Transportation Research in India

With the completion of 10 years of TRG on May 28, 2021, it is a good time to reflect on its journey so far and the way forward. We should look back from where we started and understand: how was the journey so far, what were the lessons learnt, and what are the challenges ahead? It will not only give us a sense of value and belonging for TRG but will also motivate us to work harder in future toward its growth and fulfilling its aims and objectives.

The aggregate properties play a major role in the structural and functional performance of various pavement layers. The present chapter provides an introduction to aggregate sources, types, quality, and different size distribution requirements for pavement layers. Further, the chapter is categorized into two broad sections. The first section offers an extensive discussion on past and presently available conventional aggregate characterization practices, limiting values, and their significance. For example, the properties associated with the aggregate source (i.e., abrasion, impact, soundness, and absorption) and consensus or shape (i.e., FAA: fine aggregate angularity; coarse aggregate angularity, flatness and elongation, and sand equivalent) are discussed. The second part of the chapter talks about the application of various image-based techniques for aggregate shape characterization and its futuristic importance for the production of quality aggregates. The Digital Image Technique (DIT)-based methods like University of Illinois Aggregate Image Analyzer (UIAIA), Aggregate Image Measurement System (AIMS), Laser-based Aggregate Analysis System (LAAS), Videographer-40 (VDG-40), and CT-Scan are discussed. Moreover, a brief overview of various algorithms associated with digital image techniques is presented. The part also includes a comparative discussion on conventional and image-based shape characterization approaches. Additionally, the futuristic application of DIT in different aspects like aggregate production, quality control, and pavement forensic investigations are outlined. Overall, it is expected that the chapter will develop a broad understanding among researchers, practitioners, aggregate producers, and pavement stakeholders on the qualitative characterization of aggregates.

This chapter deals with the materials and design aspects of asphalt pavements. In the first part of the chapter, some of the upcoming technologies arising out of recent research, since the last decade or so, are highlighted. The immediate research challenges are also identified. In the second part, possible future directions are discussed briefly.

Mixed traffic conditions are characterized by a haphazard spatial arrangement of diverse vehicle types along the entire width of the roadway. Vehicles in such traffic environments evaluate opportunities for possible lateral movements while progressing longitudinally. This phenomenon gives rise to a two-dimensional movement of vehicles (both longitudinal and lateral) adding more complexity to modeling such traffic streams. Traditionally, longitudinal and lateral movements of vehicles were modeled separately and independent of each other. While two separate models can describe lane-based traffic quite well, the models developed for mixed traffic should describe the traffic flow behavior considering interdependencies between longitudinal and lateral interactions. This chapter presents an overview of the research efforts on microscopic and macroscopic modeling approaches devoted to understanding the mixed traffic stream behavior. Several modeling approaches that have been mostly considered for representing such traffic are covered in this chapter. Finally, this chapter concludes by providing several recommendations for future work, highlighting the urgent need for the development of a comprehensive integrated two-dimensional traffic flow model for mixed traffic condition.

The current chapter discusses about the types of pedestrian facilities, pedestrian flow characteristics, methods of data collection, modeling approaches, level of service concept, and application of soft computing approaches. Macroscopic factors (speed and flow rate) and microscopic factors (gender, age, and luggage) were widely considered parameters across at-grade facilities while width, surface, safety–security, and comfort were the most common pedestrian infrastructure-related parameters. Some studies also observed self-organizing phenomena such as lane formation, back-stepping, and clogging under normal/evacuation situations. Speed, group size, mobile use, movement direction, and disability are important parameters which significantly influence the microscopic characteristics of the pedestrian stream. Grade-separated facilities need more focused studies to provide safe and comfortable travel for pedestrians. Well-calibrated and validated pedestrian simulation models can be explored and implemented across different facilities to manage crowds under emergencies.

