[Hiteshs77]

In my opinion, it would not be possible to restrict the sales of automobiles at this phase of India's growth.
Most of the middle class is first generation and to herald their arrival they would like to own cars and flaunt it.
Public transport leaves a lot to be desired. But if the existing cities so called 'Tier-1' continue to be packed with new population no amount of expansion of public transport can provide a desired level of service, where one would like to dump a car and rely on public transport.
The challenge that faces the policy makers is to have completely new cities which would divert the urbanization from existing larger cities. Any takers?

[aerohit]

In Philippines congestion has begun to ease a bit with an odd/even scheme, which forbids car owners to hit the road one day a week.

If your registration plate number ends in the numeral one or two, then you're not allowed to use your car on a Monday.

If your plate number ends in three or four, you can't drive on Tuesday, and so on.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19716687
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Road_space_rationing

Lastly, if you can have no more than 1 child that will help. Want 2nd child? Adopt!

[FlatOut]

With the second-largest growing automobile uptake in the world, the lack of control over the type of car or its use is quite interesting given the relatively low ownership of the car in India. You seem to have the opposite of the all-controlling state, a little like in Britain. We wait until we have been through several crisis points before trying to alter human behaviour with legislation. Some may call it chaos, others point to freedoms of movement - no matter how slow! Government hopes the individual may alter his or her behaviour to help mitigate a crisis, but the love of the motor car is so great people are prepared for a lot of hassle and discomfort before ditching it. With younger people though, this is beginning to happen.

Other countries invest in superb integrated transport networks, to try and minimise loss of time, energy and productivity. The Dutch for example excel at making great cycle networks, removing the cyclist from motorised road traffic. Everything should move more smoothly and it often does.

India's car ownership is relatively low compared to the UK, at 22 per 1000 (http://eprints.ibu.edu.ba/1073/1/vol..._p137-p153.pdf) - in Britain there sometimes feels to be more than one car per person, in reality it is over 500 per 1000 people.

Given the appalling record of the motor car for atrocious pollution - and so chronic diseases as well as death, death by road accident and such indefinables like preventing children from playing outside and so on, the potential for growth of the motor car in India should be a massive concern for almost everyone. No doubt, instread it will be a measure of prosperity. If the Indian government was switched on to what really matters they might consider legislating to limit the engine size of passenger vehicles within cities.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by adisag

Bring the price of road space (especially parking) on par with prevailing real estate prices in the area. If possible do this in a way that the user has to incur the expense on a per trip basis (so that the end user associates the expense with the particular trip and is able to realize the tangible savings by walking/taking the bus).

Good idea, but it needs to be enhanced and implemented well. here in the central market area of Pune, basements in many buildings have shops instead of parking space. I wonder how they got the approvals. They should all be stopped and converted to parking space. Needless to say all the shopkeepers and residents park their vehicles in public parking areas or on the street in P1/ P2 fashion. But this means less space for visitors to the market. Who go one step further and only stop their cars near the shops waiting for their families to return. So that is at least one more lane blocked.

Originally Posted by aerohit

In Philippines congestion has begun to ease a bit with an odd/even scheme, which forbids car owners to hit the road one day a week.

Do you know the Indian solution to that? Buy more cars with different registration numbers. We are now used to the convenience that a car offers. We have two cars at home, not because I want them but because I need them. I used a bike to commute to work, but met with an accident due to a moron Dzire driver. I could not get out of bed for a month, and need at least 6 months to return to normal. There are worse cases than mine who have lost a limb or in some cases their lives. This is why many are switching to cars.

The problem is not entirely due to the number of cars but the way they are driven. At JM road in Pune, there is a section where there are only two lanes at a signal. Just before this signal, there are 4 lanes, as the road was recently converted to one way except for this patch. Now there are at least 6 lanes of traffic converging on the signal causing a massive jam every day. If people learnt to just stay in their lanes, traffic would move much faster. But everyone wants to go up the wrong side and be a pole position.

It is a mix of horrendous planning in terms of roads (both routes and surface - potholes etc) and lack of driving sensitivity and common sense (akkal in hindi) that brings about this situation.

[Dry Ice]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

....
The problem is not entirely due to the number of cars but the way they are driven
....

There are a few orgs in GGN who charge the same if you opt for a parking or an office transport (AC cab/bus). No wonder most people take the bus. Also, if you need to take your car once or twice you pay a daily fee.

And I totally agree that it is more to do with how we drive rather than the sheer number of vehicles. But the way we drive is also, in a way, influenced by the infrastructure we have. Encroached roads means if you let a rtv/bus through, you have to keep following it for god knows how long! That leads to a me first type of race. So, we should be looking at driver awareness programs as well developing the infrastructure. Unless we can enforce the existing laws and clear up the roads, congestion is here to stay. Sad part is, we are getting more used to it each passing day!

[puchoo]

There was talk , maybe last year at some point in terms of introducing Zone based taxes/tolls as well - along the lines of what the UK has - the more "into the heart" of the city you drive the more toll you need to pay - so it acts as a deterrent in terms of people taking out their cars every time and instead consider pooling or public transport.

I think the idea has merit but unfortunately we need to be strong on both technology and scale here - cannot go around making conventional toll booths , that will definitely worsen the situation - what we need are tons of RFID cards or something similar which automatically deduct the necessary amount while the car is passing into a particular zone , and a strong delivery & punishment mechanism for those who drive in but do not pay....... and a strong , safe , comfortable public transport system so it is genuinely an additional option.

