congestion
congestion
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
5
Congestion in Delhi: Scary future of our cities
Immediate sign of the mobility crisis in our cities is paralyzing congestion, -- crawling traffic and high
pollution levels. Mounting global evidence shows that this imposes high costs on urban communities.
This can be around 2 - 3 per cent of the GDP. In many cities congestion occurs during the longer
portion of the day, more and more roads are falling into its deadly grip, and delays now affect more
travelers and goods then ever before.
Explosive increase in personal vehicles – cars and two-wheelers, are responsible for choking
congestion. The speed of this increase is scary. Since 1991 the vehicle growth rate is averaging
200,000 vehicles per year. In contrast to the national trend, cars are increasing at a faster rate than
two-wheelers. Cars have grown at 10 per cent annually since 1995 as opposed to 7 per cent for two-
wheelers. On the whole the growth rate in the personal vehicles sector is the highest. This is
worsening the air quality, increasing energy use, and the city is actually grinding to a stop due to
congestion. Direct exposure to traffic fumes is amongst the deadliest of the health threats.
4
millions
0
19 -87
19 -91
19 -92
19 -96
19 -97
19 -98
19 -99
20 -00
20 -01
20 -02
20 -03
20 -04
20 -05
20 -06
7
19 -93
19 -94
19 -95
-0
86
90
91
95
96
97
98
99
00
01
02
03
04
05
06
92
93
94
19
Daily registration of vehicles is galloping at an alarming pace. In 2000-01 Delhi registered only
564 private vehicles (both cars and two-wheelers) a day. This has jumped to 1054 personal vehicles
per day in 2006-07 – close to two-fold increase. If commercial vehicles are also added then Delhi
registers more than 1100 vehicles a day. (Graph 2: Trend in per day vehicle registration (2001-02 –
2006-7)
1
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
Per day reg. during 2000-01* Per day reg. during 2006-07
1200 1102
1054
1000
800 704
numbers
564 580
600
350 333
400
231
200
0
Cars Two wheelers Total private Total vehicles
vehicles (private
+commercial)
Source: Computed from vehicle registration data published in the Economic Survey of Delhi, 2007
Roads overcrowded even when more than half of population does not own motorized
transport: In this populous city of 15 million, vehicles are overcrowding city roads even when more
than half of our population does not own motorized vehicles. Just about 20 per cent of households in
Delhi own cars. Only if two-wheelers are included then about 43 per cent of the households own
motorized vehicles.
60
47.9
50
43.4
% of households
40
30
19.9 18.7
20
10
0
No Motor vehicle Two wheeler Car Bicycle
Sourc e: An on 20 08, tra ns po rt de man d for ec as t s tudy : s tudy and de vel opm ent o f an i nteg rate d c um multi
modal p ublic tra ns po rt netw ork fo r N C T o f D elhi, R ITES, et al , Septembe r
Multiple ow ne rship incre a sing: E vid enc e s h ows th at amo ngs t the vehic le ow nin g ho us eh olds mo re
hous e hol ds are b uy ing mo re th an o ne vehic le. Multipl e ow ne rs hip o f vehic le is als o gr owi ng s lowly .
2
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
Graph 4: Private vehicle ownership is multiplying
0.1
More than 4 or equal
0.1
0.5
3 vehicles Two wheeler
0.5
Car
5.1
2 vehicles
2.9
37.7
1 vehicle
16.4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
% of households
Sourc e: An on 20 08, tra ns po rt de man d for ec as t s tudy : s tudy and de vel opm ent o f an i nteg rate d c um multi
modal p ublic tra ns po rt netw ork fo r N C T o f D elhi, R ITES, et al , Septembe r
Inter-city traffic - explosive: Not only the vehicle numbers increasing in the city daily influx of
vehicles from outside the city are further inflating the bulge. Key arteries like the Nizamuddin bridge
takes the brunt of the incoming traffic from outside, nearly 80 per cent of the traffic in the morning
peak hour is from outside the city. In the evening peak hour, 75 per cent of vehicles in ITO are from
outside. This greatly burdens Delhi’s road and pollution load (see Graph 5: Vehicles from outside
adding to the problem).
60,000
No. of vehicles (thousands)
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
Badarpur Mehrauli to Gurgaon to Taj Palace Ghaziabad Kale Khan
to Mehrauli Badarpur Taj Palace to Gurgaon to Kale to
Khan Ghaziabad
3
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
On the k ey arteries that c onn ec t the s atellite towns aro und Delhi in the N ation al Ca pital Re gio n of D elhi
traffic vol ume has inc re as ed p he nom enally . On k ey link roads lik e Loni and Rajok a ri bo rde rs the gro wth
rate is nea rly 30 pe r c ent (s ee ta ble 1: Gr o wth of tr affic on r oa ds c onnec tin g N CR to wns ).
