Chennai Traffic Management

[darkprinz]

Originally Posted by Arul Murugan

May be useful for parks, house, small shops etc.,

Elevator is needed in these FOB rather than lifts. I guess there is no company in Chennai that can manufacture elevator... Why Chennai corporation always chooses lift for pedestrian crossing?

That Pneumatic lift sounds good .. Arul do u mean escalator ??? As far as i know Elevator and Lift are same ... And i think we have companies which manufacture Lift & Escalator in chennai ... Like Johnson ... Schneider...

[kannan infratech]

Our office driver who lives in Little Mount area was knocked down last week while crossing the road opp the Saidapet court and he gives the explanation that the FOB is too high and his legs pain when he uses that.

Escalators are the best solution but maintenance ???

[sshivakumar]

Revenue through advertisements on the FOB and escalators can be used towards the maintenance. Not sure if it would meet the ends, but a possibility.

[Arul Murugan]

Originally Posted by darkprinz

That Pneumatic lift sounds good .. Arul do u mean escalator ??? As far as i know Elevator and Lift are same ... And i think we have companies which manufacture Lift & Escalator in chennai ... Like Johnson ... Schneider...

yes I mean escalator only. Good to know companies are there! But I wonder why the corporation is choosing the useless lift where escalators are needed.

Originally Posted by kannan infratech

Our office driver who lives in Little Mount area was knocked down last week while crossing the road opp the Saidapet court and he gives the explanation that the FOB is too high and his legs pain when he uses that.

Escalators are the best solution but maintenance ???

Most of the vehicles fly in this stretch as the 6-lane road is oneway. Usually I prefer FOB when pedestrian signal is not in green or not working. I never take the risk to cross that road on groud level when there is no signal working.

Ramp with peak hour operation of escalators will do.. I hope corporation does not waste money in useless lift.

[darkprinz]

What is the cost difference between a escalator and a elevator kannan sir ?? IS it only maintenance or whether the initial investment also differs ??

But Arul one problem here in having escalators is , the elderly people who are not used to it... are more afraid of taking a escalator !!! That beats the very purpose of having one right ??

[surreal75]

Originally Posted by darkprinz

What is the cost difference between a escalator and a elevator kannan sir ?? IS it only maintenance or whether the initial investment also differs ??

But Arul one problem here in having escalators is , the elderly people who are not used to it... are more afraid of taking a escalator !!! That beats the very purpose of having one right ??

Yes, lifts have their own purpose - elderly, disabled with or without wheelchairs, people with strollers need them. Footpaths, access to buildings in India are not designed for them either, so it would require a complete mindset change to make all the public places accessible to them. Having said that, lifts definitely add to the cost since you do need escalator because of traffic volume. Lifts also need an operator, at least the way I have seen it in India but this may be changing as people are getting more educated on how to operate a lift.. For now, if funds are a problem, I'd happy if they can provision for a lift in the design so that it can be added in the future.

[kannan infratech]

Escalators cost a bomb but are the ideal means for mass crowd tranffic.

But Chennai Corpn will not maintain it properly and it will be in disuse.

Private sector may not be interested as the revenue from advts may not match.

As we have seen in Egmore station, village people & others who are not familiar with escalators need assistance to get in and get out. (sometimes with huge luggage and even cycles)

I have seen manual - self operated lifts in hilly regions to go over a steep slope (local inventions and very efficient). But not ideal for mass public.

May be Corporation should give to private agencies and pay them plus advt revenue. The main FOBs near each Corporates office may atleast be taken up.

[bonoslack7]

http://www.joneslanglasalleblog.com/...g-space-issue/

Chennai is among the most rational and balanced property markets in the country, and the demand for Chennai homes as well as office and retail spaces is remarkably steady. Nevertheless, the pace of real estate development in Chennai is now beginning to tell on the market. One key issue is the decreasing availability of facilities required for modern living – chief among these being the shortage of parking space.