Conventional traffic car-following and lane-changing models are not valid for mixed traffic conditions, which consist of a variety of vehicle types maintaining a weak or no lane discipline. Therefore, studies related to vehicle dynamics, driver behavior, including the simultaneous lateral and longitudinal interactions are important to model these conditions and to achieve solutions to the ever-increasing issues of traffic congestion, delays, and crashes. This chapter confers on the novel traffic data collection methods for mixed traffic, extraction and development of accurate and comprehensive datasets, and their applications for both microscopic and macroscopic conditions. Data collection using instrumented vehicles, sensors, unmanned aerial vehicles, camera calibration, and other novel techniques, and data development of trajectories, vehicle interactions, driver behavior, travel time and traffic state information would be explored. The concepts and methodologies related to traffic data collection and extraction, discussed in this chapter, will be thus useful for the researchers in comprehending future challenges and developing possible traffic solutions.

The scientific article of this chapter presents guidance toward the rational selection of various walk-access infrastructure components in various classes of urban bus stop catchment areas and their implementation plan by evaluating the choice perspective of walk-accessed bus users. While presenting such guidance, the work overcomes the shortcomings/deficiencies usually noticed in the existing design guidelines of best practices in the context of the pedestrian facility in India. The empirical study is carried out by analyzing of the walk-accessed bus users’ choice perspective of various infrastructure components using a discrete choice model, and then the economic values are estimated for those infrastructure components. Several hypothetical but plausible door-to-door (d2d) travel scenarios of walk-accessed bus users are generated considering combinations of walk-infrastructure components in various classes of bus stop catchment area having varying types of lateral physical constraints on their access roads. After that, the d2d generalized cost (called as d2d-GC) values are estimated for each such scenario, and then the savings in the value of d2d-GC under various travel scenarios are considered as the measure of effectiveness (MoE). Using such MoE, suitable combinations of walk-access infrastructure components are suggested for various classes of bus stop catchment areas based on the near-minimal generalized cost incurred by walk-accessed bus users.

India hosts many mass religious gatherings, pilgrimages, like Kumbh Mela, Sabarimala, etc. With increased mobility and willingness to travel, the host cities of such gatherings are under tremendous pressure to manage the influx of millions of people. Participants in these gatherings are emotionally driven and if their emotions get aggravated due to situational influences, it may lead to disrupted movements and chaotic situations. Inappropriate or poorly managed crowd control measures may promote risky situations rather than prevent them from mass gatherings. A renewed understanding of crowd behavior in mass religious gatherings is required. Therefore, this white paper aims to assess the effectiveness of the crowd management measures taken by the event organizers and formulate crowd management guidelines for mass religious gatherings. Formulation of crowd management guidelines has been done based on the results from the empirical studies and observations made in the field during the Kumbh Mela 2016 to manage crowds in the future mass religious gatherings.

The difficulties associated with the urban transportation sector are typically addressed through the Comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) prepared by the state transportation authority. Nevertheless, most CMPs aim to reduce congestion and improve accessibility disregarding emissions and resilience, which are a few essential factors that govern sustainability. This study introduces a framework to evaluate multiple sustainable urban transport measures (SUTMs) to reduce congestion and emissions from the urban transportation sector and improve its resiliency to urban flooding. This framework is evaluated on the Bangalore Metropolitan Region (BMR) with four SUTP bundles to estimate the impact on emissions reduction. Further, three SUTP bundles are assessed to improve BMR's urban transport resiliency to urban flooding. This framework also allows the policymakers to estimate the emissions reduction from income–gender groups and formulate the right SUTPs.

Metropolitan cities of India are recently promoting transit-oriented development (TOD), as a sustainable transport approach for improving urban mobility in the nation. However, TOD policies in Indian cities require a thorough diagnosis of planning parameters based on existing urban structure elements. Existing policies need to enhance and introduce priority planning strategies that adhere to long-term visions of Indian cities. The present chapter pays attention to macro-/micro planning parameters, namely size of influence zone, typology, TOD measurement tool, floor-area-ratio (FAR), building use compositions, and priority strategies that have a substantial effect on planning processes. This chapter specifies quantitative levels of urban structure to assist as a real-world guidebook. It provides a measurement tool to understand the nature of TOD-ness and to establish a standard to plan and implement TOD at neighborhood levels. Such a TOD measurement tool can help planners, policymakers, and government authorities, while investing funds on infrastructure with prior knowledge on existing levels of TOD at neighborhood level. Because without measuring the current situation of TODs, faulty decisions in investments will continue to be repeated.