DAILY VEHICLES
ANNUAL
2001 2007 GROWTH (%)
1 Nh-8 Near Rajokari Border 42881 196514 28.89
2 Mehrauli Gurgaon Road Near Aya Nagar 34344 91520 17.75
Mathura Road (Near Badarpur Border) And
3 Surajkund Road 49923 98802 12.05
4 Road No. 13 A Kalindi Kunj Road 52760 61437 2.57
5 Nh-24 Near Gazipur Border 29142 75532 17.21
6 Loni Border (Saharanpur Pur) 16832 78080 29.15
7 Nh-1 Singhu Border 34999 53947 7.48
Auchandi Bawana Road (Near Auchandi
8 Border) 5690 9072 8.09
9 Rohtak Road 23259 43714 11.09
10 Dhansa Border 2244 4056 10.37
11 Wazirabad Bridge 44414 67602 7.25
12 Yamuna Bridge Isbt 60709 154913 16.9
13 Old Yamuna Bridge 86848 85243 -0.31
14 Ito Bridge 115768 84025 -5.2
15 Nizamuddin Bridge 119407 157187 4.69
16 Ashram Bridge 54408 93819 9.51
17 Azadpur Rob 79667 86689 1.42
18 Dnd Flyway (Ntpc Ltd) 17161 97096 33.49
Sourc e: An on 20 08, tra ns po rt de man d for ec as t s tudy : s tudy and de vel opm ent o f an i nteg rate d c um multi
modal p ublic tra ns po rt netw ork fo r N C T o f D elhi, R ITES, et al , Septembe r
There is barely any space left for more cars: Delhi is one of the most privileged cities to have
maximum land area under roads – as much as 21 per cent. Even then the city is gridlocked. The road
network in Delhi has increased 3.7 times between 1971-72 and 2005-06 (from 8,380 km to 31,183
km), but during the same period the number of vehicles has increased 21 times. There have been
several spurts in road expansion over the last few decades, but further scope of expansion is very
limited now. This is evident in the fact that the rate of increase in road length has come down
successively through the stages. During the decade (1970 to 1980) road network had expanded by
as much as 71 percent. During the decade, 1980 – 1990, it further expanded by 51 per cent. But in
the subsequent decade of 1990-2000 the growth was a lot slower at 32 per cent. And during the five
years (2000-2005) in the current decade, the growth has been down to mere 9 per cent (Graph 18:
Constrained growth). Clearly, there is barely any space left to build more roads in Delhi.
4
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
9 2150
8.45 2103 2103
8 7.88 7.9 2087 2100
2070 7.44
7 6.98
6.46 2050
6
in kilometers
in kilometers
5 2000
4 1950
1922 1922
3
1900
2
1850
1
0 1800
2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004 - 2005 2005 - 2006
Average length of road per 100 square kilometers Road length per thousand vehicles ( in kilometers)
Road availability per vehicle is coming down consistently: The ‘road length per 1,000 vehicles’
has reduced by nearly half between 1990-91 and 2005-06 from road length of 12 km per 1000
vehicle to 6 km per 1000 vehicles. (See Graph 19: Roads hitting dead end). Result: Congestion
nightmare.
Roads expansion no longer keeps pace with rising demand of space for more vehicles
30000 12
Road length in kms
25000 +9% in 10
5
20000 years 8
0 0
1971-72.
1980-81.
1990-91.
1993-94.
1994-95.
1995-96.
1996-97.
1997-98.
1998-99.
1999-00.
2000-01.
2001-02.
2002-03.
2003-04.
2004-05.
2005-06.
5
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
Source: Based on data provided in the Delhi Economic Surveys, Delhi Planning Department
Travel speed plummets: Peak hour traffic has slowed considerably in Delhi. On an average, it is
estimated that to provide a congestion free drive traffic speed should be close to 40 km per hour. But
studies carried out by different agencies in Delhi show that peak hour speed has dwindled quite
drastically. Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) study of 2006 shows that during the morning and
evening peak hours 55-60 per cent of the major arterial roads have travel speeds less than 30 kmph.
Even during off-peak hours 40-45 per cent of major arterials have travel speeds less than 30 kmph.
