Case Study: Reduce Traffic By Resolving Contradictions

By KRD Pravin Population explosion is a curse as well as a boon for India. It is the second biggest market of the world. It is a strength, but at the same time it causes a scarcity of infrastructure and results in other infrastructure related issues. Mumbai is one of the most populated cities in the world. In numbers, Mumbai is roughly one percent of the Indian market. Residents of Mumbai face many problems on a daily basis such as housing, costly health facilities, scarcity of open space, water supply, crowded public transport (local trains as well as busses) and heavy traffic on roads especially during rush hours. The main contributing factor to these problems is the growing population.

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A measurement system is needed to gauge the impact of travel-related problems on "quality of life" since it is intangible. An approximate measurement system for transportation, therefore, is also recommended for the problem of overcrowding in trains and traffic congestion on roads. This system calculates the overall impact of overcrowding and transportation on quality of life.

Discussion Forum
"I went through a cycle using the contradiction matrix to solve a problem, but I ended up with a whole bunch of new problems. Am I doing this right? Is this going to keep happening? Is there an actual end?" Contribute to this Discussion

The Problems

Whatever infrastructure Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) provides (or can provide) seems to be insufficient within just a few months. Roads cannot be widened beyond a certain width; the number of local trains cannot be increased considering in peak hours there are already local trains every three minutes. Due to these constraints, the problems of crowded trains and traffic jams arise and increase. Commuters' productive hours are decreased and result in the loss of business and personal human hours. Some observations related to the problems of commuting are:

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In morning peak hours, the commuters travel mostly from various suburban areas to south Mumbai and vice versa in the evening peak hours. During these hours, the issues faced on road are excessive pollution, reduced mileage of vehicles and a loss of natural resources due to traffic jams. Other issues faced by the commuters on roads as well as in local trains are delays, stress, discomfort during journeys, intangible professional costs, accidents and the potential for physical injuries. Travel against the flow (away from South Mumbai in the morning and back in the evening) is less, which results in nonutilization of resources.

Figure 2: Travel on a Local Mumbai Train

The problems, therefore, are:

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How to increase the ease of travel for commuters? How to reduce the waste of commuting time without reducing the population of city, restricting people to settle in Mumbai or reducing the number of jobs? How to reduce the average time of commuting for Mumbaikars (those who work and/or reside in Mumbai) during rush hours?

Measurement of Problems
It has been observed that during peak hours, each train is over filled by 3-4 times its seating capacity. And during peak hours on roads, there are frequent long traffic slowdowns or halts. These busy times are measured as follows: for local trains the percent full per train and for roads the minimum speed of traffic. This measurement system can be mapped to measure the effect of solving transportation problem on the overall quality of life of Mumbaikars. By maximizing the suggested measurement specifications, a train can be filled up to 1.4-1.6 times its seating capacity and on roads, there should not be a complete traffic halt (apart from exceptional circumstances) and traffic movement should maintain a minimum of 25-35 km/h. A solution "fails" if it does not meet these specifications a minimum of 95 percent of the time. For calculating impact on quality of life in Mumbai, it is assumed that transportation problems contribute 15 percent to the overall reduction. If the solution system works within specifications, it improves a person's quality of life by 15 percent. If the solution fails to meet specification, it is discarded and even better solutions are looked for, or if the solution is acceptable then the quality of life will be affected proportionately. A higher penalty, however, for not meeting specifications is appreciated.

Applying TRIZ to Solve Mumbai's Transportation Problem

The Theory of Inventive Problem Solving (TRIZ) requires the identification of contradicting parameters and then converting the problem into a contradiction between corresponding generic parameters one parameter improving vs. another parameter worsening. In this case, they are technical contradictions the problem is with commuting. In terms of TRIZ, the problem is stated as the volume of people commuting long distances wastes their time and the volume of commuters' causing uneasiness to commuters. (Note: the author considers the "crowd as a whole" as the "volume" of travels.) In other words, we would like to improve the movement (change in location, commuting) of people without compromising time and comfort. The problem can be written in terms of improving and worsening parameters as follows: 1. 2. 3. Improve the transportation of the number of people (volume of travelers) without compromising their comfort (i.e., ease of commuting, ease of operation of the system). Improve transportation of the number of people (volume of travelers) without compromising on their wasted time. Reducing the wasted time without compromising the number of people commuting.

