Maitrey Sankalp1, Sana Praveen2, Mukesh Kumar3

Journal of Information and Computational Science ISSN: 1548-7741

Volume 13 Issue 7 – 2020 www.joics.net 32

Study of traffic congestion in Chapra

Maitrey Sankalp1, Sana Praveen2, Mukesh Kumar3

1,2,3, U.G. Student, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Institute of Technology,

Chapra,(India)

ABSTRACT

Chapra has undergone much development during last five years therefore traffic congestion has been a

critical problem for the local people. The study has been conducted to explore the real cause and impacts

of traffic congestion and suggest an appropriate solution of this problem. Questionnaires surveys were

conducted to obtain the quantitative sample data from the local respondents of Chapra. The responses

were analyzed leading to various important conclusions like the main reasons for the traffic congestion of

Chapra found to be due to high frequency of trucks, poor traffic control management, increased number of

vehicles in the lane, improper parking, road maintenance work, disobeying traffic rules, pavement defects, ,

passage of heavy vehicle on narrow roads etc. and also sometimes, due to adverse weather conditions.

Environmental risks, severe air and sound pollution and serious loss of public health, late for work, waste of

time were the end results of the traffic congestion. Some of the best possible solutions are proper lane for

truck movements, better traffic management, parking restrictions, availability of public transport, change

in school timings to reduce rush hours, provision of flyovers, public enlightening programs etc. This paper

basically deals with the nature, impact, causes and probable solution of that’s kind of traffic congestion of

Gandhi chowk and Newaji Tola in Chapra, Bihar. This project also suggests a better plan or alternative

proposal to minimize the frequent type of congestion to this area.

Keywords: causes, respondents ,questionnaries survey, traffic congestion, traffic management

1. INTRODUCTION

India has the second largest road network in the world with road network density of about 0.66 kilometer

per square kilometer of land consisting of mixture of highways, unpaved roads and narrow roads. Chapra is

situated near the junction of the Ghaghara river and the Ganges river. Chapra grew in importance as a

river-based market in the 18th century when the Dutch, French, Portuguese, and English established

saltpeter refineries in the area. Due to river-based market huge amount of sand extraction is done from the

river which is the one of the important reasons for traffic congestion in the city. There are some places in

Chapra where traffic congestion highly affects daily on various routes like Bhikari Thakur chowk to Newaji

Tola chowk , Gandhi Chowk to municipality chowk and from Dorigunj to Bhikhari Thakur chowk. There are

many reasons of congestion in chapra such as due to haphazard parking of trucks on both flanks of NH -19

from Bhikhari Thakur roundabout to C hrand bridge connecting Chapra with Ara. The weekly cattle fair at

Gheghta also aggravated the situation. According to local residents, trucks parked on the road come from

neighboring UP and other districts of Bihar for collecting red sand from Koilwar. Traffic congestion has

been one of the major issues that most cities are facing. Traffic congestion in the road can be defined as the

condition in which the number of vehicles in the lane is higher than the lane capacity. The traffic



congestion may occur due to various reasons. The primary reason may vary depending on the location. It

occurs when the demand exceeds road capacity. The reasons for the traffic congestion include increased

number of vehicles in the lane, improper parking, road maintenance work, accident, increasing land use

building construction, disobeying traffic rules, seasonal factors, pavement failures, encroaching of footpath,

festival and occasional congestions, passage of heavy vehicle on narrow roads, improper lane management

etc. From the long time the people are suffering by this kind of problems which is increasing day by day.

In Chapra, the absence of active public transportation is also one of the causes of congestion problem. The

increase in population has its adverse effects on the existing transportation systems. Traffic congestion has

got many negative effects. Effects of traffic congestion include wastage of time for the users, delay in

reaching the destination, increased fuel consumption, environmental pollution, higher chance of collision.

Traffic congestion also plays a role on degradation of the environment leads to environmental cost. There is

huge noise pollution of (more than 90 dB). The sudden stop and go of vehicle movement in the congested

areas leads to high consumption of fuel thereby increasing the pollution level in the city by emitting various

poisonous gases.