The Parking Problem

Chennai has more than half a million number of cars and 2.58 million two-wheelers. There has been an increase of over 300% in motor vehicles on Chennai’s roads over the past 15 years. Due to this rapidly increasing vehicular population and the commercialization of prime residential areas, there is now a huge shortage of parking space in Chennai. Everywhere we look, we see a very evident conflict between pedestrian space and parking. In most of the city’s high street shopping areas, the footpaths are overrun by parked cars and two-wheelers.

Importantly, international case studies prove that providing innovative solutions to parking problems and introducing mass transit systems do a lot more than just solve traffic problems. Such solutions also result in increased real estate values in a city, since consumers are willing to pay more for the convenience.

Solutions

One method of addressing the escalating shortage of parking spaces in Chennai’s shopping areas would be to restrict parking at few locations and imposing heavy parking fees. This would go a long way in creating space availability, making the pathways outside malls more pedestrian friendly and generally enhancing the livability of the city’s urban environment.

Automated multilevel car parking facilities at important locations are also a viable way of addressing Chennai’s parking requirements. They can contribute significantly in reducing traffic congestion. These should ideally be developed near public transit points, within walking distance of key destinations. International property consultancy Jones Lang LaSalle India is now actively advising Chennai city authorities and developers on such solutions. MLCPs are now being implemented on a Design, Build, Operate and Transfer model via Public Private Partnerships.

In order to make such projects financially viable, the Strategic Consulting division at Jones Lang LaSalle suggests that certain portions of the development need to be laid open for commercial exploitation. Incentives such as additional FSI and a revision in existing parking fees need to be offered to private developers in order to increase their interest levels in participating in MLCP projects. There is scope for making these developments, which should now qualify as vital infrastructure, more popular.

The concerned authorities need to impose strict penalties on owners of commercial buildings who do not provide adequate parking facilities. At the same time, more FSI could be offered to developers for new developments in certain locations if they contribute free parking spaces.

Meanwhile, the recent introduction of automated parking meters in four of Chennai’s key locations has the potential for introducing a new dimension of parking discipline. However, there is still a general lack of awareness about these parking meters and the purpose they serve. Along with awareness and compliance enforcement, the number of such meters also needs to be increased in various commercial areas of Chennai.

Above all, policy reforms and their implementation are the most effective tools in providing efficient parking solutions and management. In the long run, Chennai’s citizens will need to revise their perceptions about the use of private vehicles show an increasing preference for public transportation.

[prabhu007]

Dear friends,

Like many of you, I have suffered with Nelson Manickam road traffic jams a million times. The culprit behind so much traffic is the 1 lane stretch between Mehta nagar bus stop and Choolaimedu signal. I have drawn a new route proposal. Please post your thoughts.

• A new bridge to be built on the Red part of the map
• All traffic towards Nungambakkam to turn left after Mehta nagar bus stop, go over the new bridge on top of the canal
• Vehicles proceeding towards Nungambakkam to turn right, join Choolaimedu high road and turn left and take the subway
• Bus stop shall be placed just before taking the left turn
• Vehicle towards Aminjikarai shall take left and join Choolaimedu High road
• Vehicles on the other side from Nungambakkam towards Mehta nagar shall not be disturbed. Once past the subway it will be One Way traffic till Mehta nagar bus stop
• Vehicles from Choolaimedu high road (from station side) to take the one way and loop through to reach the other side
• And finally we need a FOB for all the crowd.

AFAIK this is the cheapest possible solution for this road. I heard about multi level flyovers and all that, but i'm sure it is just not possible to build even a single pillar with so much traffic. While this new bridge that I proposed is built, the current traffic will be totally unaffected.

Please post ur valuable suggestions.

[die4chennai]

Two questions to people who support escalators in place of lifts in FOB and subsequent closure of pedestrian signals:
1. How do you think physically handicapped and elderly will be able to cross the roads? Take auto?
2. What is stopping the rest of the crowd to climb the stairs if they don't have the patience to use lifts?

