Transportastion overview in Kathmandu

Transportation system consists of group activities as well as entities interacting with each other to achieve goal for transporting people and goods from one place to another. So, this system, hence, has to meet the perceived social and economic needs of the users. As these needs change with change in time, the service from the existing system becomes inadequate to serve the public interest. The major negative impact of the traffic problem is traffic congestion. It becomes severe whenever demand exceeds the capacity of transportation.

Kathmandu is one of such rapidly growing city where the crisis in almost every sector can be foreseen The Centralization policy of the Government has led to the high growth rate of population in Kathmandu Valley. The location of major facilities within Kathmandu Valley has compelled the citizens to travel Kathmandu for education, Health, services, business, refreshment, and to travel abroad. This rapid increase in population and frequent travelling pattern of the people has added the load in the public transportation system. Transportation is the backbone of development without which development activity is not possible. The present public transportation system prevalent in the Kathmandu valley is unsystematic, unreliable, polluting and uncomfortable.

The centralized policy of government has caused increase in opportunities for health, education and other services causing increase in population of Kathmandu city. Due to the fact of increasing population in the Kathmandu valley, it has witnessed excessive traffic congestion problem which can be easily encountered in most of the intersections. The current status of transportation system in Kathmandu Valley is quite alarming in the absence of well-organized system. The valley is experiencing various problems in transportation sector. The growth of vehicles and simultaneously lack of improvements of the existing facilities and traffic management have resulted in un-organized improvement of traffic thereby increasing congestion accidents and decrease in vehicle speed affecting the road capacity and creating air pollution as well. Thus, it is quite important fact to in-corporate about the study of public transportation for the systematic, reliable, comfortable public transport system in Kathmandu Valley.

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION OPTIMIZATION IN BUDANILAKANTHA TO GODAVARI VIA INTRODUCTION OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT)

As final year project we are conducting the research on feasibility of transits and eventually optimizing public transport.With constant guidance of Er. Hmenat tiwari we are heading towards some positive outcome .The following members are involved in project . 

                                                                  Group members:
                                                                  Sandip Acharya
                                                                  Sagar Upreti
                                                                  Anand Marasini
                                                                  Sandeep Jha
                                                                   Suyog Kattel


we are very thankful for  Guidance and co-ordination from Er Hemant Tiwari during the entire project time.Without his supervision the projrct wouldnot have been effective and successful.

                                                                 Er. Hemant Tiwari  (  supervisor  )

                                                             

He also helped us in manpower managment during phase II (volume  studies and  delay survey) . Also various tools and guidelines during whole project.

                                               

                                         Article written by:  Er. SandipAcharya

BACKGROUND

The problem of optimizing the public transport paths of large networks is a complicated issue that cannot be solved by the ordinary optimization methods in mathematics. Various problems in solving public transport optimization include non-linearity, state of being non-convex, multi-target function, and the like one innovative method for solving the optimization problem of public transport paths was presented by Mandl (1979), comprising two steps:

In the first step, a primary possible network is created, and in the second step, a target function in the form of the total time of travelers, including on-means time and waiting time, is minimized. This algorithm does not consider the travel demand in the network construction stage. In Mandl’s algorithm, the emphasis is on the network’s coverage and direct paths (Mandl 1979). Throughout following years, other methods were proposed for solving these problems, such as localizing a path from the rapid transit system with population coverage insight considering interstation distances and source-destination demand.

FEASIBILITY OF BRT

Like many other cities in developing countries Kathmandu is struggling with the problem of how to upgrade and improve existing transit services at a low cost. The ever-increasing chaos and congestion, high rate of accidents and rapidly deteriorating transport operational, management and environmental condition calls for immediate considerations of an alternative transport option that could reduce the transport problem. In the way of searching a fruitful solution to the transport problem, various options are available. The experience of other developing countries (like Columbia, Jakarta) shows that implementation of a bus rapid transit option may come out successful. But, it is still questionable whether the modern space efficient mass transit system particularly introduce of BRT is feasible or not for the present road network system viz. quantity, quality, orientation, functionality as well as land use and transport network structure of this city. This study presents the prevailing transport and traveling scenario and the characteristics of existing mass transit system in Kathmandu Metropolitan city. Particular emphasis has been made to assess the feasibility of BRT options as compared to the physical and infrastructural capacity of the road network of Kathmandu city. Finally, a set of recommendations have been proposed to improve the physical, infrastructural and operational condition of the transportation system aims at introducing modern mass rapid transit system in Kathmandu Metropolitan City to meet the future enormous demand.

