By Alert Archie Rymbai
Peak hour traffic congestion has become a daily depression-inducing phenomenon which we all have to face due to the manner in which the current society operates. The timings which are in place in different parts of the world have led to the inevitable overloading of the existing roads every day.
Traffic is also caused due to the presence of too many cars on the road. India’s population is growing, and traffic jams happen when there are more cars on the roadways than there are spaces for them to drive on. For those who use an identical congested route to and from work every day, it is a persistent issue. It happens when a city’s population increases more quickly than its infrastructure. Travellers’ nightmares include poorly built roads and poor drainage, particularly during the monsoon season. Long traffic delays can result from even small collisions when oncoming traffic slows down to witness the incident and emergency vehicles arrive on the site. Back-ups can also result from stalled or broken-down autos that need to be avoided by other traffic.
Regular traffic patterns are the root cause of this form of congestion, which happens around specified periods of the day, during rush hours. This is a foreseeable problem and therefore manageable with the right traffic management techniques. The city is plagued by the cumulative effect of one vehicle per person and this is what adds to the traffic congestion. Roads have become smaller with daylight encroachments where rules are violated at will. More and more vehicles are plying on the road. More traffic police personnel are deputed. More manpower is deployed. Hence the reckless and unavoidable halts are occurring in the streets. Roads have become risky for pedestrians.
Shillong’s traffic conundrum does not end with the rush hours; it continues through the day.
Hence my suggestions are that there should be designated lanes marked for different types of vehicles, and this should be accompanied with a strict fine – a financial penalty which should be applied to force drivers to keep the lane discipline.
Parking Zone extensions can also solve the problems to an extent. The exacerbation of traffic congestion in urban areas is mostly a result of limited parking spaces. Even in larger cities, controlled parking zones are limited to certain main streets. There is usually an unbalanced mix of residents’ parking, pay and display, and limited wait parking zones. The best way to tackle congestion is to extend parking controls away from the city centre and formulate smart parking zones, even in less crowded areas. To enhance their functioning further, these parking zones can have virtual permits, 1-hour time limits, and regular patrolling by civil law enforcement officers. Making them smart would mean collecting real-time data on commuter parking and directing the crowd to emptier zones accordingly.
Using V2I technology to make roads smarter is one of the best ways to reduce congestion in cities. Using connected video cameras and satellite imaging, drivers can be informed about accidents and weather-related alerts as they drive on particular roads and expressways. These roads would act as smart transit corridors, where all the vehicle drivers would have information about the conditions of the place they will be arriving at in the next few miles. They can then decide to reroute from a congested road or slow down to avoid further crowding.
These innovative methods require minimal spending and are long-term solutions suitable for even the most heavily congested cities. Governments need to plan well, use IoT, AI, and digitization, and respond timely to a crisis, to make urban roads smooth for commuters at all hours of the day. Every hospital, school, college and university and other institutions should have proper signage leading to it. Safe Zebra crossing lines and double speed-breakers for ensuring the safety of students and the pedestrians in general should be part of the exercise. This has to be acted upon very quickly for the safety of all.
An Odd & Even Strategy will not be feasible to implement in the city but it’s the Shillongites voluntary act that can help and contribute to reduce the traffic problems. While a complete solution to traffic congestion may not be possible, it can be managed by combining various tactics such as promoting alternate modes of transportation, enhancing public transportation, and putting traffic management strategies in place.
(The writer is Asst. Prof Department of Management, William Carey University)