Effects of Non-Motorized Vehicles on Mixed Traffic in India

Abstract

Heterogeneous traffic composed of both motorized and non-motorized vehicles are a common feature of urban Indian roads. In India there are no lane segregation of non-motorized vehicles and motorized vehicles, therefore the theoretical models fail to analyze the situation completely. This research mainly analyzes the impact of non-motorized traffic on overall performance of traffic parameters. An effort is made to scrutinize effects on capacity due to variation of share of non-motorized vehicles and a significant drop in capacity due to increment of non-motorized traffic is observed. The investigation also reveals shifting of lateral distribution of non-motorized vehicles from curb side towards the center on increment of share of non-motorized vehicles. Another observation is made on the impact of distance headway on velocity in roads carrying both way traffic. Dependence of speed on distance headway of motorized vehicles is observed to be much higher than non-motorized vehicles. The results clearly shows the negative impacts of non-motorized vehicles on capacity of roads and average velocity of traffic flow. Further decrements in segregation due to changes in lateral distribution of non-motorized vehicles decreases the qualitative aspect of performance of motorized vehicles and contribute towards increment in road accidents.