‘City not ready for changes to cut traffic’

NEW DELHI: There is a rebound of congestion in the national capital in the post-lockdown phase but Delhi is not yet prepared for transformational changes to curtail the traffic volume, said an analysis by Centre for Science and Environment. 

The CSE has assessed travel pattern in pre-lockdown, lockdown and post-lockdown phases. It analysed Google mobility data and daily real-time information of Google Maps for 12 major roads — MG Road, NH44, Sardar Patel Marg, Outer Ring Road, Dr KB Hegdewar Marg, Sri Aurobindo Marg, NH 9, Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, GT Karnal Rd, Lal Bahadur Shashtri Marg, Dwarka Marg and Najafgarh Marg. 
There was a massive drop in visits to transit stations for different purposes during the lockdown — around 87 per cent lower than the baseline levels or the pre-lockdown phase.

Trips to grocery stores and pharmacies were reduced by more than 70 per cent, but were still higher than all the other visits, the survey said. Workplace trips reduced by 65 per cent, it said.In the post-lockdown phase, the travel pattern was close to normal with grocery trips and workplace trips recovering the most by the end of November and was around 15 per cent lower than the pre-lockdown phase. Transit station trips improved but were still about 40 per cent lower than the baseline, it said.

Trips to retail stores, which plummeted to about 90 per cent by the end of April, have now recovered by more than 50 per cent. The increase in these trips indicated the need to access the activities with traffic congestion being back on the roads, it said.

Delhi cannot meet its clean air targets if overall traffic and vehicle numbers are not controlled, the analysis pointed out. There was a loss of public transport ridership amid the pandemic, it reiterated. 

The analysis’s hourly trends show that for both during lockdown and post lockdown, the most significant change was noticed after 4 pm. The average increase in travel speeds after 4 pm during lockdown was 116 per cent compared to pre-lockdown levels. Post lockdown, the speeds reduced by an average 42 per cent compared to during lockdown.

The reprieve from traffic congestion and exposure was possible due to the forced shut-down during the lockdown phases, the rapid assessment said. “But this could not be sustained...This is of serious concern as scientific studies in Delhi have shown that vehicles contribute about 40 per cent of the total pollution load in the city,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE executive director-research and advocacy.