New Delhi Metro Rail services saved a “mammoth 269 million hours of travel time” in the year 2021 since more and more people started using Delhi Metro services. A study conducted by The Energy Research Institute (TERI) has shown that the annual time saved by passengers would be “more than double to 572.5 million hours in 2031”, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced. In addition, DMRC helped remove over 5 lakh vehicles from the streets of the national capital daily in 2021. This figure has also increased from about 4.74 lakhs in 2019. These benefits multiply by the fact that it also helps to remove about seven lakh tons of pollutants from the atmosphere as the number of private vehicles which run on fossil fuels are not used, especially during rush hours.
When one considers Mumbai’s scenario, it becomes obvious that the most obvious factor to cause Mumbai’s traffic congestion is the city’s north-south geography. New Delhi and other metros have radial geography so they can expand and have multiple routes to enter and exit, also connecting one location to another. On the other hand, Mumbai is an island, surrounded by the Arabian Sea. Hence, there are natural limits to its growth. Even after 75 years of independence, it has only two highways, the Western Express Highway and the Eastern Express Highway. However, for several decades, the planners did not bother to establish an east-west connectivity. Expectedly, the already encroached roads become congested during peak rush hours even now. According to earlier projections, Mumbai’s vehicle population has exceeded 40 lakh, another reason to cause traffic snarls. The vehicular density in Mumbai has risen to 600 cars per kilometre of road space, the highest in India. Unbridled encroachments and see horrific congestion throughout the day, not just during peak hours.
Traffic management studies of various cities around the world can help to get rid of road congestion and to improve the overall traffic system in the city. Along with implementing technical solutions, the regular maintenance of the roads to is also imperative. Additional Metro lines and smaller access roads will improve the road infrastructure of Mumbai. Dream solutions like encouraging carpooling have conclusively failed in Mumbai but the use of public transport will certainly benefit the environment, as shown by the study in Delhi Metro complexion.
Mumbai is called a city of opportunity. Even very simple people show extraordinary enterprise, cooperative culture and earn honest riches by the dint of their hard work. Living in Mumbai is a pleasure until one has to venture out and travel. Once on road, one is at the mercy of traffic police. Mumbai is cursed with one of the world’s worst road traffic situation and has been ranked as the fifth most congested city around the world. The city’s congestion rate, calculated on the basis of the average time spent for travel, was 53 percent longer than baseline non-congested levels in 2021, one survey has shown. This in lay terms means that a trip which should take 30 minutes needs 20 extra minutes at peak congestion levels. The congestion has serious adverse effects on the health of the road user and Mumbai’s economy. Though difficult to believe, Mumbai suffers an economic loss of over 40 crore annually due to traffic jams and every average road user just wastes 121 hours of active life in a year.
As has been chronicled, the suburban railway is overburdened in Mumbai, carrying around 80 lakh commuters daily while the BEST has a passenger load of another 40 lakh, daily. Despite this, the municipal bus service remains financially doddering. So far, the lack of a well-established metro network had been causing deterioration in this situation. The road space occupied for the metro’s ongoing construction work had been reducing the traffic flow speed, as the number of lanes on the road came down just one or two.
Several cities with major traffic densities have worked out innovations by using real-time traffic data and technology to end road congestion. They have many solutions to offer. Lessons from the experiences of other cities can promote Mumbai’s efforts to reduce ease the worsening traffic conditions and to offer some useful sustainable solutions.
The Tokyo model is a case in point. It can be helpful to identify ways to improve Mumbai’s current road traffic situation. The Tokyo model guided Dhaka planners to create successful interventions to solve traffic problems like road indiscipline and bottlenecks there. Tokyo today boasts the most modern traffic management system. Last year, its population was close to 1.40 crore. In spite of this, it has one of the most effective road management systems. While Mumbai has about 40 lakh vehicles, Tokyo has 30 lakh vehicles on its roads. Tokyo’s peak time traffic resembles Mumbai’s congestion.
When the traffic management became difficult, Tokyo adopted a formula called the Vehicle Information and Communication System (VICS) in 1996. It offered real-time traffic updates and vehicle navigation. VICS enabled an efficient traffic flow but the preparation to develop it was very intense. The beginning was information gathering. Installation of street-level cameras and radars provided VICS centres with real-time data which was used for analysis. The data is fed into the car navigation systems through three different media at the VICS Centre. It is instantly analysed and processed for onward relay over radio communication. The Tokyo system also has an electronic toll collection system (ETC), which is similar to FASTag which we have now started using in India. The object of preventing over-crowding and congestion of vehicles at any one location is thus achieved. VICS and ETC have been in use in India but are limited to the highways. They should be applied in cities for reducing traffic congestion.
Mumbai also can adopt a similar system to beat traffic problems. Rationalising and integrating traffic signals and speed limits into a centralised system, known as a Traffic Data Bank, can revolutionalise traffic updates available by resorting to Google Maps and communicating them to road signals to regulate traffic and its speed. Such a real-time communication based on data analysis can ensure a smooth and disciplined traffic flow. The adoption of the Tokyo traffic management system in Dhaka resulted in enhancing traffic movement and reduction in the incidence of accidents.
Overburdened traffic routes around the world are becoming the primary environmental challenge in the decade to come. It has been accepted that road traffic is the most alarming source of greenhouse emissions. In developing countries like India, road management is a thorny issue. As it directly impacts people’s lives, planners must create solutions to suggest environmentally sustainable mass transportation policies.
As far as Mumbai is concerned, it will have a massive road network in the near future. For instance, the Mumbai Coastal Road Project is expected to be ready by the end of 2023. It will improve connectivity significantly in and decongest South Mumbai to a great extent. It is projected to reduce travel time by 70 percent and save over 34 percent of the current fuel consumption. This project can meet the growing needs of Mumbai but not for too long. In the years to come, with improving purchasing capacities, more vehicles are likely to hit roads. This upward demand will demand improved road conditions more urgently, still, this race can’t go on indefinitely. At some point, it will become essential to reduce the number of vehicles overall. The only viable solution is to have a well-established metro network and other modes of public transport. Mumbai Metro Network is the first step in this positive direction.
A Column By
Dilip Chaware – Senior Editor
A media professional for 43 years, with extensive experience of writing on
a variety of subjects; he is also a documentary producer and book author.