There are two principal categories of causes of congestion, and they are; (a) micro-level factors (e.g. relate to

traffic on the road) and macro-level factors that relate to overall demand for road use Congestion is

“triggered” at the “micro” level (e.g. on the road), and “driven” at the “macro” level by factors that

contribute to the incidence of congestion and its severity. The micro level factors are, for example, many

people and freight want to move at the same time, too many vehicles for limited road space. Many trips may

be delayed by events that are irregular, but frequent: accidents, vehicle breakdowns, poorly timed traffic

signals, special events like mass social gatherings, political rallies, bad weather conditions, etc. are other

factors causing a variety of traffic congestion problems. On the other side, macro level factors e.g. land-use

patterns, employment patterns, income levels, car ownership trends, infrastructure investment, regional

economic dynamics, etc. may lead to congestion. For the effective planning of Chapra town, integrated

transportation planning and traffic management is essential. Transportation contributes to the economic,

industrial, social and cultural development of any city. Traffic congestion is one of the most challenging and

complicated issues in the Chapra. The development in road infrastructure in Chapra town is not adequate to

accompany the high number of vehicles in the town. Since the end of 80s, there is no noticeable

infrastructure development in the town especially in the downtown roads. Chapra grew randomly without

planning and new quarters were built with a little planning while Chapra development needs a deep plan.

Traffic congestion is one of the intolerable problems of urban area emerging due to sudden increment in

the private transport, affecting urban society, economy. Road traffic congestion poses a serious challenge for

all large and growing cities. Congestion prevents the movements of traffic, leading to the intolerable

increase journey time. It also has been found that congestion cost severely affects the economics of the

nation. The investment on roads have not kept pace with growth of traffic, with the result there is severe

congestion on the roads. Speed are low and vehicle operating costs are high. Accident rate is also usually

high. While new road construction can temporarily relieve congestion in the longer term it simply

encourages further growth in car traffic through increased travel and a switch away from public transport.

Beside this, suitable corridors in our cities for major roadwork’s is becoming more and more difficult, and

many of the recent major projects involve turrets to minimize environmental disruption and community

opposition, thereby raising costs. Some of the possible solutions are parking restrictions, change in school

timings to reduce rush hours, traffic counters, better traffic management, speed limit, lane splitting,



provision of flyovers, construction of metro, public enlightening programs etc. Development of a model for

traffic flow management is a solution to reduce traffic congestion. The objective of this study is to find the

real causes behind the traffic congestion on the street connecting two major roads in the Chapra and to

conclude possible solutions for the problem.

.

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

Road congestion is a major concern for most countries across the globe (Jain et al., 2012). According

to Rao and Rao (2012), road traffic congestion is a matter of concern for Indian transportation

professionals as most cities suffer from moderate to severe congestion. Traffic congestion in India

occurs mainly because of the poor road conditions, varying road way features, poor lane discipline,

inappropriate bus-stop location and design, diversity of traffic, and unrestrained on-street parking.

Maji (2017) recommended solutions is supportable by financial condition, less harassment to common

people, safety from accident, reducing trip delay, and welfare for city environment. But in case of

implementation there may come constraints like-lake of regular monitoring system, lake of

operational efficiency, delay in implementation etc. Rao et al. (2012)considered different desirable

attributes for a congestion measure suggested by the afore-mentioned researchers, congestion is a

function of a reduction in speeds, which is the direct cause of loss of time and leads to increased

vehicle operating costs, fuel consumption, and emissions of air pollutants and Green House Gases

(GHGs).

Lum (1998) studied that traffic volume and travel time and related speed-flow relationships for

radial and ring arterial roads and has concluded that the results clearly show that special reference to the

characteristics with traffic flow and the recommended speed-flow models developed using travel time–

density relationship. Raman(2004) in his study had related the Indian road-traffic the problems, like

congestion, unpredictable travel-time delays and road-accidents, are taking a serious shape and has

concluded that the results clearly show that the presence of lane system, relative speed and type of

vehicles, presence of freeways, orderly traffic are the essential parameters to be worked upon. Marwah

and Bhuvanesh (2000)

studied that level of service classification for urban heterogeneous traffic and had successfully

calibrated and validated the traffic simulation model for the urban heterogeneous traffic flow

conditions on the Kanpur roads. Singh (2001) performed the road Accident analysis on Patna City and

concluded that urban transport facilities in most of the Indian cities are inadequate and deteriorating

over the years. The development of public transport system has not kept pace with the public demands

both in terms of quality and quantity and has concluded that the results clearly show that the use of

undesirable modes such as personalized transport, two wheelers, intermediate public transport mainly

three wheelers, is growing at a rapid speed. Arkatkar (2011) studied the effect of variation of traffic

volume and had related the field data collected on traffic flow characteristics to be used for calibration

and validation of the simulation model and has concluded that the results clearly show that the model

can replicate the heterogeneous traffic flow on mid-block sections of intercity roads. Al-Kaisy (2005)

studied that developing PCE factors for heavy vehicles on freeways and multilane highways during

congestion relates to the mechanism of heavy vehicles’ behavior during congestion severely affects

traffic stream behavior under free-flow condition. Congestion is prompted at the micro- level, and