[sandeep108]

IMO: Very bad road engineering / planning as also no concept of any town planning. A couple of lanes, even a single lane sometimes can move large amounts of traffic easily, but for that lane(s) proper halting and parking locations, traffic segregation, footpaths, bus stops, crossings, etc. must be provided for. In addition, proper civic sense and manners also should be encouraged with heavy fines for violations of offences.

Also if public transport was comfortable, good connectivity at all reasonable times, priced fairly, etc. vehicles would automatically reduce as we see in many cities abroad.

Unfortunately I do not see this happening even in the next 60 years. People in charge have made our cities and towns a complete mess with no remote sign of any change in their thinking / implementation.

[luvDriving]

In my opinion people will go on buying cars no matter what and there are numerous other reasons for that apart from the status enhancement factor.

A car offers security on the road, protection from natural elements, some element of privacy, the ability to travel together as a family or group of friends, the list can go on. But then the question to answer is - how many cars do you need ? One per person ? One per family ?

I am all for opting for public transport but if I am to speak for Pune since I have lived here for almost 35 years now, it can only be termed as pathetic. So many of my friends, colleagues and relatives lament the lack of a proper public transport system. And 'proper' for most people only means sufficient quantity of buses and better connectivity and even that is not satisfied. For example, even today there is very bad connectivity if I want to travel from my home in bibwewadi area to senapati bapat road where my office is located.

And the less spoken about the rickshaw, the better. They are a necessary evil, a nuisance on the roads and a headache for anyone wanting to hire a rickshaw.

With this being the state of affairs, it is no wonder that the number of cars is growing exponentially. I also agree that if only everyone shows some basic civic sense and driving etiquette then half the problem will be solved. How many times will be blame the traffic cops ? The thing no one seems to realize is that traffic rules have been set and it is up-to us to obey the rules for our own benefit. If a majority of people follow the rules then traffic jams will reduce and as an added benefit, the mamas will not have a chance to promote corruption.

So all in all its a mixture of many issues and there does not seem to be a single solution.

[rohanjf]

Instead of restricting the number of cars in a city, why not restrict the cars on a particular road? On tolled highways, this technique is already in place. Toll collecting is so slow that only as many cars can enter the road per half a minute (usual time taken for toll collection) as there are toll booths.

Inside the cities, provide alternate options to reach crucial places (such as, industrial areas or IT hubs). Improve the quality of narrower roads, so that all bikes and cars can go that way. At the same time, ensure that bigger vehicles (buses, trucks) don't take these narrow roads. Right now, at least in Bangalore, all the vehicles that enter Whitefield or Electronic City have to take one and only one broad road. There are various other roads that can help the techies reach their office, but they are poorly maintained.

[vb-saan]

Restricting the number of cars on road may not be a practical solution. I believe traffic congestion can be eased to a great extent by bringing some discipline to the public transport system. For e.g.; check out the picture in the opening post. The buses are all over the place. If they don’t show the urgency and stick to the left lane (keep it as dedicated bus lane), quite a bit of this congestion can be eased. Currently in most of the Indian cities, the buses have this urgency to get into the right most lane immediately after pickup/drop-off, and those zigzag movements contribute largely to the traffic chaos.

[adroit]

what best time, i have been thinking over the issue for almost few days as due to some office work, i am visiting Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi on every alternate day. Its a mess out there when it comes to traffic control. In my opinion there are several key points for the increasing traffic problems these days.

• First and foremost, getting a license is very easy in our country. We need strict procedure to issue the license. I have seen many people who are not able to drive well and become pain in peak hours. Also, criteria should be important for both, skill & attitude.
• I remember days when one had to pay 500 Rs challan for jumping a signal in delhi. Everyone was in control and the moment it came back to 100, no one cares. who cares, you get caught, pay 100 bucks and move on. there should be higher fine for violators.
• Our infrastructure is not that bad but its the driving sense & wisdom of a driver. Wrong Parking, Bus stops in mid of the lane, Wrong Side drivers etc are the major reason for any traffic jam.
• Police has no interest in towing away the breakdown vehicles even during the peak hours but they are busy towing the vehicles parked in no parking. Every one works towards making more money then providing services to the needy.

i feel so bad when i see someone worry more about his car's side mirror then someone's life and do not care to even look when turning left. Road is full of idiots and till we do not get them straight, whatever may be done, it will always be a impossible task to control traffic on Indian Roads.

[wildsdi5530]

Epilogue: Rant ahead with plenty of sarcasm. No useful information submitted.
@Vinaya_Jag: All the examples you have shown is against the common man. A bus transporting about 72 passengers definitely has right of way. And if he has to physically block traffic to stay in the lead of traffic, there is no harm in parking crossways to prevent other vehicles from overtaking him. Imagine how difficult it is for a bus to again overtake smaller vehicles. A CEO rushing from one meeting to another can afford to go late, but a flower vendor cannot afford to be late to her make shift stall. Infact there must be a law forbidding overtaking public utility vehicles.
2-Wheelers are ridden by school and college kids, under privileged and working class. Imaging having to transport a load which would normally require a mini truck by 2-wheeler. They may transport 3 people at times. No protection from the elements. And come on, the universal rule on Indian roads is that where a man can walk, a bike can go followed by an auto followed by a bus. So again, bad taste.
Same holds true for autos and cabbies, they are sons of the soil(Mannina Maaga). They have right of way.
And trucks, these provide essential services to all and sundry. They should also be allowed everywhere. In fact they should be provided with '00' status like Bond.
In our country, having a car is a sign of corruption, a waste. It is against the common man. A car is one man's avarice and should be treated as such.