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.
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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.
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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.