About 20 per cent or more of the arterial road network are highly congested with travel speeds falling
below 20 kmph throughout the day. (See Table: Table 2: Speeds on Major Arterial Roads in Delhi)
There is very little change in speeds during peak and off peak periods and the network is operating at
its capacity. Any disturbance in traffic flows creates long queues and delays to traffic.
A subsequent survey carried out by RITES in 2008 shows that the peak hour speed of 22 km per
hour is more widespread and even off-peak journey speed is about 26 kmph. This despite Delhi
having about 46 flyover, 33 ROBs, 17 RUBs and 7 river bridges and has nearly 20 per cent of land
under roads. The RITES survey also shows that now over 70 per cent of road length has peak hour
traffic speed less than 30 km per hour. The traffic signals accounts for 63 per cent of delays and
traffic congestion is another reason.
6
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
0 10 20 30 40
kmph
Sourc e: An on 20 08, tra ns po rt de man d for ec as t s tudy : s tudy and de vel opm ent o f an i nteg rate d c um multi
modal p ublic tra ns po rt netw ork fo r N C T o f D elhi, R ITES, et al , Septembe r
Its all because of cars: Cars have certainly become more visible as they have begun to dominate
the traffic on Delhi’s roads. An older assessment of the on-road composition of vehicles in the inner,
middle and outer areas of CRRI shows that between 1991 and 2004 while the proportion of two
wheelers has remained more or less the same, the proportion of cars has increased throughout Delhi.
At the same time the share of intermediate public transport modes like auto rickshaws and taxis has
gone down. The share of cars has increased tremendously in all arterial roads in all three zones —
inner, middle and outer, the highest increase is observed in the middle area followed by inner area
and outer area. Share of buses, autos and taxis have gone down in most arterial roads
The 2008 RITES survey also confirms that the trend has continued. . For instance, at NH-8 near the
Rajokari Border the car traffic was 44.46 per cent of the total traffic in 2001, which has increased to
64.38 per cent in 2007. At the same place the two-wheeler traffic was 30.89 per cent in 2001, which
has fallen to 22.97 in 2007. Together the private vehicles constitute nearly 87 per cent of the traffic.
Overall traffic has increased by 28 per cent. Similarly, private vehicles near Mehrauli Gurgaon Road
near Aya Nagar constitute 87.37 per cent of the traffic -- 58.03 per cent are cars and 29.34 per cent
are two wheelers. In Kalindi Kunj two wheeler’s share has reduced from 28.33 per cent to 24.68 per
cent. At Ashram Chowk rail over bridge while the cars has increased to 53.3 per cent, the two
wheeler share has fallen from 34.06 per cent to 24.71 per cent in 2007.
7
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
69.9
DND FLYWAY 70.26
42.9
PUNJABI BAGH ROB
38.26
53.3
ASHRAM CHOWK ROB 31.06
16
WAZIRABAD BRIDGE
22.89
39.13
BADLI ROB
35.33
32.99
AZADPUR ROB 26.96
19.11
DHANSA BORDER
11.89
2007
37.43 2001
ROHTAK ROAD
23.15
37.79
NH-1 SINGHU BORDER
31.47
38.75
NH-24 NEAR GAZIPUR BORDER 26.42
49.4
ROAD NO. 13 A KALINDI KUNJ ROAD
34.37
64.38
NH-8 NEAR RAJOKARI BORDER 44.46
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
in %
Sourc e: An on 20 08, tra ns po rt de man d for ec as t s tudy : s tudy and de vel opm ent o f an i nteg rate d c um multi
modal p ublic tra ns po rt netw ork fo r N C T o f D elhi, R ITES, et al , Septembe r
8
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
27.9
DND FLYWAY 28.16
38.1
PUNJABI BAGH ROB
39.39
27.71
ASHRAM CHOWK ROB
34.06
44.25
WAZIRABAD BRIDGE
22.11
33.89
AZADPUR ROB 29.93
44.45
DHANSA BORDER
13.95
2007
24.24 2001
ROHTAK ROAD
23.87
20.43
NH-1 SINGHU BORDER
16.27
30.7
NH-24 NEAR GAZIPUR BORDER 25.07
24.68
ROAD NO. 13 A KALINDI KUNJ ROAD
28.33
22.97
NH-8 NEAR RAJOKARI BORDER
30.89
0 10 20 30 40 50
in %
Source: Anon 2008, transport demand forecast study: study and development of an integrated cum multi
modal public transport network for NCT of Delhi, RITES, MVA Asia Ltd, TERI, September
Explosive numbers have exhausted roads’ capacity: Roads are designed to carry an estimated
volume of traffic. But traffic has overwhelmed the designed capacity of many roads leading to long
delays especially during the peak hours. Of the 170 traffic locations surveyed by RITES in 2008
shows that in 44 per cent of locations traffic volume is already exceeding the designed capacity,
about 19 per cent locations are on the verge of exceeding it.
