existing Operators in
Roadway geometry
Transport Linkages
Economic Linkages
Public Transport
Passengers /day
Directional split
Congestion
corridor
Route Length
P1, P2: Ring Road 27.3 km
P3: Narayangopal Chowk - 11.2 km

Satdobato
P7: Koteshwor - New Bus 11.4 km
Park
P8: Koteshwor - Kalanki 8.2 km
S3: Naya Bazar (Kirtipur) - 13.2 km

ChappalKarkhana
S4: Naya Bazar (Kirtipur) - 16.4 km
Jorpati
S5: New Bus Park - Airport 12.1 km
T4: Balaju – Balkhu 7.7 km
T5: New Bus Park - 5.3 km

Kalimati
T12: Dhaulagiri Chowk - 3.2 km
Chabahil
T13: New Bus Park - 6.2 km
Chabahil
T18: Gaushala - 6.6 km
Sankhamul
T19: Tilganga - 7.3 km
Shankhamul
T28: Nakhu Dobato – 6.8 km
Khusibu (Sorhakhutte)
T30: Balkhu – Gwarko 4.7 km
T31: Balkhu-Bagmati River 5.9 km

corridor-Balkumari
Key: Cross hatch =
Good Fair Poor
estimated

The PMCBC has deliberately not assigned weightings to each of the criteria, as would
normally be done in a multi-criteria analysis, as the relative importance of the various
criteria differs significantly between roleplayers. For example the criteria impacting route
profitability will be weighted heavily by operators, economic linkages may be important to
Government and transportation linkages may be the most important factor for users of the
system. As a result combined scores were not calculated for each potential route. The
initial recommendations given below therefore reflect the subjective assessment of the
PMCBC.
6.4.1 Comparative evaluation of the four primary routes
The PMCBC considered that bottlenecks caused by restricted roadway width and
congestion were the two most serious constraints to successful operation of a new
contracted bus system. In assessing a priority order, routes scoring good or fair in these
two categories received priority.
The Ring Road Route, P1 & P2, rates very well on economic and transport linkages as
well as carrying high passenger volumes. Despite the good geometry of the route,
severe congestion occurs at various places along the route. Similarly route P7, from
Balaju to Koteshwor, experiences severe congestion at Balaj. The extent of this
congestion on these two routes is sufficiently have severe negative impact on bus
operations, and accordingly these two routes were lowly rated.
Route P7, has unbalanced flows, with greater numbers of Public Transport Passengers
on the western portion at Balaju (48,000) than on the eastern portion to the Airport and
Koteshwor. This will result in buses running the eastern portion at low occupancy
capacity. P4 was accordingly ranked lowest of the four potential primary pilot routes.
Routes P3 (Narayangopal Chowk – Satdobato) and P8 (Koteshwor – Kalanki) appear

identical in the comparison table on the preceding page. Of the two the Kalanki –
Koteshwor route carries higher passenger volumes between 120,000 and 130,000
passengers per day, in comparison with 70,000 to 80,000 on the Satdobato –
Narayangopal Chowk route. The Right of Way (ROW) and roadway width between
Kalanki and Koteshwor is also adequate for implementation of exclusive ROW for public
transport services, whilst this would be very difficult on the narrower north-south route.
The North-South Route (P3) is however considered a higher priority as it passes through
the CBD, while the East-West route (P8) runs south of the CBD thus requiring
passengers with destinations in the City Centre to either walk or transfer to another
service.
The major infrastructure works required to implement mass transit services operating in
an exclusive ROW is outside the scope of the KSUTP. It would also be inefficient to
implement works for operation of buses in mixed traffic on the east – west corridor, and
then to replace such works with dedicated public transport ROW in the short to medium
term. It is therefore considered that of the two routes, the North- South route P3 is the
most appropriate Primary Corridor on which to implement a Pilot Route.
The relative ranking of applicability of the potential Primary Routes as a Pilot Route is
therefore:
1. P3: Satdobato to Narayangopal Chowk
2. P8: Kalanki to Koteshwor
3. P1 & P2: Ring Road
4. P7: New Bus Park – Koteshwor

