Ashish Verma

Effects of Two-Wheelers on Saturation Flow at Signalized Intersections in Developing Countries

Two-wheelers (TW) constitute a major proportion of urban traffic in developing countries and therefore their effect on the saturation flow at signalized intersections could be substantial. This paper attempts to study and analyze the effect of two-wheelers on the saturation flow of signalized intersections by collecting data at a few signalized intersections in Bangalore, India. A strong correlation is observed between the measured saturation flow and the proportion of two-wheeler traffic, which suggest that two-wheelers have significant impact and should be considered in the capacity analysis of signalized intersections. In this paper, the effect of two-wheelers on saturation flow rate is incorporated in a previous model by calibrating and introducing a new adjustment factor for two-wheelers. Results show that saturation flow measured using the modified HCM equation is closer to observed saturation flow values.

Public transport planning and management in developing countries

Introduction General Status of urban transport in India and developing countries Status of public transport with respect to coverage, feet strength, and utilization in urban areas Sustainability and land use consideration Demography and Settlement Patterns Introduction Demographic changes of India since 1950 Gross domestic product (GDP) Migration to urban areas Growth of slums in urban areas Accessibility and mobility issues for rural settlements Transport infrastructure scenario in India Different Modes and Their Characteristics Mode of transport Transport systems definitions and classifications Intermediate public transport Public transport modes Classification of mass transit modes Integrated transport infrastructure approach A look ahead in public transportation Comparative analyses Current Scenario of Public Transport (PT) in Developing Countries Current perception of PT Current planning and operational practices Issues of coordination and level of services Funding pattern Differences in scenario with respect to developed countries Public Transport Planning in Rural Areas Planning strategy Network planning Travel demand estimation Stakeholder consultation and preferences Public transport mode options Public Transport Planning In Urban Areas Urban transport planning Travel demand estimation Efficient use of existing/proposed infrastructure Routing and scheduling of public transport Intermodal coordination Stakeholder consultation and preferences Feasibility for higher-order modes like BRT and Metro rail Management of Public Transport Urban transport management Data collection, retrieval, and analysis for effective management Role of private sector in public transport management The global trend Assessment of user satisfaction Resource Needs for Public Transport Financial performance of public transport organizations Inter STU comparison Review of the existing funding pattern Estimation of resource requirements Institutional finance for STUs Innovative methods to generate revenue surpluses Economics of Public Transport Cost of public transport services Manpower requirements Estimation of social, economic, and environmental benefits References and Bibliography Index

Socio-economic and transport trends in India and the United States: a preliminary comparative study

Abstract The demand for travel is growing very rapidly in developing nations around the world. Increasing population, standards of living, vehicle ownership, massive infrastructure investments, and economic and recreational opportunities are just some of the factors contributing to increases in travel demand. While the rate of increase in travel demand may begin to slow in some developed economies of the world, the rapidly developing economies (such as China and India) are just beginning to experience the rapid increases in travel demand that the developed economies experienced several decades ago. Thus, there are challenges and issues in the development of multimodal transport systems, understanding of travel behavior and drivers of growth in travel demand, and deployment of advanced analysis tools that are common to both the developed and developing economy contexts. Resource and data constraints, as well as workforce training and development issues, confront transportation professionals both in developed and rapidly developing environments. At the same time, there are socio-economic, cultural, and demographic differences that persist across geographical contexts. This paper highlights some of the socio-economic and transport trends and conditions in India and the United States to shed light on differences and similarities between the two contexts. The paper highlights the trajectory of travel demand in the two contexts with a view to identify potential strategies that a rapidly developing nation such as India can deploy to accommodate growth in a sustainable way.

Travel time modeling for bus transport system in Bangalore city

Abstract The aim of this work is to model travel time of buses in Bangalore city. Travel time estimation and prediction is inevitable for planning and operation of bus transport system. Moreover, accurate travel time prediction is an important requirement in most of the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) applications. Previous approaches on travel time prediction have been mostly done in “lane disciplined” and “homogeneous traffic conditions.” In this work, an attempt is made to predict travel time of public transport buses using Kalman filtering technique in Indian conditions where the traffic is heterogeneous and not lane disciplined. The additional challenge faced in the Indian conditions is the unavailability and/or ineffectiveness of automated data collection devices such as loop detectors. Data collection was done in Bangalore, India for different times of a day and also for different days of a week for understanding the travel time variation on different days. A prediction model was developed using Kalman filtering technique. The validation of the results shows good comparability of modeled values with the actual travel time values.

Urban Mobility Trends in Indian Cities and Its Implications

The world is increasingly looking at the developing nations as potential markets and is eagerly waiting to see how the nations perform in the coming years. Efficient transportation system is essential for a country’s development – especially in urban areas that contribute to the majority of gross domestic product (GDP) of a country. Past decade saw enormous developments in transportation infrastructure in India. This chapter evaluates the current state of mobility in Indian cities based on the aspects of demography and economy, transportation policy and transport costs, transport demand and transport supply. It provides a comparative analysis between the five representative sample Indian cities of Delhi, Bangalore, Lucknow, Indore and Guwahati and looks at the underlying factors responsible for the observed trends. Lastly, it discusses the implications of the observed patterns to provide a base for planning and policy level decisions related to urban mobility.

