Decision to install traffic lights in Gurugram a step in the right direction

Signalised intersections or traffic lights, as they are commonly called, are an important part of the mobility infrastructure in any city. They are not just places where vehicles stop when the light turns red, but also locations that influence the behaviour of a road user and his or her choices. Therefore, the Gurugram Traffic Police’s decision to allow turning movements at key intersections, such as Sohna Chowk, is a step in the right direction.

To better understand the impact of this decision, we need to first look at how Gurugram moves. As per a GMDA study, 27% of the people walk in the city, followed by 26% who use two-wheelers, 10% who use cars and 4% who use cycles. The remaining 33% comprises people who use both formal and informal modes of public transport, such as auto-rickshaws, taxis, buses, Metro and trains. Therefore, almost two-thirds of people don’t use personal motor transport for travel.

Of late, there is a tendency in the city to replace traffic lights with a series of U-turns. Huda City Metro station, Bhaktawar Chowk, etc are some of such examples. This fascination for removing traffic lights reached epic proportions when intersection like Subhash Chowk, which has a flyover, was also closed down for turning traffic. This not only created confusion amongst the road users but also decreased the capacity of the intersection. Therefore, the traffic police’s decision to bring back traffic lights in places of U-turns is a welcome step. If implemented well, it will positively improve mobility in Gurugram.

Let me explain how.

Improvement in road safety

There are numerous empirical studies from India and aboard that document that speed is the biggest threat to road safety. The problem is further compounded in our cities, where the bulk of our road users are pedestrians, cyclists, and users of two-wheelers. Long and uninterrupted roads encourage over-speeding. A speed survey conducted by WRI India on the stretch of road between Huda City Metro station and Subhash Chowk that has a posted speed limit of 50 kmph found repeated violations. During non-peak hours, the survey revealed maximum speeds above 100 kmph. Over-speeding often resulted in fatal crashes and reduction in speed reduced the severity of such crashes. A 2017 report by the World Health Organization on managing speed found that a 5% reduction in average speed resulted in a 30% reduction in fatal traffic crashes. Traffic intersections, in the form of signalised junctions or small roundabouts, act as natural speed barriers. Their presence breaks the traffic speed, thereby improving safety on roads.

Increase in transit ridership

The ridership of Gurugaman, the city bus service, has been growing steadily. A couple of weeks ago, the ridership crossed over 50,000 passengers per day. However, the biggest deterrent to using public transport is the access to it. A user of public transport has to cross the road at least once during the day. Crossing the middle of the road is always a problem as there are no safe pedestrian crossing facilities. The easiest and safest place to cross is the intersection. Therefore, intersections with a pedestrian phase, or in other words a red signal phase to only allow pedestrian movements, will solve the problem of the pedestrian crossing at the majority of the locations. This, in turn, will increase the influence area of a public transport facility and ultimately help in increasing the ridership.

Enhancement of non-motorised usage

Non-motorised users like pedestrians, cyclists are like water; they tend to find the shortest route to cross. Will water go up and down or go forward and backwards to cross a road? Surely not! Then, why do we expect pedestrians or cyclists to use foot over bridges and underpasses for crossing the road or to go a kilometre ahead and take a U-turn? It is also not feasible for pedestrians, cyclists or cycle rickshaws to compete with cars, trucks or buses for U-turns or go up and down flyovers. This is because it is neither feasible nor safe. If a car hits a pedestrian at 30 kmph, then the chance of survival is 90%. However, if the speed of the same vehicle is 50 kmph, then the chance of survival is reduced to 15%. Therefore, traffic junctions provide that opportunity to the non-motorised transport users to cross, change direction or reach their destination safely. Yes, there may be high-speed roads that may warrant grade-separated facilities, but those should be the exception and not the rule.

Yes, some people may oppose this move as their journey time would increase by a couple of minutes. However, the question to ask is what is more important — saving a few minutes for motor vehicles or improved safety, increased transit use and higher walking and cycling in the city?

Nobel laureate William Golding once said, “The greatest ideas are the simplest.” Therefore, Gurugram Police may just have rediscovered the greatest idea.

@amitbhatt4u

(Amit Bhatt is Director— Integrated Transport, WRI India)