The quality of life and economic vitality of the Municipality of Kathmandu are seriously threatened by the rapid growth in polluting two-wheelers, cars, and auto tempos, which have been growing at 10% per annum. Kathmandu’s air pollution level is much higher than the recommended World Health Organization standard for suspended particulate matter, resulting in thousands of pre-mature deaths each year. Traffic flow is nearing capacity, so that any minor incident can bring traffic to a standstill for extended periods of time. The rapid growth in the private vehicle fleet means that if nothing is done, Kathmandu’s traffic condition will deteriorate further and result in severe congestion. Even if congestion causes only 5 minutes of additional travel time per trip in Kathmandu, this means Rs.150 crore per year lost to congestion. Worldwide, cities that have not developed an effective mass transit system have been unable to reduce congestion despite massive expenditures on new infrastructure.

fig:transit system for BRT

LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT:LRT

As the project objective we can also propose rail transit in this route. Being young on rail transits Nepal must focus on light rail concept as light rail is the most right option for the rail transit along Kathmandu. Designwise we can prefer monorail because of its shape and size but practically we have to adopt metro system being beginners in this field 

A monorail system has a slim and light body structure, and so the authority could argue that it would be more feasible for Kathmandu’s narrow roads. However, it is necessary to understand that the capacity of a monorail system is very limited, catering to only 3,000 to 4,000 passengers per direction per hour. For Kathmandu, a densely populated and rapidly growing city, a metro rail system should be provided instead.

fig:station for rail transits

government is massively conductiong the research in this sector on last three years .various studies are on going to build rail system inside kathmandu and outside valley.

govermnment proposed route

BRT over LRT:

Problem with metro-rail is that the distance between stations must be generous: at least 1.5  kilometers or more, in order to maintain higher travel speeds. This might not be possible in a densely aggregated city like Kathmandu where key junctions or possible metro stations are very close; this would materially increase the construction cost since more stations would incur greater cost. With BRT, keeping stations close, even only a few hundred meters apart would be financially feasible. 

SELECTED ROUTE:

Godavati to patan

Patan to Ratnapark

Ratnapark to Budanilkantha

OBJECTIVE OF RESEARCH

• To detect and overcome the complexity in public transport planning

As we proceed in this project, we encounter many conflicting demands which we need to balance. The public transportation services are expected to be safe, reliable and affordable. Our plan must be efficient and profitable in real scenario. Thus, it is crucial to scrutinize the plan and look for problems to overcome through this research.

• To handle real-time disturbances with ease

Every route in which a vehicle needs to travel to reach its destination have a certain probability of facing problem like crashes, traffic jam or any other disturbances. Our main objective is to suggest the protocol on the basis of our research to handle such disturbances and provide a smooth movement with ease.

• To maximize the demand to be served by the bus service

• To minimize operating cost

Transit planning models adopt this because the real operator cost depends on each particular case. For example, there can be subsidies and revenues based on the tickets effectively sold. Moreover, because our model is not conceived for operational planning, changes of buses among different lines are not considered; that characteristic is usually taken into account in vehicle scheduling models. Our proxy for operators cost is the number of buses required to travel simultaneously in the network.

• To minimize the total travel time

Its value is computed by the assignment sub-model once the frequencies are determined. Note that frequencies by themselves impact directly over the user waiting time. But because passengers consider all the travel time components to decide the lines to board, a change in the line frequencies also impacts over the whole travel time of each passenger.

The following measuremnts are followed and to be followed while conducting survey of public transport otimizaton.

THE AVAILABILITY AND USABILITY OF MEASUREMENTS AND SERVICES

Planning (acquisition of source data)

•      Traffic surveys

o    Automatic traffic counts

o    Intersection counts

o    Non-motorised traffic counts

o    Traffic functionality audits

o    Destination surveys

•         Road profile measurements

•         Inventory of surfacing damage

•         Noise measurements

Construction

•         Roadside technology construction and maintenance

•         Surfacings sawing services

Surfacing

•         Road profile measurements (quality and condition measurements)

•         Surfacings sawing services

Maintenance

•         Inventory of equipment and machinery

•         Inventories of road signs

•         Inventories of lighting

•         Winter maintenance quality measurements

•         Gravel road inventories

•         Digital photography of the road network

PHASE II : data collection and analysis

data collection

Data collection is categorized in two phases :phase I and phase II. In phase I we got engagged in volume count of the vehicles in the proposed route. we also got assistance from our supervisor Er.Hemant tiwari with extra members for this phase.

phase I data colletion team ( station: lagankhel)

In phase II we collect massive amount of data about delays and capacity .moreover we were focused in journey characteristic study like travel time , delay time,occupancy,journey speed and so on.
More than 60 days we were involved in data collection and field visit during project span. All the resources used were somewhat limited but we tried to get maximun benifit from the source available.

phase II data collection ( station : Gangalal,Maharanjung )

Data Processing and Analysis

Background

All the members were engagged during the analysis of the project. we use wide amount of books,notes and reference during the project.the result obtained are too fruitful for our entire nation to optmize and enforce the intelligent techniques for maximizing outputs.

we also intend to check the feasibility of LRT (light rail transit), ropeway transit,bus rapid transit.

   Alignment and stops of mass rapid transit is the prerequisite for developing an integrated mass rapid transit system. Then mass rapid transit system such as Metro and BRT are integrated on operational, physical and institutional level.

    Least generalized cost concept has been applied using stochastic user equilibrium  approach to select the user oriented BRT corridor. In the backdrop of need of mass rapid transit for major cities and making BRT a viable mass rapid transit mode in terms of ridership and accessibility, integrated BRT approach has been proposed widely all over the world.

