ITS for Comprehensive Mobility for Gandhi Nagar

This study done by Proff Dr PK Sarkar, Head- Department of Transport Planning, School of Planning and Architecture (SPA) in 2015 along with the students and faculties of SPA aims to address comprehensive mobility aspect of the capital city of Gujarat, Gandhi Nagar, with reference to policies & strategies for developing sustainable transport infrastructure and ensure its transportation operation & management through modest costs.

By 2036, Gandhinagar is estimated to have a travel demand of 20,13,175 passenger trips. Thus, the city needs for high capacity bus rapid transit system (BRTS) for higher PHPDT (peak-hour peak-direction traffic) corridors, organized conventional bus systems for medium PHPDT corridors and personalized rapid transport (PRT) for low PHPDT corridors apart from the development of MRTS.

Further, for integration of above modes through the application of Intelligent Transport System with innovative solutions like use of smart mobility card for ticketing system were considered. A detailed analysis of with and without use of smart mobility card technology is documented for the enhanced ridership, savings in time, costs and financial gains.

It is observed that due to savings in transaction time by 70% & 77% for bus & metro users and additional savings in waiting at ticketing counters by 6.3min, 2.3 min for metro & bus users, the ridership can be enhanced by 5.7%. The detailed financial viability of project with varying funding options was carried out with ITS options which shows Financial Internet Rate of Returns (FIRR) of 8.64% without Viability Gap funding(VGF) and FIRR of 17% with VGF of 40%.

Some of the smart city technological solutions need to be designed and implemented for transportation in Gandhi Nagar.

i. Smart Common Transport Cards: Ideally smart cards link multiple forms of transport and make it more convenient to use, and transport authorities to understand mobility patterns
ii. Real Time Transport Information: Providing basis for mobile applications for planning any journey
iii. Real Time Transport Displays: Providing visibility to users and encouraging uptake of public transportation
iv. Consolidated Parking Management Technology using GIS and remote sensing
v. Transport Management Control Center: Operating and managing overall traffic by collecting traffic information from the Bus Management System, Transport Card System, the unmanned surveillance system and traffic-related authorities and institutions such as Traffic Broadcasting, Traffic signal controller, Police Agency.

These technological requirements need to be procured, developed and shared either among different smart cities or developed cities for use in Gandhi Nagar.