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steered at the macro-level (Tilak & Reddy, 2016). This paper discusses the causes for traffic

congestion in many spot places in Chapra city such as illegal parking, Disobeying traffic rules,

Seasonal factors, Pavement failures, encroaching of footpath, Festival and Occasional congestions,

Passage of heavy vehicle on narrow roads, Accidents and Improper lane management are identified.

There are many reasons of congestion in Chapra such as due to haphazard parking of trucks on both

flanks of NH -19 from Bhikhari Thakur roundabout to Chrand bridge connecting Chapra with Ara.

The weekly cattle fair at G heghta also aggravated the situation. According to local residents, trucks

parked on the road come from neighbouring UP and other districts of Bi ihar for collecting red sand

from Koilwar and found many reasons behind this congestion.

This paper provides a context for transportation problem and their connections causing traffic

congestion in Chapra. A fact of congestion and is not only necessary for understanding and providing

solutions for city transportation action but for finding behind individual transportation goals. The increase

in traffic and in the demand for transport have caused serious problem. The major consequence of

congestion occurs especially at peak periods, which is dangerous thing for people. During peak hours, there

is a lot of chances to cause accidents. Traffic congestion occurs when travel demand exceeds the existing

road system capacity. Congestion is a condition in which the number of vehicles attempting to use a

roadway at any time exceeds the ability of the roadway to carry the load at generally acceptable service

levels.and the Cost related (congestion pricing)study.

3. METHODOLOGY AND DATA COLLECTION

3.1 SELECTION OF RESPONDENTS

To collect the data, respondents were selected very carefully from different age groups and sectors having

vast knowledge, experience, real life observation on the various aspect of traffic jam and traffic

management of Chapra Town. Students, Government and Non-government professionals were also

selected as respondents. Some other respondents such as Vehicle operator, transport worker, transport

owner, worker association and passenger were considered as respondents to get the real-life observation on

the issues.

3.2 PREPARATION OF QUESTIONNAIRES AND DISTRIBUTION

On the light of extensive literature review and according to the aim and objectives of the research, survey

questionnaires were prepared to collect the opinion and perception of the respondents on the research topic.

Twenty-five questions questionnaires were prepared related to causes of traffic jam in Chapra Town, traffic

management, consequence and solution of traffic jam such as

1. Gender

2. Age group

3. Your occupation

4. By how many hours does traffic delay you, per trip to work?

5. What is the best solution to traffic congestion?

6. Distance between residence and workplace in kilometer.

7. Which mode of transport you prefer for daily travel?

8. Monthly income



9. At which of the following routes below do you experience more congestion on consistent basis?

10. Which of the times range below do you experience congestion on a consistent basis?

11. What are the causes of traffic congestion?

12. Problems faced due to traffic congestion?

13. How often do you get stuck in traffic jams?

14. Road condition in your travel route?

15. Availability of Public transport facilities in your area.

16. Compared to three years ago, have traffic congestion improved or as it is.

17. Frequency of accidents per week on your travel route?

18. Situation of pedestrian safety/safety signs.

19. Availability of parking space in your travel route?

20. What are the safety compromises parameters?

21. Primary purpose of your trip?

22. How much satisfied with the traffic police management system?

23. How many times have you ever been late for an important event like exam, work, appointments

etc. because of traffic jam?

24. According to you what is the major loss due to traffic congestion?

25. Suggestions to improve the traffic congestion (if any)

At the end of the survey questionnaires participants were requested to put their valued comments and

suggestions about the discussed issue.

3.3 DATA COLLECTION

Data and information from various official sources were collected to support the study such as project

documents, journal articles, archives and libraries, collection and museum, grey literature, the field and the

internet. Primary data were collected through questionnaires or observation. A semi-structured were

developed to collect data from selected participants e.g. students, government employee, private employee,

transport owner, businessman, workers through Google form.