On mapping these trade-offs on the contradiction matrix, the following are the most popular inventive principles suggested to solve the problem: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Principle 1, division Principle 2, removing Principle 10, working beforehand and pre-arrangement Principle 18, synchronization Principle 28, substitution Principle 30, isolation

Another aspect of the problem is that population growth is a physical contradiction we need people to work and people are not needed because they create various infrastructure-related constraints. This physical contradiction can be solved using TRIZ separation principles, which also can be applied in conjunction with the above suggested solutions principles to reach better solutions (such as separation in time, space or conditions).

Possible Solutions
Using the aforementioned six principles for solving this problem, a few solutions can be suggestion and developed depending on the need. 1. Synchronization and segmentation (principles 1, 10 and 18) 1. Divide or relocate offices for employee convenience. It is easy to set up virtual offices using existing IT facilities.

2.

3. 4.

Develop other parts of Mumbai so that companies can shift from Southern Mumbai to these other places. This also may initiate cost savings as Southern Mumbai is costliest location in India. 3. Offices can be asked to decide on shift-wise start and end office-timing such as 8:30 a.m.5:00 p.m., 9:00 a.m.5:30 p.m., 9:30 a.m.6:00 p.m., 10:00 a.m.6:30 p.m., 10:30 a.m.7:00 p.m. (Los Angeles began to use this strategy during the 1984 Olympics in order to reduce congestion.) 4. Synchronize personal vehicle travelers car pooling or provide incentives for employees to use company busses. 5. Use the above options together to reduce traffic congestion. For example, different shifts with offices at different parts of Mumbai and company busses going among them. Isolation, removing and substitution (principles 2, 28 and 30) 1. Let employees work from home. 2. Travel to office by convenience; for example, people can plan appointments so that they can avoid crowds and arrive late to the office. 3. Telemarketers and those with similar jobs can use home offices so they do not need to travel 4. Substitution make home the office, office the home 5. Separate people who need to be in office at a given time and change their working hours accordingly. Provide special trains and busses with outlets and Internet-access as on-the-move facilities so that people with laptops can work during their travel (principles 10 and 28). (This is happening in San Francisco.) If a larger solution is sought (considering all of India), relocate offices to other parts of India tier two and three cities (principles 1, 2 and 30). 1. The solution can help in the development of the country as a whole. 2. Create more jobs in other areas that would reduce the migration of people from one place to other. 3. Companies can relocate to the most suitable locations for their operations. For example companies with business related to mines and ores can be relocated to areas with the most mines. Faster as well as cheaper communication results, aside from a growth of employment opportunities in those areas. IT companies can work from smaller cities also, since they require people to sit and work in office, reducing the taxation on infrastructure in and around cities. 4. Decentralize offices throughout various parts of India.

2.

Taking solutions 1 and 2 in conjunction, traffic jams and train overcrowding can be reduced further. If these solutions are tried, the target measurement specifications set forth can be achieved. These solutions will increase the flow of people in both directions, toward and away from South Mumbai, diluting the overcrowding in trains and increasing the average speed on roads. Consider solution 1.5. If offices shift across the train stations from Churchgate to Borivali and ChhatrapatiShivaji-Terminus to Thane with shift-wise office timings, trains occupancy will lessen and traffic will not be unidirectional, reducing the commuting problem. Borivali is situated in the northwestern section of Mumbai, at a distance of 33.4 km from Churchgate Railway Station; there are 20 intermediate stations between these two stations. There is a similar distance between Chhatrapati-Shivaji-Terminus to Thane (34 km) and there are 16 intermediate stations. People travel toward Churchgate or Chhatrapati-ShivajiTerminus from all 36 stations. If various offices are shifted along the lines, the crowd movement will become bi-directional.