6.4.2 Comparative evaluation of the four secondary routes
Passenger volumes on Route S3, Naya Bazaar to Chappalkarkhana via Old Bus Park,
and S4, Naya Bazaar - Jorpati via Sorakhutte, have similar public transport passenger
volumes less than 20,000 per day. These volumes are on the low end of the range
applicable for Secondary Routes. S5 from New Bus Park at Gongabu to the Airport via
the City Centre also has low volumes (26,000) on the northern leg between the City
Centre and Samakhusi, but Public Transport passenger volumes of 43,000 were
recorded on the leg between the City Centre and Sinamangal. Of the four routes only S3
carries volumes consistent with the Secondary function of these routes and is thus the
preferred secondary pilot route.
The relative ranking of applicability of the potential Secondary Routes as a Pilot Route is
therefore:
1. S5: New Bus Park - Airport
2. S4: Naya Bazar (Kirtipur) - Chabahil
3. S3: Naya Bazar (Kirtipur) – Chappal Karkhana
6.4.3 Comparative evaluation of the eight tertiary routes
As was done for the evaluation of the secondary routes the primary criteria for evaluation
of the tertiary routes was taken as passenger volume. Most of the tertiary routes were
found to have low passenger volumes. For T31 (Balkhu - Balkumari) and T12 (Dhaulagiri
Chowk - Chabahil) the volumes result from low density development along the route,
aggravated by the presence of a river on one side of the route which effectively halves
the passenger catchment area of the route. Route T31 is not continuous and a
substantial deviation is required east of Sankhamul. T18 (Gaushala - Shankamul) and
T19 (Tilganga – Shankamul) are similar routes, both traversing high density residential
areas, but with poor linkages to economic and transport infrastructure.
T4, T5 and T28 are all north-south routes, running in close proximity to the Bishnumati
River. T28 (from Nakhu Dobato to Khusibu) is the longest of the routes. T5 is almost a
shorter version of T28, running from Kalimati to the New Bus Park at Gongabu. T4 uses a
portion of TU Road from Balku to Kalimati, and then deviates to the west before
terminating at Balaju. Of these three routes T28 had lowest passenger volumes and T4
has narrow road width north of Kalimati.
T30, from Balkhu to Gwarko, rated best of the tertiary routes for economic and transport
linkages. It serves the commercial areas of Mangal Bazaar, Pulchowk and the cultural /
tourist area of Patan Durbar Square. It provides a cross linkage, through Lalitpur, linking
the eastern and western sides of the Ring Road. The PMCBC considered that these
factors outweighed the strongly negative impact of restricted roadway width in the vicinity
of Mangal Bazaar.
The relative ranking of applicability of the potential Tertiary Routes as a Pilot Route is
therefore:
1. T30: Balkhu - Gwarko
2. T5: Kalimati – New Bus Park
3. T4: Balaju - Balkhu
4. T28: Nakhu Dobato – Khusibu
5. T12: Dhaulagiri Chowk - Chabahil
6. T13: New Bus Park - Chabahil
7. T19: Tilganga – Shankhamul
8. T31: Balkhu - Balkumari
6.5 Selection of pilot routes

The objective of implementation of contracted services on pilot routes is to demonstrate
the ability of the contracting mechanism to allow public transport entrepreneurs to operate
profitably, whilst providing safe and affordable transport at improved level of service for
public transport users and reducing green house gas and particulate emissions.
The routes selected for pilot implementation should therefore have characteristics that will
enable evaluation of the effectiveness of the pilot service in meeting the stated objective.
The pilot routes should also demonstrate the applicability of the contracting mechanism
under a range of operating conditions.
The project design, as approved by the Government of Nepal and the Asian Development
Bank, envisaged two pilot routes operated by small, 15 seater, electric vehicles. Funding
has also been obtained from the Global Environment Facility to assist with the acquisition
of electric vehicle fleet. From this it can be seen that electric vehicles must form a part of
the proposed pilot route implementation. The small electric vehicles are, however, only
appropriate on low-volume, tertiary, routes. It therefore follows that at least one of the
selected pilot routes must be a tertiary route. The PMCBC therefore recommends the
highest rated tertiary route, T30: Balkhu to Gwarko.
The PMCBC is of the opinion that the major challenge associated with implementation of
improved transport services in the Kathmandu Valley will be the formation of new
Operating Entities to provide contracted Public Transport Services. It is the intention that
these new Operating Entities shall be comprised of existing operators who provide
services on the route to be contracted, To fully test the practicality of this approach it is
necessary to attempt pilot implementation on a route with a significant number of existing
operators. This condition will not be met on tertiary routes were the number of existing
operators is very low. The second pilot route should therefore be primary or secondary
route.
The PMCBC recommends that a secondary route is preferable to a primary route for the
following reasons:
• The secondary route requires a smaller fleet size, and accordingly lower fleet
acquisition costs
• The appropriate service characteristics on the Primary Routes will be determined by

a Mass Transit Feasibility study, planned to be performed later in the KSUTP. It will
be wasteful to implement infrastructure improvements on a Primary Corridor that
may not be compatible with the medium term priorities that will be defined in the
Mass Transit feasibility study.
The PMCBC therefore recommends the following routes for implementation

of pilot bus contracts:
Tertiary Route No. 30: Balku - Gwarko
Secondary Route No. 5: New Bus Park – Airport via Gongabu and CBD

