Urban planning is a state subject. Accordingly, Traffic Mapping and Modeling for easing traffic congestion in big cities are mainly done by respective State Governments/Union Territories (UTs)/Urban Local Bodies (ULBs). Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA) has issued various Guidelines viz. National Urban Transport Policy, 2006, Metro Policy, 2017 and Transit Oriented Development Policy to adopt sustainable measure to deal with various transport related issues including traffic mapping towards easing traffic congestion.

In addition, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) through its Training Institute, Indian Academy of Highway Engineers (IAHE), has engaged University of New South Wales (UNSW) for setting up Centre for Advanced Transportation Technology and Systems (CATTS) wherein Indian Specific Urban Pervasive Data Model will be developed for 02 cities, Nagpur & Meerut to map congestion points/zones.

Moreover, on the specific request of State Government, IAHE extends its expertise towards finalization of bid documents, concepts of traffic mapping and modelling to address the issue of congestion. IAHE has extended such expertise to NCT of Delhi & Govt. of Maharashtra for its six cities (Mumbai, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Nashik and Thane) at the cost of respective State Governments.

To ease city congestion and to enhance modal share of urban public transport, Government has contributed in development of about 945 km of Metro Rail Lines including 34 km Delhi- Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) which are operational in 21 different cities. Further, about 939 km of Metro Rail Projects are under construction across various cities in the country. Recently, Government has also launched ‘PM-eBus Sewa” on 16th August 2023 to augment bus operations in urban areas with central assistance of Rs. 20,000 Crore to State Governments/UTs for deploying 10,000 electric buses.

Being a State subject, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) normally does not conduct any traffic study in NCT. However, Government has contributed in a significant way in reducing congestion on roads under NCT of Delhi by taking up following Highway projects:

In addition to Highway Projects, Government has developed Metro services, which are operational on a network of about 393 km with a daily average ridership of about 70,000 passengers. Further, around 86 km cumulative length of Metro lines are under construction, which upon completion will further boost the convenient and affordable Public Transport System in the NCT of Delhi.

Government has also sanctioned central assistance to Government of Delhi for procurement of 1221 Electric Buses under Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) Scheme of Ministry of Heavy Industries. This will also help in reducing the number of private vehicles which will not only ease the congestion but will also help in reducing pollution.

This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Gadkari in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today.

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