Transportation and Society are two inseparable terms. Transportation is the movements of people and freight from one location to another. Transportation has influenced each of our choices about where to live, earn our livelihood; spend vacations, shop, or work. The tie between transportation and society is inescapable and we take it for granted and still cannot imagine a world without it. The very hugeness of the transportation system hides its interdependence with society. Transportation has had a huge effect on the settlements of the human civilization since olden times.
It can be cited out with examples that most of the ancient settlements have taken place on the banks of major river junction for trade/transportation purpose. Eg: Mumbai (Port),Calcutta (Hubli) etc. As the size of a city grows the transportation technology plays an important role in the formation of the city and its suburbs. Other factors responsible maybe development of personal/public transport infrastructure and the income of the group of people settled around the city. Eg: A good public transportation in Mumbai compared to other major metropolitan cities in India has resulted in low private transport vehicles there.
Not only people but transportation is hugely responsible for distribution and consumption of goods and services in the society. From the ancient world to modern times, the fortunes of nations hinged on their access to resources and markets. In the modern society all the major businesses and trades have been possible only through good means of transportation. Besides transportation also provides livelihood to many people as for instance Indian railway is one of the world’s largest employer. Transportation also takes up huge resource of the society like land resource, massive economic resource etc.
India’s transport sector is large and diverse; it caters to the needs of 1. 1 billion people. Transport is a major use of energy, and burns most of the world’s petroleum. This creates air pollution, including nitrous oxides and particulates, and is a significant contributor to global warming through emission of carbon dioxide, for which transport is the fastest-growing emission sector. Transportation is thoroughly integrated into society, and its priorities and goals shift as the needs of society change.
While history suggests that there has never been a civilization nor an age that did not rely on transportation, it also shows that the nature of that reliance has been very different from age to age and place to place. Virtually everything we do relies on transportation. Civilized society depends upon communication, organization, trade, surplus and specialization, security, and protection of personal freedoms. Transportation is intertwined with many of these components. Transportation determines our way of life.
Safety: Critical Issue in Transportation The most important problem concerning highway/transportation professionals in India is that of highway safety. Ministry of Transport figures show that approximately 60,000 people died in road accidents in 1992. India has the dubious distinction of accounting for 6 percent of the world’s road deaths while having just 1 percent of the world’s vehicles. While rich nations had been able to lower their death rates, these were sharply on the rise in the third world.
The successes of other nations are partly the result of strategies such as stricter laws on safety belt use, extensive crackdowns on alcohol and drug-impaired driving, increased restrictions on teenage driving, and automated enforcement of traffic signals and speed limits. It said 90% of deaths on the world’s roads occur in low and middle-income countries (21. 5 and 19. 5 per lakh of population, respectively) though they have just 48% of all registered vehicles. At least 13 people die every hour in road accidents in the country, the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau reveals.
Most past gains stem from the improved crashworthiness of vehicles. Additional safety gains are possible from side air bags, electronic stability control, and other crash-avoidance technologies. These comprehensive improvements will increase safety for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians, but will do so incrementally over time. Sharply reducing annual road deaths requires more than improved vehicle and road technology. Driver behaviour—speeding, reckless driving, and alcohol must be addressed. Road Transportation Safety
Accidents and the fatalities on road are the result of inter-play of a number of factors. Road users in India are heterogeneous in nature, ranging from pedestrians, animal-driven carts, bi-cycles, rickshaws, handcarts and tractor trolleys, to various categories of two / three wheelers, motor cars, buses, trucks, and multi-axle commercial vehicles etc. The term road safety is an indication of how safe individual users are on some particular road, or on the roads belonging to some region. The main danger to road users is the likelihood of a traffic collision.
Such dangers can be reduced by individual road users operating cautiously and defensively, by building roads in alignment with competent traffic engineering practices, by the application of rational traffic control methods, and by designing road vehicles so they are more able to avoid and survive collisions. One of the main objectives of traffic engineering is to provide safe traffic movements. Road accident cannot be totally prevented, but by suitable traffic engineering and management measures, the accident rate can be decreased considerably.
Therefore the traffic engineer has to carry out systematic accident studies to investigate the causes of accidents and to take preventive measures in terms of design and control. Road Safety in India Roads are the dominant mode of transportation in India today. They carry almost 90 percent of the country’s passenger traffic and 65 percent of its freight. The density of India’s highway network — at 0. 66 km of highway per square kilometre of land – is similar to that of the United States (0. 65) and much greater than China’s (0. 16) or Brazil’s (0. 20).
