How Indian Traffic Differs
to that of developed world
I was unable to explain a professor from computer science, how Indian traffic differs from most developed countries. His argument was “most Indian cities have similar traffic conditions to that of cities in developed countries”. As a civil engineering undergraduate i was well aware of problems existing in this space, i failed to convince him otherwise though.
Indian Traffic is heterogeneous in nature,which contains bullock-carts & autos apart from normal LMV`s and HMV`s . India lacks lane based traffic system, most cities don`t have bi-cycle lanes. The traffic conditions are uncertain, there are unscheduled rallies and construction activities in the middle of the roads. People hardly follow traffic rules, parking violations can be seen everywhere.
Most cities in developed countries have standard type of vehicles and lane based traffic systems. Traffic voilations are dealt seriously with suspension of driving license. A central transportation organization (Department of Transportation) is an effective way to manage various branches of tranportation. In India, delay in works can be observed due to lack in co-ordination among public-work divisions, local municipalities and corporations.
India is a growing economy, globalization is resulting in steep increase of population in cities and new cities are on the rise. The existing infrastructure cannot handle the rise in transportation demand, there is a huge requirement for rapid infrastructure development. Indian government has recognised the need for urban development & plans to spend 1.6 lakh crores on as part of 12th Five year Plan, an increase of 158% when compared to 11th Five year Plan.
But we need to understand that the traffic is gonna stay on streets for a decade or two. As Planning commission plans longer :D