[wlbkng]

The stretch of Anna Salai from the junction of Sardar Patel Road to Little Mount, where metro rail work is under way. Photo: R.Ragu

First step towards setting up Advanced Traveller Information System

A comprehensive traffic survey, the first step towards setting up an Advanced Traveller Information System (ATIS) at 13 junctions in the vicinity of IIT-Madras, will commence on Sunday.

The objective of the project is to set up intelligent electronic signboards that would provide information to motorists about congestion and suggest alternative routes. The survey might also be able to throw up some interesting revelations on the impact of Metro Rail work on the traffic flow on arterial roads.

Some stretches of the study route fall on roads where Metro Rail work is in progress.

The average vehicle speed on the stretch of Anna Salai near Little Mount was around 26 kmph during rush hour in 2008, according to the Chennai Comprehensive Traffic Study. Any changes since then would become evident when IIT-M's study measures vehicular volume, density and speed over a period of three days this week.

A virtual loop will be formed by installing surveillance cameras at appropriate vantage points on all 13 busy intersections. The loop begins at Little Mount, passes via the Raj Bhavan junction, Madhya Kailash, SRP Tools junction, Vijay Nagar junction, and Halda, before returning to the starting point.

Probe vehicles, fitted with GPS, will be launched every 15 minutes to study the effects of congestion on travel time.

R. Sivanandan, Transportation Engineering Professor, IIT-M, said that irrespective of Metro Rail work, congestion has steadily worsened on all arterial roads. “The morning and evening rush-hour traffic lasts nearly four hours each. Rush hour has transformed into peak period and only a dramatic improvement in public transport services can reverse this trend.”

A senior Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL) official said that things would get a bit worse before getting better, as the underground phase of the project is set to commence by January. But residents must keep long-term interests in mind and bear the inconvenience for a few years, he said. Unlike New Delhi, which also witnessed traffic snarls during the construction phase of the Delhi Metro, Chennai does not have the advantage of wide roads parallel to existing arterials.

Weekly and monthly ‘package reviews' are also being undertaken to ensure that the project sticks to strict deadlines, he added. While a preliminary traffic management plan is in place to aid soil testing and surveying work, a comprehensive plan would kick in once underground tunnelling starts.

The ATIS project is being funded through a grant from the Department of Information Technology, New Delhi. The intelligent electronic signboards are expected to be commissioned within a year.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/...cle2484446.ece

[murlee]

IVRCL Assets had bagged an automated multi-level car parking terminal project at Parrys Corner from the Chennai Municipal Corporation in February 2011. The Rs 40-crore project, to be executed on a design, build, own, operate and transfer (DBOOT) basis, involves creating parking space for 500 cars and 600 two-wheelers. The project has a concession period of 25 years.

“Work on the Chennai project is just beginning. We have one Korean partner with whom we are working. Financial closure will take place in 30 to 45 days and the project is expected to be completed in 18 months from now,” he said.

As part of the project at Parrys Corner, one of the central business districts of Chennai, IVRCL Assets has received 3,000 square metre of commercial space from the Chennai Municipal Corporation. Ramachandran said the company was in talks with commercial establishments to rent out the space.

“Our revenues will mostly come from this commercial space and advertisements. With Parrys Corner being a solid locality, we should be having a fairly good IIR (internal rate of return). We are talking to banks, and jewellery and garment retailers like Saravana Stores to make the project commercially viable,” he added.

http://www.business-standard.com/ind...-kenya/450380/

[ceeznic pirate]

Will parking get dearer?



The Chennai City Traffic Police's month-long community outreach programme on parking-related issues, which came to a close last weekend, might pave the way for some long-term solutions. The police is in the process of carrying out a detailed review and intends to submit a series of recommendation to the Chennai Corporation soon.

The exercise threw up some positives, many aspects that require further attention, and the pressing need for a city-wide parking policy.