However, most highways in India are narrow and congested with poor surface quality, and 40 percent of India’s villages do not have access to all-weather roads. The vehicle population has been steadily increasing with the pace picking up significantly since the Eighties. Increase in vehicle population in the face of the limited road space used by a large variety of motorized and non-motorized traffic has heightened the need and urgency for a well-thought-out policy on the issue of road safety. Government of India is alive to the issue and has accorded a high priority to the same.
Serious accidents occurring on road are a matter of great concern for all of us. Not a day passes when we do not read report of at least 2 or 3 serious road accidents. Almost everyone has been affected by such accidents at one time or the other. , because a relative or friend is somehow connected to such accidents. The number of deaths per year per 10000 motor vehicle in India is 10 to 15 times more than that in advance countries. The number of motor vehicle is increasing day by day. Though it is a sign of improving economy of the country. It is a bitter truth that is also adds to accidents on roads.
Our inability to provide enough funds to widen the roads or to construct new roads in proportion to rise in vehicle population also results in perpetuating this state of affairs. Road Safety Audit A Road Safety Audit (RSA) is a procedure for assessing safety performance examination of an existing or future road or intersection by an independent audit team. It is a formal examination of a future road or traffic project, or an existing road, in which an independent, qualified team looks at the project’s crash potential and safety performance.
RSAs can be viewed as a proactive low-cost approach to improve safety. The specific objectives are: ?To ensure a high level of safety in road projects ?To minimize accident risk on the road network ?To promote the relevance of road safety engineering in all road design work ?To promote the safety of all road users on existing roads. Cost of Accidents A Working Group set up by the Planning Commission in the year 2000 to look into road accidents, injury prevention and control had gone into the issue of social cost of accidents in India and had estimated the cost at Rs. 5,000 crores in the years 1999-2000, which constituted 3% of the GDP for the year. Measures To Control Accidents Engineering Measures: Road Safety is an integral part of engineering design at the Project Planning stage. An independent professional body named Indian Roads Congress (IRC) formulates, updates and disseminates various codes on road construction and maintenance including those pertaining to road safety. Road safety specifications / designs are incorporated in the planning and execution of NHAI. Design of highways is done by reputed consultants meeting all relevant geometric and safety standards.
Enforcement Measures: In a federal country like India, the responsibility for enforcement of various provisions of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and Central Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 pertaining to or having a bearing on road safety is vested with the State Governments. Such measures include testing the competence of drivers at the time of licensing, and checking the physical fitness of vehicles and their compliance with regulations at the time of registration and periodical fitness check of commercial vehicles.
Educational Measures: Educational and awareness campaigns are being carried out throughout the country on a continuous basis through print and electronic media, viz, newspapers advertisements, cinema slides, radio jingles and T. V. spots. Vehicle Safety Safety components, such as, safety belts, laminated safety glass for windshield, instrument panel and lighting system, rear view mirrors, power steering in case of buses and heavy commercial vehicles, etc, have already been mandated.
Other important road safety issues and their status in India: •Use of helmets: Section 129 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 makes it compulsory on the part of all two-wheeler riders and pillion riders to wear a protective head gear conforming to relevant Indian standards •Law regarding drunken driving: In terms of section 185 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 alcohol exceeding 30 MG for 100 ml of blood detected in the test of breath analyzer qualifies for prosecution under the Act. •Use of seat-belts: Central Motor Vehicle Rules mandate fitment and use of seat belts in most categories of four-wheelers
Some Examples of sited road safety aspects during our preliminary survey of own college, IIT-Bombay: The Speed Limit Sign is behind the tree There are garages along the road reducing road safety Broken Pavement and Water logging Road Marking is Missing Improper visibility and absence of reflectors on the curve & centre line Fully deteriorated road near a Bus Stand, on Palm Beach Road Means of Safety On Road Rail Transportation Safety Rail transport is a commonly used mode of long-distance transportation in India. Almost all rail operations in India are handled by a state-owned organisation, Indian Railways, Ministry of Railways.
The rail network traverses the length and breadth of the country, covering a total length of 64,015 kilometres (39,777 miles). It is said to be the 4th largest railway network in the world,transporting over 6 billion passengers and over 350 million tonnes of freight annually. Its operations cover 28 states and 3 union territories and also provide limited service to Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan. Both passenger and freight traffic has seen steady growth, and as per the 2009 budget presented by the Railway Minister, the Indian Railways carried over 7 billion passengers in 2009.
