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Make city roads smarter today!

Pravin Varaiya

Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences, UC BerkeleyInstitute for Advanced Study, Hong Kong UST

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Outline

Why is traffic congestion so bad

Why is road network poorly managed

How to make our roads smarter

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Working population

Both % working age population and income are growing

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Vehicle growth faster than income

Vehicle ownership grows twice as rapidly as income in $3,000-$10,000 per capita range

Number of vehicles will triple by 2030

Fig Source: Joyce Dargay, Dermot Gately and Martin Sommer, 2007, Vehicle Ownership and Income Growth, Worldwide: 1960-2030

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Auto market in developing countries

14.47% annual vehicle growth in India

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Strains on road network

Population spread

– Rapid spatial growth and urban sprawl

Under-resourced road network

– Between 1970-2000 road network increased 3x, vehicles increased 16x

– Peak-time average speed10-15 kph on main roads; 21-39 kph on arterial roads

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Why traffic congestion

Increasing working population

+Increasing income per capita

+Decreasing car prices

=Fastest growing car market in world

Increasing car ownership

+Increasing population spread

+Under-resourced road network

= Urban traffic congestion

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Cost of poorly managed roadsEffects of Congestion

- Fuel loss at signalized intersections- Rs 995 crores per year, Rs 80 lakhs daily @ Moti Bagh crossing

- Congestion delay costs Rs. 240 lakhs annually

- Vehicles in congestion emit nearly four times more pollution

- Autos greatest source of pollution (Delhi 66%, Mumbai 52%)

Accidents and fatalities

– More than 25 accidents and 5 fatalities per day in Delhi

– India has 1% of the world's cars, but 10% of traffic fatalities

– 5x fatalities of USA with 1/40x cars

– Economic cost of accidents in Delhi is estimated to be Rs.35 lakhs per day

These costs can be reduced by better management

Source: Delhi Traffic Police Dept , Economic Survey of Delhi 2002

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Why poor management

Transportation planners and engineers have many methods (theories and tools) to make road network efficient

These methods need comprehensive traffic data

India’s cities need urban traffic data system to support good road network management

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Urban traffic data system

Sensing, data backhaul, data base, applications:

Road performance Signal control Transit priority Emissions reduction Parking policy Traveler information Incident management Diversion …

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Conclusion

Urban auto traffic demand will grow rapidly

In absence of intelligent management the cost in fuel, emissions, delay are excessive

Without measurement, management is blind

New (and existing) road networks should develop urban traffic data system