1

Transport/Urban Planning & Safe Transport Systems

Geetam TiwariDepartment of Civil Engineering &

Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Program (TRIPP)Indian Institute of Technology Delhi(IITD)

New Delhi, India

How Transport planning influences traffic safety?

Intracity Mobility (Urban Transport systems,mode choice)

Intercity Mobility (highways)Intercity passenger and freight mobility (Road vs Rail) 

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How Intracity transport systems influence traffic safety?

Interaction at three levels:

Landuse planning(travel mode choice &trip distances) Urban design( built environment‐blocks, density‐travel mode choice)Transport infrastructure(roads, PT, mode choice, risk to captive users)

Built Environment and Traffic Safety

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Increase in percapita VMT increases Fatality Rate

Low density single use development Sprawl (Suburbs in US/Europe, Australia, gated communities in India)

Long trips

Higher share of car trips

Higher share of motorisedtrips

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Sprawling cities have higher death rates as compared to compact cities

Traffic risk and urban sprawl

Authors Main Findings(Lovegrove and Sayed 2007)

Related number of crashes to amount of travel within geographic unit

(Galster et al. 2001) Accounted for multifaceted nature of design and density and their relationship to sprawl.

(Ewing et al. 2003) Created a sprawl index and examined the relationship between this index and traffic crashes. The main findings include sprawling areas are associated with more traffic and pedestrian fatalities.

(Trowbridge et al. 2009;Trowbridge and McDonald 2008)

Constructed sprawl indices to show that sprawl is associated with more teen driving and longer ambulance arrival times. In both papers the authors conclude that sprawl can lead to more traffic fatalities.

(Lambert and Meyer 2006;Lucy 2003)

Used another index of sprawl and found that sprawl is associated with more crashes.

Table 1

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Landuse policy can influence the following dimensions to influence urban traffic safety

•Density : policy that increases or maintains the population density

•Structure : policies that favour the concentration of employment and retail activity 

•Diversity: traditional separation of landuses• Local Design: Cities can discourage short car trips by good design of local facilities for nonmotorized transport.

We will discuss this in the context of Indian cities later

Urban Density and traffic risk

• Dense urban areas are safer than lower density suburban environments. This is because per capita lower vehicle kilometers are travelled in denser areas at lower speed as compared to low density sub urban environments.

• Development with lower vehicle mile travelled is likely to have lower crash rate. This is related to density, diversity, design, and destination.

• Density in urban areas and design treatments like narrower streets, street trees, and traffic calming measures appear to enhance a roadway safety.

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What is Transport Planning?

•Spatial and temporal spread of activities; where we live, work, how long we travel

•Travel demand estimation and design of facilities to meet the present and future demand; how do we travel 

• Long range plans for multi‐modal transportation systems; roads, metro, bus system, bicycle and pedestrian facilities

Travel demand model

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Existing Landuse (2001)/ future landuse

2000

DESIRE LINES FOR BASE YEAR: TWO WHEELER TRIPS (PCU)

4000

6000

8000

10000

Volume Scale (PCU)

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Infrastructure Improvement

8 Bridges Across River Sabarmati (3 Proposed)8 Underpass/ flyovers (11 proposed)

Problem AnalysisSolution??

Conventional transport Planning gaps

•Analysis in terms of PCU (NMV, pedestrians ignored)•Focus on inter zonal trips, short intra zonal trips ignored

•Focus on travel time(speed) •Conventional method designed to promotepersonal motorised trips‐long travel distance

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Planning for safe Urban transport: a multi sector task

City systemsLanduse plans

Transportation SystemInfrastructure Technology

outcome Flows

CongestionPollutionAccidents

Conflict between safety and mobility

• Higher level of service implies higher speeds‐i.e. higher probability of fatality

0

20

40

60

80

100

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Impact speed km/h

Probability of pedestrian

fatalityPercent

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Share of bicyclist in fatal crashes is less than the share of trips by bicycles, pedestrians and MTW are higher (Selected cities, IATSS report, 2015)

0.05.010.015.020.025.030.035.040.045.0

Walk Bicycle MTW Car IPT PTAmritsar(mode share) Crash victims

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Walk Bicycle MTW Car IPT PT

Vadodara(mode share) Crash victims

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Walk Bicycle MTW Car IPT PTVizag(mode share) Crash victims

SHARED SPACE?

