The researchers from Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, are unhappy with the method in which the Netherland based Tom-Tom index study is done on the traffic congestion in Indian cities, especially Bengaluru.
In the report — Research in Transportation Business and Management Examining the Tom-Tom Traffic Congestion Index — Is it worth the hype or making cities more car-dependent and unsustainable? — the experts said it is following European standards in calculation and not what common Indians use. They said the index has limitations in characterising the collected data due to heavy reliance on Global Positioning System (GPS)-equipped vehicles and lacks the differentiation between road infrastructure characteristics. It also focuses on travel time data as the primary indicator overlooking other factors influencing traffic congestion, according to a report by The New Indian Express.
The index is an annual report prepared after analysing traffic data of the year, covering over 500 cities from 62 countries.
Ashish Verma, Professor, Transportation Systems Engineering, Convenor, IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab, told The New Indian Express, though Index has gained the status as a valuable resource for understanding and addressing traffic congestion in cities worldwide, it is not giving the real picture of Bengaluru’s roads, the traffic congestion and the reasons for it.
The report stated the Tom-Tom Index lacked the depth to characterize the collected information. “Heavy reliance on GPS- equipped vehicles has severely handicapped the data and its inability to distinguish between road infrastructure characteristics makes it unreliable. While the average travel time is a suitable indicator of traffic conditions, it is not the only criterion for evaluating traffic congestion.”
The index neglects some major factors, such as variations in travel time across modes, seasonal variations, urban land use mix and transport infrastructure that influence the overall transportation system, researchers in the report noted, according to the report by The New Indian Express.
“The primary basis for traffic ranking of cities predominantly relies on estimated congestion levels derived from travel time data. However, this approach can overlook the broader impact of various factors, such as accessibility, quality and extent of transportation services, including public transportation facilities and road infrastructure. Additionally, economic and commercial activities within cities and urban planning policies, including allocation of space for multistoried parking and high occupancy vehicle lanes may not be fully accounted for in the index, potentially underestimating their influence on overall transportation efficiency,” Verma in the report said.