Assessments carried out in the Ring Road and on some prominent roads in the Central areas show
that the road is already over stretched. City development plan reports total length of Ring road as 48
km that has 6 carriageways. These were designed to carry about 75,000 vehicles a day. But already
the road carries 1,60,000 passenger vehicles per day (pcu) and it is expected to carry about reach
4,00,000 by 2011. It is anticipated that Ring road will require anywhere between 18 to 24 lanes. But
where is the space? Situation is equally bad on roads connecting Delhi with the surrounding towns
especially Gurgaon, Faridabad, Noida, Loni and Gaziabad. This is most starkly evident in the NH8
(Delhi-Gurgaon) which is designed for a peak traffic volume of 160,000 vehicles by 2015. But there
are already 130,000 vehicles fighting for space on that road today.
9
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
Graph 13: Traffic volume exceeds the designed capacity of the capital’s key arterial roads.
1990 2004
B.S.Gurudwara to AIIMS
I.S.B.T. to B.S.Gurudwara
Azadpur to I.S.B.T.
In 2008 RITES has surveyed 89 key arteries and 61 mid block locations. Most of these locations are
severely congested as these have traffic volume more than the designed capacity. According to transport
planners wherever the value of road traffic volume to the capacity ratio falls in between 0.8 to 1 than it is
termed as to be close of congested condition and when it value exceeds ‘1’ it is termed as completely
congested condition (See table: congested roads)
10
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
Table: high traffic load leading to severe congestion
Selected locations Total vehicles per Volume to capacity
day ratio
Costs of congestion: Congestion entails enormous costs on the economy. Idling and frequently
accelerating and decelerating vehicles waste a lot of energy, cause increased emissions of toxic
pollutants, lead to high personal exposure to pollutants, and loss of productivity due to lost time, among
others. This eats away the GDP silently. The cost of congestion in OECD countries is nearly 3 per cent of
GDP. Cost of congestion in Korea is 4.4 per cent of its GDP and 6 per cent of GDP in Thailand. In India
these costs have not been adequately assessed. Preliminary estimates carried out by the Pune based
CIRT show congestion costs in India can be as high as Rs 3000 to 4000 crore per year.
High fuel wastage: It is known that idling and vehicles caught in congestion consume more fuel.
This is also due to loss in fuel economy as lots of kinetic energy is lost in breaking and idle running of
the engine, which could be used in running the wheels. There are very few studies carried out in
Delhi to assess the wastage of fuel due to congestion.
The CRRI Study on Losses of Petroleum Products at Traffic Intersections due to idling of vehicles at
Delhi was sponsored by PCRA to estimate the total fuel loss per day due to idling of vehicles at traffic
intersections in Delhi and to recommend remedial measures for conserving fuel at intersections. Its
assessment involved 466 signalized traffic intersections. These intersections were classified into
three categories based on the traffic volume and as per this classification there were 183 high
volume Intersections, 250 medium volume Intersections and 33 low volume Intersections.
With over 466 signalized intersections, 3,21,432 litres of Petrol and 1,01,312 litres of Diesel are being
burnt every day due to the idling of vehicles, estimated the study. Converting these figures into
monetary terms the total losses, at the 1996 prevailing price of fuel, works out to be Rs. 82.00 lakhs
per day for Delhi. Annually it is estimated to be in the tune of Rs 245.00 crores per annum. This
reveals that per hour half to nearly one litre of fuel is lost by most of the vehicles, in fact larger the
vehicle more the loss while idling.
More recent estimation released in 2006 for Delhi carried out by CRRI for 600 signalized traffic
intersections shows an annual loss of fuel due to idling of vehicles results in Rs 994.46 crore. Out of the
total fuel wasted in the intersections, 41 per cent is CNG, 45 per cent is petrol and 14 per cent is diesel.
11
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
Amongst the intersection the fuel loss in Moolchand was worth Rs 35.8 million and in Khanpur
intersection was worth Rs 10 million. This reveals that per hour half to nearly one litre of fuel is lost by
most of the vehicles, in fact larger the vehicle more the loss while idling.