“It has been a mixed bag,” said Sanjay Arora, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic). “We found that motorists followed the rules in all the locations where our efforts naturally aligned with their interests. Wherever we clearly marked on-street parking zones with yellow paint, there was a high degree of compliance. But parking still hampers traffic flow in many stretches and we continue to struggle.”

The number of cases booked against vehicles left in no parking zones or obstructing traffic flow rose dramatically in the one month period. Against a monthly average of 6,000 ‘no parking' cases, the traffic police booked nearly 30,000 such cases from September 15 to October 15.

However, a recent study on parking management in the city shows that such enforcement drives do not achieve much. “Unfortunately, enforcement is the only mechanism that is currently available to deal with the problem,” says Sampath Simon of the Chennai City Connect Foundation, an NGO which commissioned the study.

The basic problem, he says, is that the city is overly subsidising parking. “Parked cars eat up seven per cent of Chennai's total area, but most of that prime urban space is given away for free. Even in many of the 138 parking lots in the city, a car can be parked indefinitely for Rs.5,” Mr.Simon says.

A parked car occupies about 230 sq. feet of land. The rental value of that strip of land in a commercial area such as T.Nagar is Rs.10,000/month.

“This shows how much we are currently subsidising parking. The city must realise that parking is not the only need. There are competing needs such as safe walkways for pedestrians and adequate space on the road for public transport buses. For everything else, you charge the real estate price. So why not for parking too?” Mr.Simon asks. A hike in the parking rates is expected to be one of CCTP's suggestions to the Corporation.

Greater priority for pedestrians and buses is also a demand of many residents' groups. V. Subramani of the Traffic and Transportation Forum, a suburban residents' collective, says: “Parking should be banned on bus route roads. Access to public transport is more essential than the convenience of car and two-wheeler owners.”

Shreya Gadepalli, director of the Ahmedabad-based Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP), says that adequate resources to enforce parking regulations can only come from fairly priced parking charges. “It is a loop. Currently, most Indian cities claim to have no money or resources to stringently go after violators.”

For example, Chennai has only 20 tow trucks to monitor the city's 34 lakh vehicles. Once parking charges generate adequate revenue, it can be used to set up a fund that finances enforcement measures.

“A consortium consisting of the police and the municipal body can administer the fund. The actual enforcement can even be outsourced,” says Ms. Gadepalli.

A number of European cities have such an arrangement.

The city of Budapest generated $56 million last year from parking charges, of which 30 per cent was spent on enforcement, she says. The rest was used to procure public transit buses with signs that read ‘Thank you for paying the parking fee'. “The campaign made sure that every citizen knew they were contributing to build a better city,” Mr.Gadepalli adds.

Source

[rsrikanth05]

Originally Posted by die4chennai

Two questions to people who support escalators in place of lifts in FOB and subsequent closure of pedestrian signals:
1. How do you think physically handicapped and elderly will be able to cross the roads? Take auto?
2. What is stopping the rest of the crowd to climb the stairs if they don't have the patience to use lifts?

Use a Ramp.

[vinodgopal]

why not impose a fine of Rs.500 for signal crossing and make people adhere to the green light for crossing the road. We must start thinking like Singapore. Fine for this fine for that fine fine for farting fine for peeing fine for littering etc...

Or perambadi in the butts ha ha!

[rsrikanth05]

Originally Posted by vinodgopal

why not impose a fine of Rs.500 for signal crossing and make people adhere to the green light for crossing the road. We must start thinking like Singapore. Fine for this fine for that fine fine for farting fine for peeing fine for littering etc...

Or perambadi in the butts ha ha!

A fine is fine, but it needs to be enforced.

[Kathir]

True.. We have all sort of fines for traffic violations.. but...

[rsrikanth05]

Originally Posted by Kathir

True.. We have all sort of fines for traffic violations.. but...

Either they ars too low or not enforcd.

[Indian Sun]

Also the matter of TheLanjam™ too.

[rsrikanth05]

Originally Posted by Indian Sun

Also the matter of TheLanjam™ too.

ROFL ...