Transport for Chennai

Dr. Gitakrishnan RamaduraiAssistant Professor

Transportation Engineering DivisionDepartment of Civil Engineering

IIT Madras

Popular Sentiments

• The population density is very high for any transport plan to work

• Every one wants to own a car; traffic congestion shall continue to deteriorate

• We need multi-level fly-overs and elevated corridors to solve the congestion problem

• Impossible to change the attitudes of people; safety and environment will continue to be neglected

Or Myths?

Myth 1

• The population density is very high for any transport plan to work

• Truth: Higher population density is an ideal situation for greater public transit patronage.– Resulting in more safe, efficient, sustainable

transportation solution

• Bottom-line: Let’s increase population density and provide better public transit facilities

Population and Population Density

Population - City 8,175,133 - Density 10,630/km2

- Urban 18,223,567 - Urban density 2,098.7/km2

Source: Wikipedia

Population (July 2010 est.)[2]

- London 7,825,200

- Density 4,978/km2

- Urban 8,278,251

- Metro 13,945,000

New York City

London

Population and Population Density

Population (August 1, 2011)[2]

- Total 13,185,502 - Density 6,027.2/km2

TOKYO

Beijing 19 million 1167 persons / km2

Singapore 5.1 million 7300 persons / km2

Mumbai 18 million 20000 persons / km2

Delhi 16 million 11000 persons / km2

Chennai 8 million 7313 persons / km2

Source: Wikipedia, City websites

Myth 2

• Every one wants to own a car; traffic congestion shall continue to deteriorate

• Truth: Every one can own a car… but traffic congestion has already hit rock bottom! Cannot deteriorate any further!

• Bottom-line: What use is a car that you cannot drive or park?

All Cars! No Road!City Vehicle Ownership

New York City 46% HH own car

Tokyo 0.3 cars per person

Beijing 0.028 cars per person

Singapore 0.11 cars per person

Chennai 0.07 cars per person0.35 tw per person

CMDA Master Plan

Mode Shares

CMDA Master Plan

Thankfully, not everybody is using their cars and bikes for all trips

Parking

• Supply in T. Nagar is 794 PCE against a demand of 2151 PCE, and

• Supply in Parrys is 704 PCE against a demand of 4426 PCE

• The haphazard parking has led to loss in the road capacity that ranges between15% to 60%

• Vehicles searching for parking spaces can add anywhere between 10 – 40% of traffic on a road

(CM

DA M

aste

r Pla

n)

Myth 3

• We need multi-level fly-overs and elevated corridors to solve the congestion problem

• Truth: The quicker we build the quicker it will get congested

• Bottom-line: Need an integrated network management plan; build… but operate more efficiently

Induced Demand

Urban Transportation Networks, Sheffi

Performance Improves=> Demand Increases

Myth 4

• Impossible to change the attitudes of people; safety and environment will continue to be neglected

• Truth: On the contrary… e.g. Helmets, Literacy rate in India: 74% / Mobile subscriptions: 890 million

• Bottom-line: People are smarter than we give them credit for; right (dis)incentives can not only change attitudes but completely reverse it!

Attitudes are not rigid

• But need external forces to motivate change– Strict enforcement • Heavy fine for traffic violators; those who cannot pay

may be given option to attend defensive driving courses• Insurance rates need to be linked to violations

– Better engineering• Pedestrian paths, bicycle paths• Better intersection design• Optimal signal placement and timing

My Transport Solutions

• Sustainable and Safe transportation system– Pedestrians and bicyclists (non-motorized

transportation users) must occupy top of planning pyramid

– Public transport must be accessible, affordable, and comfortable

– Transportation network design, traffic management, traffic safety require scientific & engineering solutions

– Implement Intelligent Transport Systems technology for improving efficiency and safety

1. Pedestrians and Bicyclists• Priorities to non-motorised transport (CMDA Master Plan)

– Footpaths are not less than 1.5m in residential streets and 3.0m on major roads

– Redeeming the existing footpaths from such encroachments as flag-posts, hoardings, hawkers, shops, places of worship, eat-outs, construction materials, parking of vehicles, PCOs, telephone boxes, electrical transformers / junction boxes, traffic umbrellas, waste bins, milk booths etc.