Sustainable development is a holistic practice and the concept of sustainability considers social, economic, and environmental issues simultaneously. Sustainable transportation system is the need of the hour because of significant challenges for cities with respect to traffic congestion, environment pollution, etc., leading to overall global warming. However, there are no proper guidelines in place for Indian cities currently to be considered by the urban development authorities to implement or evaluate different types of sustainable transportation systems. Considering these, the present study developed a design methodology to enhance the level of existing transport systems in terms of its sustainability for the modes, namely, public transport (PT) and non-motorized transport (NMT) system. Further, the evaluation methodology was also developed by proposing ‘sustainability indices’ which will help policymakers or development authorities in assessing the status as well as changes that occurred due to policy interventions in PT and NMT systems.

A significant number of fatalities along horizontal curves of rural highways necessitated the safety evaluation in the curve design. Previous studies explored safety evaluation based on several approaches such as operating speed, driver workload, alignment index, and vehicle stability. However, researchers predominantly focused on vehicle speed because it has a close resemblance to design speed and straightforward implementation in the field. The safety evaluation criteria for horizontal curves are majorly speed-based studies. Hence, this chapter represents several operating speed-based safety evaluation approaches available in the literature. It provides insight on the requirement of holistic design guidelines and appropriate safety performance measures to develop safer geometric elements for low-middle income countries like India.

Recent attacks in railway systems have shown that these critical infrastructures are often the target of terrorist and cyberattacks compared to other public transportation modes due to their "open" built environment. Railway networks need to be made as secure and resilient as possible by adopting adequate security measures while maintaining their openness and easiness. This chapter summarizes the various security issues such as armed attacks, bombings, infrastructure attacks, to name a few, along with their characteristics. It provides a clear picture of the present scenario, illustrating the most relevant attacks, the security breaches targeting high-speed rails, best methods, and countermeasures that can be adopted to ensure safety. Furthermore, a critical analysis of the current status of railway security, its relevance for the high-speed railway network, and various policy frameworks adopted to ensure safety are discussed.

Battery Electric Buses (BEB) could be effective in reducing local air pollution and the demand for fossil fuels in developing countries like India. At present, there is little work on the assessment of the operational feasibility of BEB in India or consensus on how and under which conditions can a conventional bus be replaced with a battery-electric bus. In this context, this research analyzed the BEB operation requirements in India. Initially, a questionnaire was administered to elicit bus operator's perceptions toward various attributes related to operations of (a) diesel bus, (b) compressed natural gas (CNG) bus, and (c) BEB. The data from transit stakeholders in four smart cities were analyzed using multi-attribute decision-making approach for identifying the most important attributes. Results indicate that low acquisition cost, less charging duration, and available charging facilities are the better performing attributes related to diesel bus operation. On the other hand, noise and air pollution along with poor fuel efficiency, higher operation cost are the major deterrents of diesel buses as perceived by bus operators. Analysis of the importance of CNG buses reveals bus operation range, mechanical or energy generator to be the positive factors of CNG bus operation, whereas journey comfort level and fuel tariff are perceived as key deterrents. Analysis of attributes specific to BEB operation clearly indicates that low noise level, less operation cost, and low pollution level are the key motivators toward BEB operation in India. However, relatively higher acquisition cost and higher charging time are the major deterrents of such operation. This study is one of the initial efforts in this area in the Indian context, results of which would be helpful for vehicle procurement, infrastructure installment and driving or maintenance staff training and development of an implementation plan for BEB operation in India.

