Workshop On Finding Traffic Solutions For Gurgaon

October 22, 2012

Workshop Agenda

Gurgaon’s traffic problem is cited as one of the most serious issues facing the city. The quality of traffic infrastructure in the city has gone from bad to worse. The volume of inbound and outbound traffic has grown manifold leading to perpetual jams on key intersections.
Several roads intersections are poorly planned and structured. They need widening to improve the flow of traffic.
Other roads need structures like foot-overbridges, underpasses and flyovers to not only decongest traffic but also improve safety for pedestrians.
Sectoral roads have potholes and need maintenance. Poor quality of roads is one of the main reasons for low speeds and riding quality.
Besides some key roads in Gurgaon need service lanes to improve accessibility and avoid traffic criss-crossing.
The Delhi-Gurgaon expressway has become a sore point and a major bottleneck despite being developed into a sixlane
world-class facility. Simple and innovative traffic management solutions can help remove the bottlenecks on this strategic road.
Public transport is far from the desirable levels. Buffer connections with metro stations and inter-city transportation need to be improved.
More parking spaces including multi-level parking involving the private sector can also help decongest roads and widen their capacity.
Private companies be it tolling, traffic management solution providers, road maintenance companies need to involved.

Date & Venue of Workshop On Finding Traffic Solutions For Gurgaon

Date: November 21, 2012

Venue : The Palms, Sushant Lok-I, Gurgaon

CONTACT: [email protected]. Call us up at: 0124-4384669; +91-9910148148
Visit at: gurgaonfirst.org

Specifically, the workshop will address questions like:

Which agencies and authorities are responsible for various roads in Gurgaon?
What are the some of the big issues facing Gurgaon’s road and traffic sector?
What are some of the technologies that can make a difference?
How can the Delhi-Gurgaon expressway be decongested?
How can high volume traffic chowks be decluttered?
What are some of the traffic management solutions being used elsewhere in Mumbai and Bangalore as well as outside
India that can be brought to Gurgaon?

Target Audience

The workshop should interest:

Gurgaon road authorities
Traffic solution providers
Traffic consultancy providers
Toll plaza operators
Road construction and equipment companies
RWAs of Gurgaon
Gurgaon traffic police
Road research Institutes
Apex bodies
Civil society bodies/associations and NGOs

traffic workshop brochure

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Expo & Events

A capital cost of capacity

March 3, 2008

Demand is growing faster than anticipated. And there is such dearth of infrastructure that new capacities will be absorbed promptly

Last month, the showpiece urban transportation project, the 28km Delhi-Gurgaon expressway was inaugurated. Another big-ticket project, Bangalore International Airport Ltd, is set to begin operations in March. In the case of the expressway, traffic on the first day was what was projected for 2013. In Bangalore, the passenger traffic will cross 11.3 million—a number initially projected for 2015—by the end of the year. In both cases, capacities for the first year are inadquate.

Clearly, the project planners in both instances got their projections quite wrong. But, if one steps back, a more complex picture emerges. The most obvious fact is that demand is growing faster than anticipated. And there is such dearth of infrastructure that new capacities will be absorbed promptly. In contrast, China seems to be a case of excess capacities.

Another factor being debated is that this is not a simple case of an owner-operator failing to anticipate traffic. Any entrepreneur would see the obvious and plan for it. Instead, it is argued, given the cost of capital, one shouldn’t expect anything different. Our real interest rate—corrected for inflation—is about 7%, probably among the highest in the world. Hence, the entrepreneur’s action would be an error of commission—to minimise project risk.

The other side of the coin is that the pricing of public services is subsidized, largely to ensure that the less well off can avail the benefits. In other words, far more people can afford to consume these services than otherwise. While not making a case for leaving out these segments, there is need to strike a correction.

The reason is simple.

Subsidized consumption, like other political largesse, comes at a fiscal cost. Not only does this push up the cost of capital, it also—since government borrowings inevitably expand money supply—stokes inflationary pressures, hurting the very people that the government set about protecting. In China it is the opposite, where fiscal profligacy subsidizes investment.

Both extremes are unsustainable. Given India’s mixed socio-economic demography, there is a case for revisiting subsidized consumption. A good beginning would be if the political parties arrive at a consensus that ensures bad economics will no longer be passed off as sensitive politics.

A precedent exists. Gujarat, in the early 1990s, had come out with a document detailing an all-party commitment to structural reforms in the state. That no doubt underlines the economic success of the state over the past decade.

Source: livemint.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BOT, Construction, Expressway, Gurgaon, Highway, Projects

India’s Largest Toll Plaza – Delhi-Gurgaon

January 28, 2008

Kapsch Metro JV has commissioned the Delhi Gurgaon Expressway with 3 Toll Plazas with a total of 59 toll lanes. The largest toll plaza has a total of 32 + 4 reversible toll lanes.

