I recently heard that biker priority signals are being tested as a plot project on Chennai's GST road, one of the busiest roads in the state. The system reportedly gives bikers a 30-40-second head start in a desperate attempt to reduce traffic congestion in that line. But would it really work?
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| Image Credits: Satish Babu via Getty Images |
Most of the congestion in the city is caused by 3 main things: (1) bottlenecks due to narrow stretches of road or partially closed roads due to random roadwork; (2) poor condition of roads in several locations, slowing down the average speed of the moving traffic and most important, (3) greedy drivers. Let us try to address the issues one by one.
1. Narrow patches of roads:
As the city grew, the roads did too, but not uniformly throughout. You would often find several arterial roads being 6-lanes at one stretch to abruptly becoming 2-laned stretches more often than not, throughout Chennai. This is a serious issue because free-flowing traffic is suddenly slowed down as the vehicles merge back. Unfortunately, since everyone is in a hurry, nobody wants to give space to others, which directly leads to congestion. I would like to address this again, a little while later in this blog.
The Chennai Metro Rail project and the storm water drainage systems have caused immense inconvenience to commuters, including me. Both projects have been delayed way beyond their originally proposed time of completion. While I would not get into who's fault this is, but, I would certainly point this out that while China builds 10-lane highways in a fortnight, over bridges in a few days and hospitals overnight, we in India are struggling to build a metro rail project for more than a decade and a storm water drain system for more than 5 years. I would let you decide whose inefficiencies we residents are paying the price for.
Parking of vehicles along the edges of the roads is a major contributor to severe congestion along multiple patches throughout the city. This is more prevalent among broader roads and stretches with multiple shops. For instance, the Pallikaranai and Narayanapuram stretches of the Tambaram Velachery main road, the Velachery 100-feet road, multiple stretches along the GST road, and more so in non-arterial main roads, suffer from reluctant and lazy drivers attempting to park right in front of the shops and restaurants.
2. Poor patches of roads:
It is a mystery that only the Almighty could solve as to how newly laid roads crack and break up again within two months of renovation. The metro rail project has certainly contributed to this, especially along the OMR and the Arcot road stretches. Even after disregarding the areas of metro works, several other roads are left unattended throughout the city. Repair works are of poor quality where the patch works are unprofessional and uneven, and lead to discomfort while driving through them, mainly to bikers.
3. Greedy Drivers:
This section deserves special consideration as greedy drivers are the single major reason for traffic congestions. What I'm about to say might sound outrageous to some, but I'm sure many would agree with me. The auto-rickshaws are the heartlines of the city, and they move a massive number of people door to door every day. Somewhere in that equation, it has come to a state where auto-rickshaw drivers have begun to violate all traffic rules and all forms of mutual understanding between drivers on the road. It appears like they're more focused on taking as many savaris as possible in a day. To achieve that, the incidents of rash driving, signal violations and unauthorised U-turns by autorickshaws have increased sharply over the years. A similar observation also fits the equations of mini-trucks and a big chunk of taxi drivers.
Drinking water supply tankers are a whole different story altogether. The fact that they're huge in size, heavy and difficult to maneuver forces the drivers to take the right lanes on the roads - the lane that's supposed to be a fast lane. Vehicles parked along the edges of the roads encourage this act. This significantly slows down normal vehicular movement, especially along narrow patches.
The final part of this equation is the commuters themselves. Sashi Tharoor, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, once said, "Ours is a country where everybody is in a hurry, yet nobody is on time", which perfectly fits this scenario. Every single office-goer is always in a hurry to reach their workplaces. While everybody has their own reasons, it is a bad practice and risks their safety, besides that of the others around. The lack of driving sense, at large, is yet another problem that's prevalent all across India. The concept of lanes is largely non-existent. The usage of blinkers for signaling, proper checking of the rear-view mirrors before making a lane change or turning is rarely a part of the equation. Mutual understanding and acknowledgement of other commuters is only practiced by a grim minority of people.
What could be done? What measures would actually work?
Well, the answers are rather simple, but they're easier said than done. As a first step, the Greater Chennai and Tambaram Corporations could fix broken patches of roads with professional and long-lasting repair works. They would expedite the metro and the storm water drain projects. Narrow stretches of roads could be broadened by clearing temporary structures or by acquiring land and expanding the roads. I'm sure the traffic police are working on improving the signaling strategies, the evidence of which we see quite often. Traffic rules ought to be made more stringent towards violators. The speed limits in Chennai are higher than many other cities in India and even globally, which should be strictly followed by all.
Besides all the ambitious measures, we as daily commuters ought to learn to be patient and considerate towards fellow commuters. Everybody works to earn their bread and put food on their family's plates. Everyone has their own reasons for being late and driving erratically. Everybody has their own mental states as we deal with different things personally and professionally. It is always the best practice to leave early, maintain composure and avoiding phone calls while driving are some good places to start. Let us not lose any more souls because of our greediness and/or reluctance.
I must have missed out on many other factors, small and large, that add to the existing ones. Please let me know in the comments below.
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