Chennai’s transport infra not on par with land use development: Study

CHENNAI: Transport infrastructure in Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) is not on a par with land use development along Chennai’s South, West, North and SouthWest corridors where employment generation is high, according to a study commissioned by the State government.

Land use along  South, West, North and Southwest Chennai were developed with IT parks, SEZ and industries. The report said population and employment projections show an increasing trend towards Ambattur and Avadi (towards Tiruvallur) along western part of CMA. “This part of the city is likely to get oversaturated in 2048 as such population is expected to move towards suburbs like Tambaram, Vandalur, Avadi, Pattabiram and surrounding locations,” the report said.

The report also highlighted that 13 traffic junctions in the city currently handle more than one lakh vehicles per day. Anna Salai near Saidapet Bridge alone handles more than 1.5 lakh vehicles. The 13 intersections include Alandur Bridge near Guindy Industrial Estate; Anna Salai near Chintadripet railway station;  Vanagaram Cooum bridge crossing;  Durgabai Deshmuk Road;  Ethiraj salai; Arumbakkam;  Secretariat; Mc Nichols road; Nelson Manickam road; NSK Salai near Kodambakkam railway station; Co-optex, Egmore;  Aminjikarai and  Padi junction.

The report, which was submitted to the State government, said passenger vehicles have higher composition compared to goods and slow-moving vehicles at all the locations. The report also highlighted that the number of goods vehicles has increased from 6,671 in 1980 to 66,209 in 2008 and 90,076 (excluding autorickshaw and  taxis) in 2018. 

It said that the average journey speed on major corridors across the city based on speed and delay survey conducted on all major road stretches is in the range of 20 to 35 km per hour.
Interestingly, it has been pointed there has been a significant increase in the percentage of trips by two-wheelers, which rose to 29.6 in 2018 when compared with previous studies of two in 1970, three in 1984, seven in 1992-95 and 25 in 2008.

Similarly, there has been a decrease in the percentage of trips by public transport, both bus and train. The average percentage was 28.2 in 2018 when compared with previous studies of 54 in 1970, 55 in 1984, 42.7 in 1992-95 and 31 in 2008.