4. DATA ANALYSIS

The data obtained were analyzed for the factors related to causes of the traffic congestion and many other

relevant parameters which may be proved beneficial for the extracting and suggesting the mitigation

measures for the traffic congestion. Some of the glimpse of the conducted study are:



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5. CONLUSION:

This study is concerned with the problems faced by the people of the city and suggest some remedial measures

in order to minimize it. As Chapra town is being dominated by traffic jam over the 15-20 years, thus it

becomes quite relevant to identify the cause and consequences of Chapra traffic jam and propose an

appropriate strategy for solution. Thus, in order to analyze the congestion scenario, the traffic questionnaires

were prepared and response recorded were analyzed to find put some inputs affecting the congestion. The

findings of this study can be useful for the district administration to suggest some improvements required on

the particular routes.



The findings of the study can be concluded under various salient points as below:

It is found that approximately 50% of the people are delayed regularly by 30 to 90 minutes per trip

and about 25% of people by more than 2 hours, thus leading to loss of time a lot.

Basically 44% of the people suggested that the traffic congestion is huge within 5 to 10

kilometers which is the distance between their residence and workplace and also 39% of the

people suggested traffic congestion within 5 kilometers.so just imagine, how huge traffic is

there? People used to go to their workplace (approx. 5 to 10 km) which is a short distance and in

that the traffic congestion is on the daily basis.

59% of the people used to travel daily with auto-rickshaw.

Traffic mostly affect the route from Bhikhari Thakur chowk to Newaji tola chowk, followed by

route between Gandhi chowk to municipality chowk.

About 61% of the people think that congestion is due to high frequency of trucks and the timing

during 10am to 1 pm (which is the timing of school hour or office hour).

The major problem faced by the people due to traffic congestion are late for work (means wastage of time)

and air pollution and health problem. Due to poor condition of the road the vehicle congestion cost also

increases also inhibits the average traffic speed ultimately leading to huge traffic congestion during the

peak hours. Due to mismanagement of traffic system, the problem of congestion becoming worse than

earlier. Due to this leading traffic congestion scenario the pedestrian safety is also compromised leading to

chances of some severe accidents on the route.

One of the basic components of traffic rue is pedestrian safety /safety sign which is not in proper manner. It

is found in very poor condition (approx. 50%). As the market of chapra is in very congested way so there is

less space for parking the vehicles which is also be the reason for the huge traffic. After doing survey and

analysis on it, best solution to minimize the traffic congestion is by better traffic management followed by

provision of flyover with construction of new road and parking spot. This paper suggests a better plan or

alternative proposal to minimize the frequent type of congestion to this area by taking some suitable methods

such as:

a) Speed: Speedometer devices should be installed at the potential checkpoints of congestion and

individual speeds of the various categories of vehicles should be monitored.

b) Restricted hours: The movement of heavy vehicles like loaded trucks and multi-axle buses

should be restricted for some particular hours especially during peak hours in order to minimize the

congestion. Some checkpoints should be made in the outskirts of the city so that they are allowed in

the city only when the traffic on that particular route in minimum.

c) Periodic maintenance: The road should be checked for any defects at periodic intervals. Many

pavement distresses like pot holes, edge cracking, unevenness, rutting etc. can be taken care of at

regular intervals in order to provide suitable environment for the smooth movement of vehicles on

that particular route.

d) Requirements of Traffic Signal system: As the percentage of vehicles are increasing day by day,

it is an urgent need to develop a plan to install traffic signal system at the various spots of the city

where congestion is at peak. Due to no signal system, there is always irresponsible driving by the

vehicle users leading to accidents also aids to the cause of congestion also.

e) Provision of alternative routes: It has been observed that the route from Bhikari Thakur chowk to



Newaji tola has been always congested throughout the day, thus it is an urgent requirement to find

out the alternative route so as to demarcate that traffic on different route in order to improve the

traffic mean speed.

f) Strict Policy: The district administration shall ensure that the strict policy should be

implemented to charge the vehicle user for inappropriate driving by challans. Various laws and

regulations

g) Provision of Flyover: As on the major routes of the city, various railway crossings are located

and thus the traffic is delayed a lot. Thus, there is a need to construct flyover in order to make the

traffic movement smoother.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This work is produced as a result of the project entitled “Study of Traffic Congestion in Chapra town” by

BCST, Bihar under the guidance of Mr. Vishwesh Singh, Assistant Professor and Mr. Priyanshu Raj,

Assistant Professor, LNJPIT Chapra. We are also thankful to the Department of Civil Engineering, LNJPIT

Chapra who always motivated to complete this project even under Corona Crisis.

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Documents

Maitrey Sankalp1, Sana Praveen2, Mukesh Kumar3