   In the light of above studies and to make BRT planning more realistic in terms of transit users behavior and transit demand,my project and research presents GIS based methodology ,integrated approach and combined approach to select the user oriented corridor for horizon year based on stochastic user equilibrium approach.

ANALYSIS:

Primary data collection refers to the field traffic studies and surveys conducted for collecting detailed information of the city transportation system including household interview survey, origin and destination survey, bus passenger survey, bus passengers boarding-alighting survey, classified volume count and vehicle occupancy, speed and delay study, road network inventories and stated preference survey. Whereas secondary data including population, employment, vehicle registration, city bus network and passenger details, emission data, city master plan, municipal ward maps were collected from Government and non Government agencies involved in urban planning.

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INITIATION OF BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT) STUDY IN KATHMANDU FROM GODAVARI TO BUDHANILKANTHA IN NEPAL

METHODS FOR BUS RAPID TRANSIT INSIDE                   KATHMANDU VALLEY 

                                    prepared by :sandesh acharya

                                   2071/acem/096

As final year civil engineering project ,we conducted a research on BRT feasibility inside kathmandu valley on GODAVARI TO BUDHANILKANTHA .As being bounded by time and resources we used following techniques and methods for analysis .

the following methods could be used for analysis of brt and some of them couldn’t be used on our

1.DESTINATION SURVEYS

The purpose of destination surveys is to collect information on from where and to where journeys are being made. Destination surveys are carried out in connection with regional traffic surveys and, for example, for the needs of traffic system planning on our case BRT could be considered.

They are also done for specific projects, for example in connection with big and practical needy projects. The surveys are usually done by means of roadside interviews or direct field involvement.

Destination surveys can give us  following types of traffic information:

·         point of departure and destination (Godavari to budanilkantha , location)

·         journey time and length of journey

·         type of vehicle( 4 wheelers considered)

·         number of passingers

·         purpose of journey ( we asked questions)

Destination surveys are carried out as sampling surveys. In order to extend the sampling, a traffic count is done daily at the same time as the interviews and we choosed peak hour and off peak hours. As we were supervised we conducted the survey under guidance of Er.Hemant Tiwari.

2.SPEED INFORMATION

we carried out vehicle speed measurements on the road and proposed routr. Vehicle speed information can be measured by radar counter without drivers noticing. Alternatively, a speed display board can be connected to the measuring device, allowing the drivers of the vehicles to see their speed too. The method of measuring speed information mentioned first can be used if, we want to study the need to reduce driving speeds. Second one is effective and efficient for our BRT analysis.

     Due to resource limitation we collected speed data without above techniquies . infact we use distance covered and recorded time considering delays,jams and other factors. Though this speed information about speed collection techniq is not accurate we don’t have any othwer alternatives .

The  following information can be collected about the location:

·         total number of vehicles .

·         occupancy inside vehicles.( for trip prediction from govavari to lagankhel and vice versa).

·         analyses of vehicle speeds and traffic volumes at specific points.( we conducted by travelling in vechile for required times.

traffic studies for location of brt in ktm should include followinh:

·         automatic traffic counts ( not possible with  our fund provided by acem)

·         intersection counts ( visiting existing route Godavari to budanilkantha )

·         speed measurements/surveys ( noting distance covered and time without stoping vehicles)

·         mobile speed displays( can be used if resource is available )

·         noise level measurements/surveys ( not considered in ktm but should be analyzed)

·         pedestrian and bicycle counts ( for dedicated lane ;though not possible now)

·         axle weight analyses ( difficult to perform  and bound of available resources)

·         destination surveys various techniques can be used  and is applicable at some extenrt in our route)

3.TRAFFIC VOLUME DATA

Traffic volume data is usually needed for planning and monitoring measures. Our research includes different traffic volume surveys, such as:

·         Vehicle counts

·         Pedestrian and bicycle counts ( we consider  people and bicycle moving outside main lane )

·         Occupancy inside 4 wheeler in our proposed route ( Godavari to budanilkantha)

·           Densly Trip generating areas. (main stations)

Parking area surveys ( for possibility of dedicated lane and traffic management.

If funding is extensively available the following could give effective output. since our research is time bound and resource limited we conducted with available techniques and methods.

THE AVAILABILITY AND USABILITY OF MEASUREMENTS AND SERVICES

Planning (acquisition of source data)

·         Traffic surveys

o    Automatic traffic counts

o    Intersection counts

o    Non-motorised traffic counts

o    Traffic functionality audits

o    Destination surveys

·         Road profile measurements

·         Inventory of surfacing damage

·         Noise measurements

Construction

·         Roadside technology construction and maintenance

·         Surfacings sawing services

Surfacing

·         Road profile measurements (quality and condition measurements)

·         Surfacings sawing services

Maintenance

·         Inventory of equipment and machinery

·         Inventories of road signs

·         Inventories of lighting

·         Winter maintenance quality measurements

·         Gravel road inventories

·         Digital photography of the road network