Freight transport is a critical supply chain element for delivering goods ‘just-in-time’ to retailers, warehouses, and end-consumers in cities and metropolitan areas around the world. Freight traffic fulfills not only the business needs of a region to move goods between manufacturers and end-consumers, but also creates a host of unintended environmental, social, and economic impacts. Despite its importance, freight traffic impacts and associated logistic inefficiencies are largely overlooked in the urban transport discussions in developing economies like India. The last-mile freight deliveries, for instance, form a substantial share of greenhouse gas emissions in cities, accounting for about 39% of transport sector emissions and nearly 50% of particulate emissions. The emergence of advanced vehicle technologies and novel distribution channels in the freight sector are also significant challenges for planning and regulatory agencies. It is, therefore, an imperative research need to investigate ways to ensure that freight activities fulfill their role in the economic transaction of goods, while mitigating the associated negative externalities. It is also critically important to understand why, how, and where the freight activity takes place and what kind of infrastructure and policies need to be provided to respond effectively to the growing logistical requirements of businesses and households. This white paper will address the freight needs in India with a critical analysis of the current state of the research and practices in the country and provide guidance for the future research roadmap in the Indian context. The key themes addressed by this book chapter are as follows: (i) freight traffic regulations and truck electrification, (ii) freight modal shift to bike-based alternatives, (iii) last-mile delivery management using crowd-shipping initiatives, (iv) delivery automation and last-mile planning, and (v) integrated land use and logistics planning. The paper also outlines a comprehensive synthesis of effective policy interventions to achieve more sustainable freight flows in Indian cities, covering policies for last-mile delivery efficiency, emission mitigation, and trade node management. Overall, the insights provided in this book chapter are expected to promote freight research and effective policy instrument design and help address the growing needs to reduce the overall logistics cost for moving goods in India.

Automated traffic detectors can be classified as vehicle detectors/identifiers and vehicle tracking devices. The vehicle detectors/identifiers are mostly location‐based and collect data from the entire vehicle population that crosses the location. However, they miss out the spatial variations. Vehicle tracking devices are usually fixed inside vehicles and can collect spatial parameters such as travel time from that individual vehicle. However, data can be obtained only from vehicles that voluntarily participate by housing the tracking device. This limits the sample size. Although these are proven data collection technologies for traffic conditions elsewhere, they may not work for Indian traffic conditions, with its heterogeneity and lack of lane discipline. Most of the available data collection technologies are limited by the need for lane-based traffic and cannot classify different types of vehicles. This chapter discusses various location-based and spatial/tracking technologies suitable for data collection under Indian traffic conditions.

In India, traditionally, due to the presence of heterogeneity in traffic, there exists enormous diversity in the available modes of transport, broadly classified as motorized and non-motorized transport in addition to other special-purpose transport facilities. Among different modes of transport, non-motorized transport such as pedestrians and cyclists is considered the most vulnerable to road crashes of different severities. These modes of transport also play an essential role in transferring cities towards the accomplishment of sustainability. Concurrently, special-purpose transport facilities like cable conveyors and escalators serve specific purposes and significantly affect the transport system for the ease of movement of goods and passengers. This holds a huge potential contributing towards building national growth and economy. The scope of strengthening these modes of transport is conceivable through better planning, design, and management of the required facilities. This warrants a detailed review of its important characteristics and specific planning/operational needs concerning these facilities. Accordingly, this chapter discusses the existence and prospects of traditional and unique travel modes.

Modal shares in India, at present, are skewed. More than 85% of passenger traffic and 60% of the freight traffic is carried by road and rail-based transport systems. Compared to that water transport has negligible share and the air transport carries some load over long distances. India has ninth-largest waterway network in the world, and still it has 2% share in freight transportation. India has extensive coastline (7500 km plus) and inland waterway network of 14,500 km (including rivers and canals). At present the water transport potential has been tapped to some extent at Assam, Goa, Kerala, and West Bengal. Inland Waterways Authority of India is constructing terminals at five locations along the river Ganga. In civil aviation sector, India is ranked third globally. This became possible due to schemes like Udan, Low Cost Seats, etc. The future potential in maritime sector is huge, especially in container ports, given that container traffic is projected to reach 40 million TEU by 2025. Indian aviation sector is also expected to boom with projected passenger travel by air reaching 500 million trips by 2037. The projected scenarios provide ample opportunities to the researchers to contribute to their overall development.