[jnanesh]

Observations on the traffic patterns in Chennai.

I travel from Kilpauk to Ascendas at 8.45 in the morning and have noticed that the amount of traffic on a Monday is the least and that on a Friday is the most, with the amount of traffic gradually increasing through the week. My travel time is the least on a Monday and I inevitably get stuck in long queues on Friday morning. I start at the same time everyday +-5 mins so that way different timings and thus varying amounts of traffic is mostly ruled out. I've been working for ~8 months now and this pattern has been fairly consistent in the morning.

Has anyone else also noticed this on the same/different route, any reasons/theories for why this happens?

I always thought Monday would have the most traffic considering its the beginning of the week.

[shiv4747]

This is quite an interesting thread. Especially the very first post. Got me curious and made me go through almost of the pages of this thread.

I have been riding/driving in Chennai for almost 15 years now and I have resided in most of the places/parts. Places such as Vadapalani, Anna nagar, Velachery, Alwarpet, Valasaravakkam, Neelangarai, Tamabram, Kelambakkam, Shollinganallur, Avadi, Mint, Thiruvanmiyur, Palavakkam.

From my understanding, I would like to share the type of riders/drivers(mostly riders) & Others(autos/share autos etc) in Chennai.

1. Want to/not want to over take - these guys wont let you over take though they can over take but hesitate to do it and not letting us do either.
2. City speed limit riders - They belong to a age limit 40 to 50. they ride/drive in the centre of the road. they never let us go nor increase the speed though there is a empty roads
3. Overloaded - They ride with 4 to 5 ppl on a bike (2 elderly with 2 to 3 kids) they dont watch out any vehicles. they dont look at their side mirror. we have to be careful going behind them
4. Intentional overtakers/racers - They ride/drive in a decent speed. if we are in a hurry and over take, they come and over take us and dont let us go.
5. "Pullaingo" - they just ride zig zag whether its an empty road or traffic. They dont wear helmet mostly. Definitely no side mirrors in their bike. They "wake up" if they see a 300 cc or above category and race them with their scooter.
6. Autos - the kings of the city. They "believe" they are always right. nothing more to add on.
7. Share Autos - They go from extreme right lane to extreme left lane without a hand signal nor an indicator. Need to be very much cautious riding/driving behind them. They just dont wait for the vehicle infront of them to move. they just cut and disrupt the traffic and make it more complicated traffic situation.
8. MTC buses - Well. we all "know"

Please note this is not intended to point out to anyone in particular. These above are just my observatoins and wanted to share here. Thanks

Cheers
SSB

[d.w.w.]

Originally Posted by jnanesh

I always thought Monday would have the most traffic considering its the beginning of the week.

I have observed a similar pattern in and around OMR. Mondays are super cool and Tuesday being the most horrific. The traffic starts right from the streets and it takes some time to reach the main road itself. Wherever I can I avoid main roads and take streets which can take me to my destination, but Tuesday traffic beats that too. Friday traffic is much less compared to Tuesday; even the office attendance on Fridays are much less. Guess people hates Mondays now and start their work week on Tuesday

[mailbalaji]

Originally Posted by d.w.w.

Friday traffic is much less compared to Tuesday; even the office attendance on Fridays are much less. Guess people hates Mondays now and start their work week on Tuesday

May be because of the 3 days Work from Office mandate, guess people prefer working from Tue to Thu in office and have a long weekend (Fri to Mon)

[Kaumad]

I dont know who is dumber - the Chennai Traffic Police or CMRL.
OMR has a new trend now. Wherever barricades for metro work have been erected, cordoning off sections of the main road, either CTP or CMRL have come up with a ridiculously stupid solution, to ease traffic flow.

The concrete medians separating the service road and the main road are now being broken, in order to "merge" the both of them. Earlier, the service lanes used to be two-way, which facilitated traffic in both directions, especially for residents on either side of OMR. Now with the "merging" there is total chaos at certain sections as the two-way traffic suddenly faces on-coming OMR traffic, prompting them to play chicken on the road and dodge on-coming vehicles!!

Did the authorities not think of the consequences of this move or are they just plain dumb?

[saisree]

Originally Posted by Kaumad

Did the authorities not think of the consequences of this move or are they just plain dumb?

Wherever you see these CCTP folks, you will see vehicles piling up.
I believe they don't have any systematic training/ thought processing in regulating the traffic.

[d.w.w.]

Originally Posted by saisree

Wherever you see these CCTP folks, you will see vehicles piling up.
I believe they don't have any systematic training/ thought processing in regulating the traffic.

From what I see in my area the primary reason appears to be understaffed traffic police. The roads are wider and a single police officer is not able to control the traffic. As soon as he move to one side of the road after stopping the vehicles there, people on the far end starts sneaking out eventually choking the road . When there are 2 or more officers, the traffic flows much smoother.

[vvivek85]

I used to take Kodambakkam flyover while going to office. For decades there were no dividers in that flyover which was turning out to be deadly as some motorists and even car drivers will take the liberty of driving in wrong way posing threats to in coming vehicles. I recently noticed a divider has been installed in the flyover. It is a very good initiative by CCTP and I hope this is a permanent one and replaced duly whenever there is a damage.



Looks like one such divider is installed in Usman road flyover as well.



Source : Greater Chennai traffic police FB page

[KPR]

Originally Posted by vvivek85

I used to take Kodambakkam flyover while going to office. For decades there were no dividers in that flyover which was turning out to be deadly as some motorists and even car drivers will take the liberty of driving in wrong way posing threats to in coming vehicles. I recently noticed a divider has been installed in the flyover. It is a very good initiative by CCTP and I hope this is a permanent one and replaced duly whenever there

This arrangement may last maximum one week. How do I know? It was done in bridge across Cauvery river and within few days everything was damaged. If possible please post a photograph after few days.

[Capri89]

At the Chromepet signal near Saravana

Can you count the number of violators

https://youtu.be/ieWWOS4Jf2c

[ksmrsm]

Originally Posted by Capri89

At the Chromepet signal near Saravana

Can you count the number of violators

https://Youtu.be/ieWWOS4Jf2c

Unfortunately, people these days do not care about the traffic signals. This is prevalent throughout Chennai except when there is a serious police presence.

I had a couple of incidents yesterday. One was a mini van who switched on his hazard lights and abruptly turned right at a signal. Another was a helmeted gent in a bike, without rear view mirrors, who abruptly turned left to enter a fuel station.

There are a lot more incidents on a daily basis that we can encounter.

[d.w.w.]

Whole OMR is a mess now with ongoing metro rail construction. The service roads have merged with the main road at places and vehicles are going in all possible directions. Two wheelers are now taking the main road to travel in wrong direction and anyone travelling fast through left side on the road is likely to hit these guys. At places where the service road still exists, travelling on service road is much faster compared to main road.

Traffic from Sholinganallur towards Aawin/Infy is just horrible now with restrictions in Sholinganallur signal, I remember how deserted this stretch was when I used to travel regularly to Siruseri in 2010s.

[vvivek85]

Noticed this speed sensor at Mount road opposite to Spencer Plaza, the road towards Gemini flyover. Guess it is programmed to display “Too Fast” for speeds above 40.