Share of bicyclist in fatal crashes is less than the share of trips by bicycles, pedestrians and MTW are higher(Selected cities, IATSS report, 2015)

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

Walk Bicycle MTW Car IPT PT

Vadodara(mode share)

0

10

20

30

40

50

Walk Bicycle MTW Car IPT PT

Agra(mode share)Crash victims

0

10

20

30

40

Walk Bicycle MTW Car IPT PT

Ludhiana(mode share)Crash victims

SHARED SPACE?

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,Bulandshahr . Patiala

Bulandshaher

Shared spaces, Captive users, speed control

Transport Market & Latent Demand

• Changing demand

Volume/ Demand

service

V1 V2

T1 T2

Investment in car infrastructure leads to higher speeds(short term), increased accidents, more cars, congestion!!!

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Traffic Congestion Is Slowly Strangling Our Cities; Solutions Must Be Found(2017)

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Traffic jam soon to become history; travelling on ropeway to start in Kolkata

Court asks for a vehicle free day in Mumbai

Delhi Traffic at night

Major recommendations

• Increase density, diversity, destinations and design in urban environments. It is expected that this promotes narrower, shorter, more enclosed and interconnected streets leading to safer travels.

• Density is measured by number of people, households or jobs per unit area(acre or km2)  , 

• diversity refers to mixing of commercial, residential and industrial areas. 

• involves street typology of a community which can vary from straight interconnected streets to loops of curvilinear streets. Design also involves sidewalks, pedestrian crossings road side trees.

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Co existence of formal and informal settlements : Necessity of access to employment!

Contiguous development of low‐density, high income and high‐density, low‐income colonies (enclosed within red boundary) in southern part of Delhi

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Characteristics of Informal settlements

• Self organized, organic growth, outside the formal process• Lack of formal services(water, sewage, electricity)• Poor quality housing

Density, Diversity, human scale

Location(access to employment)

Landuse –transport integration for ‘unplanned’ sector implies:

•Density : High rise buildings vs small houses (12‐18sqm)•Structure :Monocentric/polycentric vs street vendors•Diversity:mixed landuse vs informal markets• Local Design: short car trips vs walking/bicycling trips

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Cities within cities

Converting walking trips tp motorisedtrips- buses, RTVs, LCVs

Long cycling trips

Time poverty of women increases

Opportunity for “self employed” business reduces

Large numer of people relocated for metro and other development projects

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Planned landuse has lead to ~40,000 households relocation in 4 years

Site Number

No. of Househ

olds

Distance from

original site

1 8000 8 km

2 4000 7 km

3 5000 18 km

4 3000 10 km

5 2300 12 km

6 50 5 km

7 500 18 km

8 5500 23 km

9 4500 20 km

10 1000 15 km

11 4000 18 km

12 50 8 km

13 65 35 km

14 20 40 km

15 1200 25 km

Distance to main road after relocation

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Site Numbers

Dist

ance

(mts

)

OriginalRelocated

Distance to bus-stop after relocation

0

250

500

750

1000

1250

1500

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Site Numbers

Dis

tanc

e (m

ts)

OriginalRelocated

•Rehabilitation of slums results in converting nmv trips to mv trips

• avg. distance to main road before relocation< .5 km.

•avg. distance to main road after relocation>2 kmn

•Avg. distance to bus stop 200 m before relocation

•Avg. distance to bus stop 1 km after relocation

•Minimum distance to bus stop before 10m, after 1km

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Location of informal settlements

Informal settlements relocated by planners in Delhi 2001-2006 15-20 kmsaway from the original location

self planned -

expert planned-

Impact on safety•The probability of a specific threat‐victim crash = total “at‐risk” kms travelled by road users in the victim’s travel mode (Uvictim×dvictim) X total distance travelled by the vehicles that pose the threat (Mthreat×dthreat). 

