MoRTH to conduct periodic traffic studies

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) will soon begin periodic traffic studies in about 1,600 places in the country to better plan the expansion of highways. The first traffic study is planned in October this year and would be repeated every six months. The studies would give accurate traffic data on different highway stretches that would indicate a growth or reduction of traffic and the profile of vehicles on these stretches. The company contracted for the project would do a study for seven days using Automatic Vehicle Counter-cum-Classifier (AVCC). A central control room will receive data from all the locations and provide customised reports indicating the traffic flow pattern in both urban and rural areas, reasons for seasonal traffic changes etc. This, along with peak hour & lean hour traffic data and other factors will help the Ministry to design optimum road capacity while expanding highways. Currently, traffic studies are conducted sporadically just before highway expansion projects are implemented. There is also a considerable difference between the traffic growth projections of the NHAI and developers. The periodic studies are expected to give a much more accurate picture of the traffic growth.