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A survey of mobility in households in Greater Chennai Corporation and other local bodies in Chennai Metropolitan Area will begin this week. The exercise, taken up by Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA), involves improving the accuracy of the findings utilising big data about various aspects of transportation priorities in Chennai.
CUMTA special officer I. Jeyakumar said the Corporation had been divided into 200 traffic affecting zones for the survey and for analysing big data. “Residents have been requested to provide accurate data for the survey in their households,” he said.
“Google will have data about how people travel, based on mobile data. The data will not have individual details but will have details about aspects such as traffic from one area to another. For example, about the traffic from Madhya Kailash to Guindy or from a suburb to the core city, we will get data on which hour has the highest traffic in a day. This will help make decisions about the priorities in the third phase of Metro Rail. Big data is used worldwide for making decisions. We are using big data for mobility for the first time in India,” he said.
“The data from the survey and big data will be correlated. For example, vehicle survey, bus boarding-alighting surveys will be used to interpret issues in mobility. We cannot do overall planning correctly without a proper survey and accurate data,” said Mr. Jeyakumar.
“We have to get wider outreach so that everybody will be aware of the survey and its importance. As many as 30,000 residents from the core parts of the Chennai Metropolitan Area, including Greater Chennai Corporation, will participate in the household survey. Another 20,000 residents from suburban areas, including Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur will be covered in the household survey,” he said.
Initially, the mobile phone data in the city for two months will be analysed for travel patterns. “If the cost permits, we will have a comprehensive database,” he said.
The city and its suburbs covering 5,904 sq. km have been divided into 700 traffic affecting zones for the survey and big data. “This will be generic data. We will not get data about motorcycles and cars. So, we will survey the camera at junctions to find errors and correct the data. We will get information about the percentage of people who travel to work or for recreation. Data analytics is included as one of the scope of the project,” he said.
“It is very difficult to get accurate details. If the accuracy is 60% from the survey, the accuracy level will increase to 80% using big data,” he said. The findings will be used for construction of new bus depots and terminals, light rail transit and railway lines. CMDA will use this finding in the Third Master Plan.