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Impact on safety (case study)•The mobility indicators for travel to work –distance, time and cost – have increased for 83%, 82% and 61% of the households respectively. 

•The relocated households are travelling longer distances than before on arterial or national highways coming to the city. These roads do not have dedicated facilities for pedestrian, bicycles or buses. 

•Aggregate data of fatal crash from 2001‐2009 shows the increase in fatal crashes involving pedestrians and bicyclists

Planning for safe Urban transport: a multi sector task

City systemsHeterogeneity, Informal economy,

squatter settlements

Transportation SystemPedestrians,

Non motorised vehicles,para transit

outcome Flows

CongestionPollutionAccidents

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Contrasting Approaches to Transport PlanningThe Conventional Approach: Transport Planning and Engineering

Physical dimensionsMobilityTraffic focus, particularly on the carLarge in scaleStreet as a roadMotorised transportForecasting trafficModelling approachesEconomic evaluationTravel as a derived demandDemand basedSpeeding up trafficTravel time minimisation

An Alternative ApproachSustainable Mobility• Social dimensions• Accessibility• People focus, either in (or on) a vehicle or on foot• Local in scale• Street as a space• All modes of transport often in a hierarchy with pedestrian and cyclist at the top and car users at the bottom

• Visioning on cities• Scenario development and modelling• Multicriteria analysis to take account of environmental and social concerns

• Travel as a valued activity as well as a derived demand• Management based• Slowing movement down• Reasonable travel times and travel time reliability• Integration of people and traffic

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IIT Delhi 2007

SeoulRestoration of Cheonggyecheon

Decrease of car-traffic volume : 125,000 veh/day

Before After(Sep. 2005)

Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs)

•Universal, integrated and transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development 17 Sustainable Development Goals and 169 associated targets. 

•Sustainable transport has been included in 7 of the 17 goals and is covered directly by 5 targets and indirectly by 7 targets.

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Transport related issued in specific targets

•Target 3.6. By 2030, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents.

•Target 7.3. By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.

•Target 9.1. Develop quality, reliable, sustainable, and resilient infrastructure, including regional and trans‐border infrastructure, to support economic development and human well‐being, with a focus on affordable and equitable access for all.

SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all agesTarget 3.6: By 2030, halve the number of global deaths from road traffic accidentsIndicator 25: Road traffic fatalities per 100,000 population 3 Scenarios : Present – 2025 – 2030 

1.1. Scenario development for decrease in road fatalities (Patiala and Bulandshahr)

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Safe Street Infrastructure (Traffic Calming, NMV infrastructure, Round abouts) • Street Design Manuals: Indian Road Congress publishes road/street design standards, mandatory only if it is included in the contract document; City specific Street design guidelines (StDG)have been prepared in consultation with local authorities.

• Safety improvement of city infrastructure and enforcement remains the jurisdiction of district/city government. StDG can be used by local municipal engineers and planners.

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Motor Vehicle Safety and Technology

• Safety technology for motor vehicles in India:Motor Vehicles Act 1988 and the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act 2019

• Helmet usewas made compulsory for all motorised two‐wheeler riders in the 1988 Act 

• All cars manufactured after 1994 were equipped with seat belts. Seat belt use was mandated nationally in 1999. 

