31-05-2013, 04:30 PM
TRAFFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF INDIA
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Abstract:
The revolution in the automobile industry and liberalised economy has led to tremendous
increase in the vehicle ownership levels. This has resulted in changing traffic characteristics on road
network. In this paper an attempt has been made to analyse the changing traffic composition trends,
speed characteristics and travel patterns by taking few case studies. Further, the impact of changing
traffic composition trends and emerging issues thereof are discussed
INTRODUCTION
Comparatively urbanization is moderate in India. The urban population has grown from ten percent in
1901 to twenty eight percent in 2001. The skewed distribution of the urban population amongst a
few cities is a matter of concern to the planners and administrators of urban infrastructure. Nearly
seventy percent of the urban population is located in Class-I cities (population of one hundred
thousand and more). Further 38 percent of the total urban population is located in metropolitan cities
(population of one million and more) numbering about thirty-five. This heavy concentration of
population in a few centers has resulted in the expansion of cities in density as well as area. With the
increase in population and economic activities the travel demand has increased many folds. The
inadequate public transport and the easy availability of financing facilities for private vehicles have
resulted in increased vehicle ownership levels and their usage. Further, the changes in urban form and
structure in terms of lad use, density of population and concentration of activities have changed the
travel pattern. In other words the traffic problems are increasing in the cities in general and the
situation is becoming complex especially in core areas of the city.
POPULATION GROWTH
The population of India is growing rapidly with a national average growth rate of 2.1 percent per
annum(Census of India,2001). The growth is even higher in some of the urban areas of India.
Figure 1 shows the growth trend of population in the top six cities of India. Delhi, the capital city of
India has been very fast growing with an average annual population growth rate of about 4.5 percent,
followed by Bangalore (3.38 percent) and Mumbai (2.68 percent). It can be observed from the
graph that the growth of population is more or less uniform in Kolkata from 1951 to 2001. Further,
Bangalore and Hyderabad have more or less similar growth trends and are competing with each
other. Mumbai has experienced higher growth rate during 1981-1991 as compared to other mega
cities.
VEHICULAR GROWTH
The uncontrolled and ill planned growth of urban centers has resulted in a number of problems like
traffic congestion, shortages of water and electricity, deteriorating environment and public health. The
growing cities have generated the high levels of demand for travel by motor vehicles in the cities. To
match the increasing travel demand commensurate efforts have not been made to develop the mass
transport systems. On the other hand, the Government of India has permitted the manufacture of
automobiles. This has resulted in tremendous increase in the population of automobiles in the cities.
The growth trends (MOST, GOI, 1998) of automobiles at National and City levels are as indicated
in Table 1. The automobile population in India has increased from a mere 0.3 million in 1951 to more
than 45 million in 2001. The registered two wheelers constitute nearly seventy percent of the vehicle
population in almost all the cities. Due to higher income levels and greater needs for mobility in the
urban areas, more automobiles are owned and operated in them. More than 90 percent of the
automobiles are located in urban centres. This trend is observed to be changing in the recent past
mainly due to the development of better quality road network connecting rural areas and richer
communities of rural areas going in for the automobiles.
Case Study of Delhi
Study Area
The area of Delhi is divided into three parts (i) inner, (ii) middle and (iii) outer areas as shown in
Figure 3. As can be seen from the figure the inner area is the core area of Delhi consisting of
Connaught Place, New Delhi Railway Station, walled city and surrounding areas. The middle area
includes mostly the NDMC area and is bounded by the Ring Road. The outer area is the area
outside the Ring Road and within the boundary of Delhi as shown in Figure 3. The data obtained
through traffic surveys in Delhi were analyzed based on the above areas.
Traffic Volume
Classified traffic volume count surveys were carried out in 1969(CRRI,1972), 1991(CRRI,1991)
and 2002(CRRI,2002) at several (around 50 mid-blocks) locations. Appropriate proformae were
used to record the number of vehicles moving across the count point during a given time. From these
traffic counts, volume of traffic in different hours of the day has been enumerated at all the count
points and the data has been analysed to understand the composition of traffic. In order to
understand the change in traffic characteristics and also to account for the newly developed
areas/land use the traffic survey locations were selected judiciously.
Spot Speed Measurements
The comparative results of the spot speed studies for selected road sections in inner, middle and
outer areas are indicated in Figure 13 in the form of cumulative distribution of speeds. From this
figure it can be seen that all roads are operating uniformly. This can be attributed to the fact that the
traffic is heavy on all the roads and the traffic is managed efficiently. From the above figure, it can be
deduced that the vehicle composition and geometrics of road has direct influence on the observed
speeds.
Summary of Changing Traffic Composition
From the previous sections it can be inferred that in all the cities studied there is significant shift from
the share of cycles towards fast moving vehicles i.e. two wheelers and cars, irrespective of the
location in the city. Further, in the past decade the share of cars is increasing as compared to two
wheelers. Generally it was found that the share of public transport (buses) is declining. These
changes in traffic composition will have varying impact on the operation and management of traffic,
which are discussed below.