– Demarcating stretches of roads or areas exclusively for movement by pedestrians and cyclists and

– Providing safe passage of pedestrian / cyclists by sub-ways

• To the above list we can add: elevated bicycle paths, skywalks for pedestrians– If space is a constraint at road level, let us use the space above

NMT traveller safety

• 42% of road accidents involve pedestrians and 10% cyclists (CMDA Master plan)

• Minor accidents are the seeds for major accidents

2. Public Transport

• No one should walk more than 500m within city limits to a bus stop; 1km to a metro/lrt station

• Charge full-fare to all; provide credit coupons to lower income strata

• Basic minimum standards need to be maintained– People travelling on foot-boards or getting crushed

inside are not dignified/civilized ways to travel– Why cannot all buses be temperature controlled?

2. Public Transport

• Metro and mono-rail are great• But need a tighter network instead of few lines– Buses can play a major role – Need to carefully plan and operate intermodal transfers

EMBARQ Report: Bus-Karo

3. Traffic Network Science and Engineering

• Would we visit an amateur physician to treat a tumor?

• Would you get your 12 floor corporate office designed and built by a mason?

• Why do we not leave traffic engineering and network planning to experts?– There are no quick fix solutions– Every situation is unique and needs to be completely and

thoroughly studied before prescribing solutions– Local, ad-hoc solutions lead to more problems!

Braess’ paradox

Urban Transportation Networks, Sheffi

Equilibrium Travel TimeIs 83 seconds for all travellers

Braess’ paradoxTravel Time Changes from

To the one below

Equilibrium Travel Time is 92 seconds for all travellers (increase of 9 seconds!!)

Adding more capacity leads to more congestion

4. Intelligent Transport Systems technology

• Application of advanced technologies to the transportation sector to improve the efficiency or safety of a surface transportation system.– ITS applies well-established technologies of communications, control,

electronics and computer hardware and software to the surface transportation system.

– ITS provides the ability to gather, organize, analyze, use, and share information about transportation systems.

• Benefits:

– Partial resolution of traffic problems, including traffic congestion, air pollution, and traffic accidents.

– Improved services for users – Increased efficiency of the transportation system for the operators.

Applications

• Incident detection and management

Route guidance

Demand management

Parking management

Electronic toll collection

Advanced traveler Information

Advanced traveler Information

Vehicle Control

• GPS Navigation system• Cruise control• Collision alert warning• Collision avoidance control• Automated highway systems

Public Transportation

• Electronic payment• Prediction of arrivals• Signal preemption

Time is of the essence ….

Problem:

Major incident on Freeway

Solution:

Detection Equipment

Solution:

Detection Equipment

Traffic Management

Center

Dispatch

In-vehicle

Internet

Changeable Message Signs

Issues Specific to Indian Traffic Conditions

• We do not have a technology for real time data collection which suits our requirements of:

– Heterogeneous/mixed traffic – varying from bullock carts to trucks

– No lane discipline – vehicles occupy the entire road space

Mixed Traffic

Lane Discipline

Summary

Myths• The population density is

very high for any transport plan to work

• Every one wants to own a car; traffic congestion shall continue to deteriorate

• We need multi-level fly-overs and elevated corridors

• Impossible to change the attitudes of people

Solutions• Pedestrians and bicyclists

must occupy top of planning pyramid

• Public transport must be accessible, affordable, and comfortable

• Require scientific & engineering solutions

• Implement ITS for improving efficiency and safety

THANK YOU!

E-mail: gitakrishnan@iitm.ac.inPhone: 2257-4298