Study of Traffic Characteristics of Chandigarh Roads using GIS

Chandigarh considered being one of the best-planned cities of India is facing lots of traffic problems. The city which was planned about fifty years ago is now unable to control and satisfy the vehicular needs owing to the increase in population which has grown manifolds. The objective of the research is to study the prevailing traffic conditions and to identify the main problems being faced by the people and thus provide necessary recommendations. Due to the mixed nature of traffic it gets difficult to accommodate all the kinds of traffic on these roads. The basic problem arises during the peak hours of the day when the traffic volume is highest on the road. Excessive delays occur with low running speeds and traffic congestion at various junctions and mid-block sections. Hence the level of service varies gradually from A to F. The levels of service on some roads are very low during peak hours and jamming conditions prevail with very low running speeds. Therefore those roads require redesigning and restructuring in order to cater to the growing population of in and around the city.