The Project has a total of 24 ETC with some of them mixed type with cash and smart card facility ; the remaining being cash and smart Card type.

All lanes are equipped with Automatic vehicle classification systems . All the three plazas are interconnected through a WAN.

India’s Largest Toll Plaza -Delhi-Gurgaon is in operation!

The First Kapsch Toll System In India Finalized: Toll System For One Of The Most Frequented Highways Is Up And Running.

Kapsch
Since End of January 2008 runs the operation of the first road toll project of Kapsch TrafficCom AG in India with no problems. Within a joint venture structure – the Kapsch Metro Joint Venture – Kapsch TrafficCom alongside the Indian Metro Road Systems Ltd. fitted one section of the National Highway No. 8 with a modern manual/electronic toll system. This highway covers the route from Delhi to Gurgaon and is one of the most frequented roads in the region. The central toll plaza with altogether 32 toll lanes is one of the largest toll stations in all of Asia.

Since January 2008, the road from Delhi to Gurgaon features a modern manual/electronic toll system based on microwave technology (CEN 278). Completion of this toll system marks the successful finalization of the first road toll project of Kapsch TrafficCom in India. The principal, licensee DS Constructions Ltd., decided to award the contract to the Kapsch Metro Joint Venture in September 2006.

“For us, the selection of KapschMetro JV as a technology partner was an important step in the management of the traffic volumes on the project. The technology selected is stable, secure and has processed over 3 million transactions to date with no problems. The installation of the equipment was done in difficult circumstances with live traffic of over 130,000 per day travelling through the lanes during the installation period. The equipment implementation of the Delhi-Gurgaon toll project is a success story, Kapsch Metro JV delivered the project on schedule and to our complete satisfaction“, explains Allan Le Roux, Chief Operations Officer- Tolling of DS Constructions Ltd.

“Kapsch has already performed successful projects in India in the past, contracting GSM-R work for Indian Railroads, the Indian national railway system. With this commission, we were able to enter the Indian toll system market within an extremely short time, owing our success largely to our staff’s wealth of know-how and to the many years of experience we have in the Asian area. For me, the route that has now been completed is just the beginning of numerous further business ventures in Asia“, says Erwin Toplak, Board Member of Kapsch TrafficCom AG.

The Toll Road project is constructed on a 20 year BOT basis and has a length of 27 km long and rates among the most heavily trafficked projects in the region and provides important connectivity to the Indira Gandhi International Airport of New Delhi and the “New Millennium City” Gurgaon which boasts as having one of the worlds biggest shopping malls! The three toll plazas on the project have a total of 56 toll lanes. The main toll plaza located on the Delhi Haryana Border has 32 toll lanes. Motorists are able to use cash or use a Smart Card in at all lanes except the 4 dedicated non stop lanes with exclusive payment via microwave TAGs.

Kapsch TrafficCom AG is a global provider of innovative road traffic telematic systems, products, and services. Kapsch TrafficCom develops and supplies electronic toll collection systems, in particular multi-lane free-flow (MLFF) systems, and is also able to act as the technical and commercial manager for operating these systems. Further, Kapsch TrafficCom offers traffic management solutions (with the focus on road safety and traffic control), electronic access control systems, and parking space management. Kapsch TrafficCom has established itself among the global market leaders for ETC systems with more than 140 installed toll systems in 30 countries in Europe, Australia, Latin America, the Asian/Pacific Area, and South Africa, which altogether feature more than eleven million transponders and about 11’000 fitted lanes. Kapsch TrafficCom is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and has subsidiaries and representative offices in 18 countries.

Vienna on 27th March, 2008

For further information, please contact:
Brigitte Herdlicka
Public Relations & Sponsoring
Kapsch Group
Phone: +43 (0) 50 811 2705
1120 Vienna, Wagenseilgasse 1
E-Mail: [email protected]
www.kapschtraffic.com
www.kapsch.net

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BOT, Construction, Delhi, EPC, ETC, Expressway, Gurgaon, Highway, Infrastructure, Investment and Finance, Media, Metro Road Systems, NCR, NHAI, NHDP, Projects, Toll Management System, Toll Plaza, Tolling

Gurgaon Expressway may be farther than you thought

December 20, 2007

You may not be able to make that superfast dash to Gurgaon on January 1 after all. And even afterwards, the drive won’t be as easy as you may imagine — not for a while at least.

“We may miss the December 31 deadline by two-three days,” RP Indoria, chief project director of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) said, contradicting reported comments by a senior colleague. Even then, the Hero Honda crossing underpass and Kapasehra flyover won’t be ready, and the terrible traffic bottlenecks will stay.

Nor will the Expressway fulfil all the essential requirements of a high-speed corridor — such as median fencing, foot-overbridges, and service lanes for local traffic. Work on toll plazas and signages looks far from nearing completion.