Source: Anon 1996, Loss of petroleum products due to idling of vehicles at road intersections in Delhi,
Final report, Central Road Research Institute, New Delhi
A fuel-efficient car can become a guzzler when caught in congestion. According to studies, the fuel
consumption or CO2 emissions in gm per km can increase up to 3 to 4 times compared to the car
running at around 55 to 65 km per hour.
Congestion aggravates pollution: Low average speeds due to traffic congestion increases the
emissions due to the stop-and-go pattern of traffic flow in congested condition. The emissions of
hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions per vehicle-kilometer tend to increase at low average
speeds in congested city driving, while emissions of nitrogen oxides increase at high speeds as on
highways. However the CO2 emission is at both high at slow and high speed. International studies
bear out this point (See Table: Emissions in different traffic types)
12
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
Motorway 0.61 0.09 0.56 0.25 166
Source: Asif Faiz et al, Air pollution from motor vehicles**, The World Bank, p79
Studies show that vehicle fuel consumption increases approximately 30 per cent under heavy
congestion. The Increased fuel consumption and air pollution costs represent about 17 per cent of
the total external cost of congestion.
Loss of time: Congestion also leads to loss of one very significant aspect of human resource –
productive time. Recently the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASSOCHAM) of
India, an apex body of the chambers of commerce conducted a survey in national capital region to
assess the commuting time for working population and delays. The study found that as a result of
traffic congestion and increasing jams during peak morning and evenings hours commuters in Delhi
and NCR towns are loosing as much as 2 to 2.5 hours every day while to reach their destinations, i.e.
from home to office and office to home. This translates into a total loss of nearly 420 million man-
hours every month by about 70,00,000 working population of Delhi and NCR that are taking to public
transport for commuting between home and their office destinations and vice-versa, according to the
study.
This phenomenon was found particularly acute in the arterial roads connecting Delhi with the
surrounding towns in the NCR. Maximum traffic load was observed on Delhi-Gurgaon, South, North
and East Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad roads. This congestion is largely caused by the personal
transport. UP, Delhi and Haryana are not well linked with public transport systems.
Usage of public transport under pressure: It is worrying that public transport usage is declining in
our cities. Even during the early part of this decade public transport buses met more than 60 per cent
of the travel demand in Delhi. But Delhi is letting its bus transport decay as -car policies are taking
over. This is starkly evident from the 2008 RITES survey. Between 2001 to 2007-08 in the modal split
the Bus’s share has fallen from 60 per cent to 41 percent and train’s from 0.7 per cent to 0.58 per
cent. The gainers are car/taxis and two-wheeler. Today all public transport trips (bus, train, auto,
rickshaw, and metro) make up 58 per cent of all person trips and 54.55 per cent of passenger kms.
70
59.8
40
21.32
30
17.2
13.73
20
10.3
9.68
6.6
3.49
3.63
5.3
10
3.6
3.1
0.58
0.7
0
Car/taxi Two Autos Bus Metro Train Bicycle Rickshaw
wheeler
13
Environment Pollution (Control and Prevention) Authority,
February 5, 2009
Briefing Paper 5
Source: Anon 2008, transport demand forecast study: study and development of an integrated cum
multi modal public transport network for NCT of Delhi, RITES, MVA Asia Ltd, TERI, September
Reinvent mobility
Cars are overwhelming the urban space and road infrastructure. They have eroded public spaces
and urban commons to meet the insatiable need for roads and parking. Cars are locking up
enormous resources to provide mobility to a minority – bringing in their wake unacceptable social
inequity and pollution. Public transport, pedestrians, and cyclists are the immediate victims of this car
mania. This car dependency can be reversed with right policies. City governments can discourage
car usage while improving access to more sustainable forms of transport.
• Build and expand public transport: The only way out of the congestion mayhem is to
massively augment public transport so that the road space can be used more efficiently to
carry more people and at greater speed.
• Integrate all modes of transport to maximize access to public transport systems and its
usage.
• Integrate Delhi with the surrounding towns with public transport to reduce the pressure of
the incoming traffic. Already a common agreement has been signed by the state
governments of the neighbouring states to develop seamless public transport system and
design common policy regime for them.
• Introduce uniform emissions standards across national Capital Region to bring the entire
motorized fleet in the region at par.
• Implement parking policy to provide for controls over parking in the city which will
discourage use of personal vehicles and provide incentives for shift.
• Correct distorted taxes related to transport to encourage public transport
14