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MOTORINDIA
l
August 2012
heavy vehicle movement from other
vehicles (such as auto rickshaws)
carrying supplies to malls and de-
partmental stores. The simultaneous
movement of these two, in conjunc-
tion with the daily passenger traffic,
is leading to severe inefficiencies
and even increasing the number of
road accidents.
In the last 10 years, on an average
5,000 people have been prone to
accidents each year. Accident data
also reveals that on an average 620
persons die on city roads annually.
Apart from road accidents, another
important consequence of increase
in motor vehicle movement is the
growing air and noise pollution.
Pollution from vehicular has
caused serious harm to the environ-
ment and the health of people. With
a congested road network pollution
is set to increase further. A study
carried out by the Tamil Nadu Pol-
lution Control Board reveals that
the emission from just half the vehi-
cles in the city already exceeds the
permissible limits.
Besides air pollution, there is
also noise pollution caused by both
passenger and heavy vehicle move-
ments. This has had its adverse
effect on the quality and life of the
city residents.
With these bottlenecks in road
transport network and the impend-
ing challenge for achieving effi-
cient transport of goods, the policy
discussion should center around
development of an efficient holistic
road transportation network. The
thrust of Vision 2023 of the Tamil
Nadu Government is on establish-
ment of several small and medium
enterprises and ancillary indus-
tries, creating SME clusters in and
around major manufacturing units.
Most of these industries would be
located within the city limits. This
reinforces the urgent need for an
advanced urban road transporta-
tion network that complements the
growth of these industries.
Integrated freight master
As has been generally observed,
trucks use city roads for mobilizing
freight and goods to shipment cent-
ers. Increasing motor vehicle move-
ment, improper road linkages and
the resulting traffic congestion hit
the overall transport efficiency. In
order to make the arrangement ef-
ficient there must be a strategic and
viable plan for reducing inefficien-
cies in road transportation network.
This is possible only through policy
and programmable interventions.
The deficiencies in the road
transport network in Chennai have
been identified as poor quality
riding surface, missing links in
crucial areas in the road network,
mismatch between the growth rate
of vehicles and road infrastructural
facilities, highly mixed traffic on
arterial as well as secondary roads,
and reduction in the effective use of
road space due to several reasons,
including encroachment.
While there have been examples
in the past when sincere efforts
were made to decongest freight traf-
fic within the city, they were mostly
piecemeal in nature. For instance,
the inner ring road that was built
in the 1980s to improve truck and
freight movement between inter-
Mobility and Economy
√ A road transport network that en-
sures the efficient movement of goods
and passsengers in Chennai
√ Using investments in road transport
for the benefit of existing businesses
as well as attracting new ones.
Safety and liveability
√ Developing strategies for reducing
the community impact from freight and
passenger movement
√ Balancing the movement of trucks
with other transportation modes there-
by increasing the safety of passengers.
Environment
√ Reducing carbon foot print through
strategic investments in road transpor-
tation network towards becoming a
carbon neutral city.
U
U
U
logistics
There are several such cases wherein elevated roadways have been consid-
ered to tackle inefficiencies. While these measures provide relief to freight
carriers in the short term, they do not interact with the larger system and
might result in distortions in the transportation network.