7 Implementation Plan
The proposed restructuring will impact several thousand existing operators and change
operations on 200 routes throughout the Kathmandu Valley. This can only be achieved if
it is implemented in a number of steps.
The first task is to develop a model for formalization of existing operators into Operating
Companies or Cooperatives and provision of contracted public transport services. This
will be tested under trial implementation on two pilot routes.
Once mechanisms acceptable to both Government and Operators have been

established, restructuring of the public transport network should proceed on a corridor by
corridor basis. Provision of the primary network is the fundamental building block for the
public transport system. So restructuring of services in a specific corridor would first
require implementation of the relevant Primary Route and associated infrastructure.
Existing routes in the corridor would then be either be eliminated or modified to act as the
secondary and tertiary routes required to support Primary Route.
The steps in implementation of the restructuring plan are specified in the paragraphs
below.
7.1 Establish a Public Transport Division within DoTM

Implementation of Industry Structural Reform Strategy 2, to develop appropriate public
sector institutional structures, is a critical step in the action plan. Failure to implement
institutional reform will make implementation of all other reform actions impossible to
implement.
It is therefore necessary to commence development of public sector institutional capacity

concurrently with development of the pilot routes. This will initially comprise
establishment of the Public Transport Division within DoTM. This Division must be
functional and able to enter into bus service contracts with the operators of the pilot
services.
7.2 Ensure route permits are consistent with route hierarchy

To avoid further proliferation of small vehciles on high capacity routes, DOTM should
evaluate all applications for new public transport route permits to ensure that the vehicle
type and passenger capacity are consistent with level of route herarchy on which the new
service will operate. In practical terms this means that permits should not be issued to
tempos, micro-buses and mini-buses if the proposed route runs on primary or secondary
corrridors. This decision should be communicated to public transport operators via the
FNNTE to avoid further import of low-capacity vehicles by operators.
To speed-up fleet renewal and replacement of low-capacity vehicles with larger capacity
buses, DOTM should implement a maximum age limit for public transport vehicles
providing local services. Once the maximum vehicle age has been reached the route
permit should be revoked, and a new permit only issued if the vehicle type and capacity
are consistent with the level of route hierarchy.

7.3 Pilot formalization of operators and route contracting

A phased approach to implementation of the proposed restructuring is envisaged
whereby such mechanisms are developed and tested through implementation of two pilot
routes. The Industry Structural Reform Strategy 1 proposed that public transport services
will continue to be performed the private sector, and it is proposed that existing operators
who currently provide services should become the operators of the new services. It is
therefore critical that mechanisms to implement this strategy, acceptable to both
operators and Government, are developed for formalization of existing operators into
Operating Companies.
The two Pilot Routes will be used to show how the proposed restructuring can result in a
more efficient public transport system and improved service to passengers. The Pilot
Routes will also be used to develop and test the proposed risk-sharing business model
using bus service contracts as proposed under Industry Structural Reform Strategy 3.
The effectiveness of contracted services for the restructured public transport system, and
the degree to which this business model ensures that existing operators are not
negatively affected, will be tested.
Implementation of the pilot routes will take place while DoTM has responsibility for the
strategic and tactical planning of the public transport system. To minimize contract
management, monitoring and payment it is proposed that the contract structure be based
on the route franchising or net cost model. The business model will avoid ongoing
subsidy payments. If a financially sustainable operation cannot be achieved without
Government support, then once-off assistance such as a fleet subsidy or tax rebate will
be considered.
These pilot routes will provide valuable guidance on the legal, financial and operational
structure of the Operating Company, together with the details of the operating contract.
The lesson learnt with implementation of the pilot routes will subsequently be
incorporated into the implementation of further routes.
A 5-step process is proposed to properly evaluate the impact on existing operations that
will be replaced by the Pilot Routes, and to allow interested participants to become the
contracted Bus Operator for the initial contract period.
Figure 7-1 Implementing the Pilot Routes

During the five steps above an on-going process of job and opportunity mapping will be
performed to identify job losses due to the new system, and opportunities for
redeployment of affected workers within the new system.
Concurrently with the above process, bus stops, depots and terminals for the pilot routes
will be implemented. Vehicle fleets for the routes will be procured with funding from Asian
Development Bank and Global Environment Facility, with the funding administered by the
Town Development Fund.
7.4 Feasibility study for mass transit

A feasibility study will be performed to determine the most appropriate public transport
system to provide services on the Primary Routes. The study will only consider
alternative modes, but will evaluate alternative fuel and propulsion technologies including
electric (trolley-bus), diesel vehicle and LPG/CNG powered vehicles. The study will
investigate the level of infrastructure and priority measures that are appropriate and
affordable for Kathmandu, the most effective vehicle types to be used, and a business
model that is sustainable for both public and private sectors.
The output of the study will provide a recommendation on priorities for implementation of
services on the primary public transport network.
7.5 Construction of new Inter-City terminal at Koteshwor

