STUDY ON TRAFFIC CONGESTION COST – A CASE STUDY

From the last two decades, rapid growth and urbanization brings precarious issues to the under developing countries. Mainly all these issues are classify as public issues which leads towards drastic impact to the settlements. One of the eminent problem faces by all classes of population is road transportation related problem. The incompetent and inefficient transportation infrastructure was the main restraint for the development [1] Numerous studies on congestion cost estimation, that aim to quantify their monetary losses, have been conducted. Value of Time (VOT) assessment through utility maximizing theory and choice models are abundantly applied in transport literature. The concept of VOT was introduced by Becker when he proposed the conversion of time into money by assigning more time to work[2]. A combination of population growth, urbanization and increasing economic prosperity has led to significant congestion problems in many parts of the world, particularly in the urban areas. Congestion has many negative impacts such as delays, higher transportation costs, increased travel time etc. All these undesirable traffic characteristics increase the level of air pollution and noise, wear and tear of vehicles, and poor operational efficiencies.. [3]. Congestion pricing charges motorists a toll for using a particular stretch of highway or bridge or for entering a particular area. It is a market or demand based strategy designed to encourage a shift of peak period trips a. off-peak periods; b. to routes away from congested facilities or c. to alternative modes – high occupancy vehicles or public transit during the peak demand periods. Congestion pricing proposes to guide and internalize the transportation and environmental costs – delay, pollution, accidents – associated with congestion, costs that are largely unaccounted for in the current transportation system[4]. Motorization in urban India is growing faster than the population; automobile ownership growth rates are of the order of 15% - 20% per annum in most cities As the urban population undertakes its daily mobility by a variety of transportation modes (local train, bus, car, etc.), the in dividable modal choice is governed by a complex set of factors, viz., physical, human, economic and social. Even though public transport offers a competitive service, its marketshare is constantly declining[5].Traffic congestion extends the travel time leading to increased cost for most people especially business men and stakeholders. More fuel is consumed, which reduces the air quality, decreases the people's health and increases the emissions. In addition, the noise level is increased due to the traffic congestion.[6].