Indoria said NHAI aimed to provide “relief to harried and harassed commuters”, but seemed to suggest its focus was on VIPs. “We might open the Rao Tula Ram Marg-Palam flyover and domestic airport loop in the first week of January… Since RTR-Palam flyover and loop is used by VVIPs we would like to ensure all safety measures before we open these,” he said.

All of which indicates the hyped-up “throwing open” of the Expressway could turn out to be only a technical opening of a certain stretch, with little change in the commuter’s actual experience.

Source: hindustantimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BOT, Construction, Expressway, Gurgaon, Highway, NHAI, NHDP

A K Bhattacharya: India`s infrastructure puzzle

December 19, 2007

National highways in India have seen a dramatic improvement over the last decade. Improvements are more evident in shorter stretches. For instance, Jaipur, Chandigarh and Agra are now well-connected with Delhi. Similarly, the highway that connects Mumbai with Pune can easily compare with the best anywhere in the world. This is true of many other national highways connecting major cities in southern and eastern India.

Many of these roads can be used only on payment of toll charges. Going by the available statistics on toll collections, these roads have become the preferred option for motorists and even heavy vehicle drivers. In fact, the toll charges are quite low compared to the benefits they offer to the road users. There is a clear case for raising these toll charges so that the maintenance of the roads can be ensured without any funds constraint. Not surprisingly, the National Highway Authority of India is planning to build more such toll roads connecting different cities across the country.

Yet, better highways have not led to a reduction in the total travelling time. This is ironical. If you are travelling from Jaipur to Delhi, you will take at least 45 minutes to an hour to cover a distance of about 10 kilometres within the city before reaching the national highway. Once on the highway, the journey is smooth and fast with about 250 kilometres being covered in about three and a half hours. The problem starts again once you are about to enter the city of Delhi. And depending on your final destination point, this might mean an additional travel time of a couple of hours. It is the same story if you were to travel by road from Chandigarh to Delhi.

So, national highways have made driving easy once you get out of the city. But to reach a destination, you need to travel through the city. And the bottleneck is at the entry point of the city. Nothing much has been done in any of these cities to decongest the arterial access roads. The city of Delhi may have seen more flyovers in the last few years, but the impact has been marginal because the growth in the vehicular population in the city has also been phenomenal.

Airlines should have gained from this increasing vehicular congestion at the entry points of all cities. But pause for a moment to reflect on what is happening to airport congestions in almost all the major cities, you will notice a virtual re-run of what has already happened to Indian highways. The flying time between Delhi and Mumbai is only about an hour and a half. But the wait on the tarmac (in addition to the early check-in requirements because of security reasons) before the aircraft can take off is almost half an hour. There is another 30-45 minutes of hovering in the skies before the aircraft can actually land and you can be taken to the arrival terminal building. In effect, you end up waiting for almost the same time that you take to cover the actual distance. All this is due to airport congestion. Gone are the days when once you were airborne, you could confidently estimate the time by which you would be home. Consequently, there is little to choose between taking a Delhi-Chandigarh flight and travelling this sector by car.

In any other country, the railways should have benefited from this immensely. Since most railway stations are located in the heart of these cities, there is no long wait before one can reach the final point of destination. But the irony is that the Indian Railways has failed to take full advantage of this situation. The Shatabdi trains that run on these sectors could have easily become a preferred option for those who fly or travel by road on such sectors. But the quality of service and an erratic punctuality record are major problems for the Indian Railways.

Things might change though in the next couple of years. Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad and Bangalore would get new or completely refurbished airports with a capacity to handle more passengers without causing congestion and delays. There might be more expressways connecting more cities. Even the Indian Railways is planning to launch faster trains to connect different cities in all the regions.

But the worries might still remain. India’s infrastructure problems arise not just from its inability to create facilities with adequate capacity. Equally frustrating is the failure of most managers of these infrastructure projects to identify the last-mile problems and fix them before they become unmanageable. Even the country’s best-managed infrastructure project, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, is not free from this malaise. And the solution does not lie with these individual project managers. There is an urgent need for the civic authorities in each of these cities to move in tandem with the infrastructure project managers and create necessary facilities within the cities to resolve the last-mile problems and remove other bottlenecks so that the full benefits of these huge projects accrue to the people.

Source: business-standard.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BOT, Construction, Expressway, Gurgaon, Highway, Infrastructure, Investment and Finance, NCR, NHAI, NHDP, Projects

From Delhi to Gurgaon in 15-20 mins

December 19, 2007

NEW DELHI/GURGAON: If you spend hours fretting and fuming while trying to get from Gurgaon to Delhi and vice versa, here’s some good news. On December 31, all flyovers on the 27-km Gurgaon-Delhi expressway will be opened. That includes the one curving across the road to IGI airport, which means going to catch a flight would also become less of a pain.