An integrated Intercity and Urban Bus Terminal in the vicinity of Koteshwor is required to
reduce congestion in the CBD and provide the first component of the proposed
restructuring. This must take place before implementation of development plans for the
Old Bus Park. After design and construction of the new terminal, Intercity services will be
relocated to the new Intercity Terminal.
7.6 Establishment of KTMC and Bus Agency

A new public sector entity, the Kathmandu Transport Management Committee, will be
responsible for strategic planning, interagency coordination and securing funding for
management and operation of public transport services in the Kathmandu Valley.
A further new public sector organisation, the Kathmandu Valley Bus Agency will be
responsible for tactical planning and management of public transport operations.
In the first phase of institutional reform the Public Transport Division of DoTM will handle
the functions of both organisations. In order to achieve full benefits from the operational
restructuring the two new agencies must be established, with secure and long-term
funding, in order to expand the operational reforms to the high capacity primary routes.

7.7 Phased implementation of primary routes

Implementation of the long term strategy for the Public Transport network should be done
in a phased manner. The priorities for implementation will be determined by the feasibility
study, however the first phase is likely to be implementation of the Primary Route that
best links Koteshwor with the CBD, in order to provide improved access to the intercity
services at Koteshwor. This could be either P4 Narayangopal Chowk to Surya Vinayak,
or P7 Koteshwor to new Bus Park. This will require:
• Construction of the Urban Bus Terminal to integrate with the new Intercity Terminal
Facility at Koteshwor and other terminal and depot facilities.
• Implement route infrastructure such as busways, stations/stops, control systems etc
• Operational and business planning
• Operator negotiation, formalisation of the Operating Company, and contract
negotiation and finalisation.
• Purchase of new bus fleet
• Restructure secondary and tertiary routes that currently provide services in the
corridor to either act as feeders to the primary route or provide services
complimentary to the primary route.
• Implement restructured Urban Public Transport services in the first corridor
Implementation of the second and subsequent routes would take place at a pace dictated
by the technical and financial capacity of the Government and Public Transport Industry.
In order to maximise network benefits and use of integrated fare collection and ticketing
the contracts for services on the primary routes should be gross cost contracts.

Table 7-1 Indicative implementation plan

Action Rationale Time frame Responsibility
1. Establish a Public Transport Division within DoTM. Establish Public Sector responsibility for management of the July 2015 MoPIT / DOTM
Pilot Route contracts.
2. Stop issuance of route permits to low-capacity vehicles & Restrict increase in the number small public transport July 2015 DoTM
implement maximum age limit for vehicles providing local vehicles on high capacity routes and facilitate fleet renewal.
services.
3. Implement contracted bus services on two pilot routes. To develop and test a mechanism to formalise operators July 2016 DoTM / KSUTP
into a legal entity capable of providing contracted bus
services that is acceptable to both Government and
Operators.
4. Feasibility study for mass transit. To determine the most appropriate public transport system July 2015 DoTM / KSUTP
to provide services on the Primary Routes.
5. Establishment and capacity building of Kathmandu Establish long-term Public Sector responsibility for strategic Dec 2018 MoPIT
Transport Management Committee (KTMC) and Kathmandu and tactical planning for implementation of contracted bus
Valley Bus Agency (KVBA). services with technical and financial capacity and capability
to enter into bus operation contracts.
6. Implement an integrated Intercity and Urban Bus Reduction of congestion in the CBD by moving Inter-city Dec 2018 DoTM
terminal near Koteshwor. services from Old Bus Park.
7. Implement contracted bus services on the first primary To commence implementation of the long term strategy for Dec 2020 KTMC / KVBA
urban route, to link the CBD to the new Intercity terminal. the PT network by implementing the Primary Route that
Secondary and tertiary routes in the corridor to be best links Koteshwor with the CBD, namely route P4
restructured. Koteshwor to Narayangoplan Chowk.
Improve network connections between intercity and urban
bus services at Koteshwor.
8. Implement the second priority primary route, e.g. Jorpati The Feasibility Study will have defined the priorities for Dec 2022 KTMC / KVBA
– Kalanki. phasing of implementation. System efficiency and viability
will improve as additional routes are added that allow more
destinations to be reached on the primary network.

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Kathmandu Sustainable Urban Transport Project (KSUTP)

Project Management and Gapacity Building Consultants (PMCBC)

ffihsMEc inassociationwith ffi K$r-r"',.*.-,- ffi

Mr. Sharad Kumar Shrestha

Subject. Report on Public Transport Restructurinq

We look fonryard to your cooperation as usual.

Enclosure: B copies of Public Transport Restructuring Report (including 2 soft copies)

CC: l.Office file