Shifting Focus from Supply to Demand—The Changing Face of Transportation Towards Sustainability

Urban form and transport system have an enormous impact on the way people travel. With rapid growing economies and population typically seen in developing countries, there is an increasing trend of expansion of urban sprawl and auto-based mobilization. This has a direct effect on the level and form of transport demand and pattern. In the absence of the implementation of proper policy measures, like parking charges, congestion charging, fare revisions, pedestrianization, it also leads to an increased additional cost for transportation infrastructure and its operation, while at the same time, creating many environmental, economic and social problems. Sustainable transport systems are those which aim to reduce emissions, fossil fuel consumption and the consumption of natural land, while providing easy access to people. This chapter throws light on various issues and challenges related to achieving sustainable urban transportation solutions in Indian cities and how the fundamental focus has shifted from traditional supply centric approaches to demand centric approaches. A case study of steel flyover project in Bangalore, India, is also presented to emphasize this point.

Urban Transit Technology Selection for Many-to-Many Travel Demand Using Social Welfare Optimization Approach

AbstractThe introduction of mass transit technologies is increasingly viewed as a feasible solution to mitigate urban traffic congestion in fast growing Indian cities. The type of transit technolog...

Cervical sonomorphometric evaluation of normal and preterm labour by transvaginal and transabdominal sonography

Background: Preterm delivery is major cause of perinatal morbidity and mortality. Measuring cervical length (CL) with ultrasonography has become increasingly acceptable as an early diagnostic procedure in patients at risk for PTL, with transvaginal ultrasonography (TV Us) being considered as the gold standard for the CL assessment. Methods: A cohort of women with singleton pregnancies, and confirmed gestational age by first or early second trimester ultrasonography, last menstrual period & clinical assessment were selected to undergo transvaginal and transabdominal sonographic measurement of cervical length between 16 and 34 week gestation. Cervical length was first measured by transabdominal route (TAS) using a 3.5 MHz curved electronic array transducer with the patient in the supine position and with a full bladder, transvaginal sonography (TVS) was done by a 7.5 MHz probe attached to an ultrasound machine. The probe was covered with a latex condom and gel placed between the transducer and the cover and also on the surface. It was then gently inserted in the vagina to obtain a sagittal view of the cervix. Doppler measurement were taken by both transabdominal and transvaginal route. Results: Gradual decrease in cervical length is seen with advancement of gestation weeks. TA Us cervical length values are noted higher than TV Us however significance is seen only at 24 weeks and cervical width are showing gradual increase with advancement of gestation weeks without significant difference between them. The study compared the mean spectral Doppler parameters RI, PI and S/D Ratio at different weeks & observed that TV Us values are more at each gestation weeks than TA Us showing significant difference 24 weeks onwards. Conclusions: Although discrepancy in statistical significance, short cervical length, funneling and gland area are important to recognize for prediction of premature onset of labour, owing to the potential for perinatal morbidity and mortality and socioeconomic burden. Transvaginal sonography remains the dominant imaging modality for evaluation of the cervix. It is operator dependent modality so care should be taken to evaluate each morphologic character.

Integration of Street Vendors in Footpath Design Guidelines for an Indian City

Given the heterogeneous structure of Indian society and urban areas, street vendors are not only necessary but also inevitable on urban streetscape, as they provide services to all commuters with cheap and easily available goods. They have always been a characteristic feature of footpaths in Indian cities and towns. Therefore, instead of usual Indian approach of eliminating them from the pedestrian facilities, it is prudent to integrate them into the pedestrian policy and facility design guidelines. So far, there has been no attempt in India in this direction and any such pedestrian policy and design documents are silent in this aspect. The draft national policy on street vendors prepared recently in India argues that needs of this section are vital for urban planning purposes. Considering this background, this paper proposes a pedestrian micro-simulation based approach for preparing footpath design guidelines integrating street vendors in these facilities. The micro-simulation model was calibrated and validated using data collected on selected locations in Bangalore city. The model was then used for two purposes; (a) to demonstrate strategies to improve level-ofservice at the study locations in Bangalore with re-organized vendor spaces, (b) to develop general footpath design guidelines (integrating street vendors) for different footpath widths and pedestrian flows. The paper demonstrates the effectiveness of pedestrian micro-simulation approach to develop such guidelines for footpath design integrating street vendors. KeywordsStreet Vendors; Pedestrian; Footpath; Design Guidelines; Bangalore; India

Performance of centralized bandwidth reservation protocol in AVPNs

ATM based Virtual Private Networks(AVPNs) are embedded in public ATM network to provide an efficient transport service to a multisite customer using virtual levels of ATM. In this paper we propose a centralized protocol for resource allocation in AVPNs and compare its performance with that of the previously proposed strategies. We analyze the protocol to get average burst delay and burst loss probability in case of finite buffering at the customer sites.