Surge in number of vehicles leads to traffic gridlock

KOCHI: The steady rise in vehicle population and the inability of city roads to handle the ever increasing traffic are making life hard for commuters.
According to data available with the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD), 8,871 new vehicles were registered in the city in the first three months this year, a 22 per cent increase from last year.
In this period last year, 7,283 new vehicles were registered.Ernakulam Regional Transport Officer (RTO) T J Thomas said increasing number of vehicles and poor infrastructure was a common phenomenon in cities like Kochi. The only solution will be to encourage people to use the public transport system.
"Currently we don't have any provision to control registration of new vehicles as some foreign countries have. Traffic congestion can be reduced only if the city has adequate parking space," Thomas said.
Over the last five years, 1.29 lakh new vehicles were registered in the city alone. According to MVD data, every year a minimum of 25,000 new vehicles are registered in the city. The total number of vehicles registered includes 61,352 motorcycles and 39,186 cars.
According to experts in National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC), the alarming increase in number of vehicles will lead to major traffic hold ups in the future. T Elangovan, head, traffic and transport department of the NATPAC, said currently the vehicle intake of city roads had exceeded its limit by 40%, as a result of unscientific town planning.
He said 60,000 vehicles passed through the Vyttila bypass on a single day, which is double the expected capacity of the national highway.
"At present, a two-lane road can accommodate only 15,000 vehicles a day, while a four-lane road can accommodate up to 30,000 and 35,000 vehicles," he said. "If town planners neglect this fact, there will be heavy traffic havoc in the future," he added.
Meanwhile, town planners said most people in the city depended on private vehicles and that this should change. "Public transportation should be improved to attract people to it. Once people take to public transport, traffic congestion will ease," said K J Sohan, chairman, Town Planning Committee, Kochi Corporation.
BOX
Total vehicles registered in first three months of:
2011 - 7,283
2012 - 8,871
Year-over-year vehicle registration
2007 - 27,044
2008 - 23,609
2009 - 22,653
2010 - 26,866
2011 - 29,511