• Enforcement of seatbelt and helmet laws has been very uneven in states (enforcement is a state subject)

• New Safety Standards include: Must be followed by vehicle manufacturers

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Passenger Cars  Motorised Two Wheelers

Antilock Braking System (ABS), Frontal and Side Crashworthiness and Air Bags

Antilock Breaking System (ABS), Combined Braking System (CBS), Daytime Running Lamps (DRL)

70

83

94

70 687370

55 58

70

4233

70

393020

30405060708090

100

2019 2025 2030

FATA

L CR

ASHES (N

UMBE

RS)

Total Reduction in Fatal Crashes (Patiala)BAU

Vehicle Technology Only

Vehicle Technology + Enforcement

Vehicle Technology + Enforcement + Infrastucture Changes

Vehicle Technology + Enforcement + Infrastucture Changes + Alcohol Enforcement

Roadmap to Reduce Fatal Crashes ‐ Patiala

22%

21%

43%

9%

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Street Design Guidelines – Sample Proposal 1

PATI

ALA

Lower Mall Road Patiala -Existing

Lower Mall Road Patiala -Proposed

Estimated share of travel modes (% change)

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Scenarios NMT MTW IPT PT

2025MSS LSS MSS LSS MSS LSS MSS LSS

Only NMT 29 (+12%) 27 (+4%) 29 (‐12%) 32 (‐3%) 3 (0%) 3 (0%) 10 (0%) 10 (0%)

Only PT 26 (0%) 26 (0%) 31 (‐6%) 32 (‐3%) 3 (0%) 3 (0%) 13 (+30%)

11 (+10%)

Both PT and NMT

29 (+12%) 27 (+4%) 27 (‐18%) 31 (‐6%) 2 (‐33%) 3 (0%) 13 (30%) 11 

(+10%)

2030

Only NMT 32 (+23%) 28 (+8%) 27 (‐18%) 31 (‐6%) 3 (0%) 3 (0%) 10 (0%) 10 (0%)

Only PT 26 (0%) 26 (0%) 29 (‐12%) 31 (‐6%) 2 (‐33%) 3 (0%) 15 (+50%)

12 (+20%)

Both PT and NMT

32 (+23%) 28 (+8%) 23 (‐30%) 29 (‐

12%) 2 (‐33%) 3 (0%) 14 (+40%)

12 (+20%)

PATIAL

A

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Landuse-Transport integration for safe-sustainable cities

• Integrating diverse socio economic households in master plan

•Street designs and transport system to ensure current and potential walking and bicycling trips

• Lessons‐ indicators and methods from self organisingcities.

Fatalities in million plus cities

0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

 CHENNAIBENGALU…LUCKNOW

  PUNEKOLKATA

GHAZIAB…MEERUT

  NAGPUR  INDORE

 SURAT  NASIK

KOLLAM

  THRISSUR DURG…KOCHI

 RAJKOT

 KOTA DHANBAD AMRITSAR

2019 2017 2015

Chennai has highest number of Fatal crashes followed by Bengaluru and Lucknow and Amritsar has lowest number of Fatal crashes

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Fatalities per 100 thousand Population in million plus cities

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45

 CHENNAIBENGALURULUCKNOW

 ALLAHABAD  PUNE

KOLKATA  VIJAYAWADA

GHAZIABADMEERUT

  NAGPUR  INDORE

  COIMBATORE SURAT  NASIK

KOLLAM VADODARA  THRISSUR

 DURG BHILAINAGARKOCHI

 RAJKOT  TIRUCHIRAPPALLI

 CHANDIGARH (CITY) MALAPPURAM

 KOTA DHANBAD AMRITSAR

‐2019 ‐2017 ‐2015

Highest number of Fatalities per 100 thousand population is observed in Allahabad followed by Kanpur, Agra and Meerut and least in Kolkata and Mumbai. 

Fatalities per 100 thousand population in States

0 5 10 15 20 25

Tamil Nadu

Haryana

Punjab

Chhattisgarh

Karnataka

Rajasthan

Kerela

maharashtra

Madhya Pradesh

Gujrat

Odisha

uttar pradesh

Jharkhand

Andhra Pradesh

West Bengal

Bihar

2019 2018 2017 2016 2015

Highest number of Fatalities per thousand population among big states are observed in Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Punjab and less Fatalities in Bihar. 

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Intercity Roads will be discussed in another presentations.

Thanks 

Questions?