National Highways Authority of India claimed this deadline is final — there will be no extension. Toll on this expressway — which will reduce Delhi-Gurgaon travel time to 15-20 minutes from the current hour-long agony — will not be charged right away. In fact, talks are still on to fix the toll amount as well as its modalities.

While the final toll amount will be announced shortly, indications are that it will be Rs 15-16 for the entire stretch, but 50% less for vehicles regularly commuting between Gurgaon and Delhi and the other way round. In other words, Gurgaon residents working in Delhi and Delhi residents working in Gurgaon would have to shell out Rs 7.50 or Rs 8 — possibly not such a high amount considering the convenience.

Two-wheelers, three-wheelers and all slow-moving traffic will not be allowed on the expressway. These will have to take the service lane adjacent to the expressway.

NHAI’s member, technical, Nirmaljeet Singh said: “As of now all the flyovers except the one at Palam are operational. This too will be open before 2008.” Said another official, “We have put the expansion joints and now curing is in progress. Just a few things remain to be done and they will be done in the year’s last week when traffic will be less on certain days because of government holidays.”

Singh added that the loop connecting to the domestic airport would be operational by the year-end. This means the current jam in the approach to the airport would ease up somewhat. It will fully clear up once the new domestic terminal being constructed between 1A and 1B is completed.

While toll tax on vehicles will be levied only after the independent consultant gives a satisfactory report of the working of the toll plazas, the one near Delhi is a state-of-the-art 32-lane plaza, designed for easy traffic flow.

Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under BOT, Construction, Delhi, Expressway, Gurgaon, Highway, NHAI

Expressway toll may soon be linked to distance travelled

October 25, 2007

NEW DELHI, OCTober 24: In a move that is likely to benefit consumers just as much as it would India’s premier road development authority, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has said that expressways scheduled to come up under the National Highway Development Project (NHDP) would follow a ‘closed tolling’ system, which would charge users a toll calculated on the basis of distance travelled.

Under the format, access to every entry and exit point of these expressways would be controlled allowing the road operator to monitor distance traversed and accordingly charge the levy. “All the expressways which will come up under phase VI of NHDP will be implemented on a closed tolling format as these will be access-controlled roads,” said a senior NHAI official. “While users will have to pay only for the stretch of the road used, the road developer will also benefit from improved revenue collections from toll.”

According to the official, at present a significant number of expressway users — especially local ones — skirt the levy by entering and exiting expressways before coming to a toll point. Hence, collection efficiency on many of these ‘open-toll’ highways and expressways ranges between 70-80 per cent.

The 1,000 km of Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) toll expressways envisaged to come up under the closed toll format, at an indicative cost of Rs 15,000 crore, would not only help private developers maximise earnings but also induce more customers to ply through them by enabling them to pay a more ‘realistic’ toll, says the official.

One of the first expressways slated to come up under the format is Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation’s 135-km Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) expressway, also known as the Western Peripheral Expressway. The Rs 1,800 crore expressway, the largest in the country, would provide a high-speed link between northern Haryana and its southern districts like Sonepat, Jhajjar, Gurgaon and Faridabad and sport hi-tech toll plazas at a number of points en-route.

“All entrances to the KMP expressway would be controlled and a ‘token’ — a smart card encoded with the issuing station’s information — would be provided to motorists at the time of entry into the system,” said Rafi Khan, general manager of DS Constructions, one of the concessionaires for the project. “The motorist can exit from any of the controlled locations and will be required to pay only for the distance travelled.”

A total of 10 such exit and entry points, including two main toll plazas at Kundli and Palwal, are planned on the expressway. With the closed tolling format in place, the developer expects to see 30,000 passenger car units roll on the road every day, with a projected robust growth of around 9-10 per cent every year once the project is completed in 2009.

With closed toll roads like the Ahmedabad-Vadodara expressway already operational and others like NHAI’s 134-km Eastern Peripheral Expressway in the offing, the stage seems set for a more consumer-centric toll system to become the norm on the country’s fast roads.

Consumer-Friendly

•Extension of 95-km Baroda-Ahmedabad expressway by 400 km to Mumbai

•Delhi-Agra

•Delhi-Meerut

•Chennai-Bangalore

•Kolkata-Dhanbad

Source: indianexpress.com

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Construction, Expressway, Infrastructure, Investment and Finance

New path or alleyway

October 12, 2006

Are contractual ‘innovations’ holding up the showpiece highway project?

It continues to be a slow trudge on the fast lane. Barely 35 per cent of the contracts for the North-South East-West corridor (NHDP-II) have been awarded. This lethargy in the awarding of contracts by National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), under the UPA, is predictably bound to lead to long delays in the construction of the highway network across the country.

Written by ITW Editor · Filed Under Highway, Investment and Finance, NHAI, NHDP, Projects

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