Conclusion
TRIZ is a powerful tool for inventive problem solving and it can help to eliminate contradictions. The author used TRIZ to develop solutions for improving the quality of life for people in and around Mumbai by examining one specific problem overcrowding in local trains and traffic congestion on roads. If these suggested solutions are strategically implemented, the problem of overcrowding in can be solved to a large extent. The solutions can be refined and fine-tuned with further studies and feasibility tests. Depending on the requirements, these solutions can be scaled to implement in other cities such as Bangalore. In an extreme case, if solution number four is desired, a larger political-will and significant public participation will be necessary. The author expects every part of India can catch-up with the thriving Indian economy.

About the Author:

KRD Pravin received his engineering degree in Electronics form Madhav Institute of Technology and Science, Gwalior (MP) India. His major interests include learning and implementing new concepts. His work ethic does not come as a sense of obligation, but from the satisfaction he gains from completing a project successfully. He worked on artificial intelligence during his undergraduate studies and was published in the national level conference. At present, Pravins focus is applying TRIZ to problems irrespective of their field, simplicity or complexity. His experience includes networks development, teaching game theory, queuing theory and models in a management school and drafting/searching patent specifications and technology forecasting. Pravin is a registered patent agent with the Patent Office of India. Presently, Pravin is a working as a consultant with Breakthrough Management Group, India. His major areas of interest are TRIZ and Six Sigma. Contact KRD Pravin at krdpravin (at) gmail.com.

Survey studies city's traffic problems

TNN Aug 29, 2001, 10.28pm IST

ahmedabad: of every 100 amdavadis only 15 to 18 go for the existing public transport system, namely, rickety, old buses of ahmedabad municipal transport services. the rest rely on their personal two- and four-wheelers, far too many if you consider the ideal percentage of 55-60 per cent who should be using public transport mode in any city. on peak hours on any weekday, two-wheelers contribute to 49.8 per cent of the traffic on ashram road, 56.1 per cent on gandhi bridge and 67.73 per cent on nehru bridge. amidst the growing chaos on city roads , there is however a silver lining. the first part of a rs 5.5 crore survey for the proposed integrated public transit system (ipts), is now complete with a few innovative suggestions too. while calling for a stupendous capital investment worth rs 3,000-crore, the surveyors -- louis berger of usa, lahmeyer international of germany, mass rapid transport system of hong kong, dalal consultants of ahmedabad, balaji railroad corporation limited and icici limited -- say the solution lies in creation of bus terminuses on the outskirts of city for the 6,000 gujarat state road transport corporation (gsrtc) buses that ply through ahmedabad every day. five potential interception terminals for gsrtc buses have been identified and a re-routing plan has also been prepared for internal distribution. the question now being considered is whether privatisation of existing city bus service or introducing a light rail transit system or a combination of various modes of transport like mini buses, buses, mass rapid transit system is the best for travelling within ahmedabad limits. ipts' study on urban transportation in ahmedabad states: "6,000 gsrtc buses traverse through the city roads everyday with gita mandir in astodia as the terminal point. traffic on nehru bridge consists of 68 per cent two-wheelers, if these buses are stopped at outskirts of ahmedabad complete with a transport link to carry the passengers into the city and the two-wheel owners are given an efficient mode of public transport there would be reduction in traffic population as well as pollution." the study, one of the largest on urban transportation in the country, covers four districts and seven talukas. prime among which are jurisdictions of ahmedabad municipal corporation, ahmedabad urban development authority and areas like bopal, ghuma, changodar, sanand, chhatral, bareja, the corridor between ahmedabad and gandhinagar. aiming to prepare an efficient, economical and integrated public transport by dividing the entire study area into 417 traffic analysis zones (tazs). unlike preconceived notions, heavily dependent on light rail transit or mass rapid transit systems this study aims to give appropriate solution for each transport corridor by identifying and prioritising public demand. another striking feature of this study is its unique urban transport planning model. this computer-based simulation model can calculate numerous permutations and combinations using 3,000 km of road length represented as 3,798 links, 2,500 road junctions, 250 km of rail link and 143 amts bus routes. it is quite flexible and can generate traffic patterns in any given condition like consequences of change in land use pattern, relocation of markets or effect of building a flyover on any junctions. chief executive officer of the gujarat infrastructure development board (gidb), ravi saxena, says: "in its first phase the study has spoken about the problems of existing mode of transport couple the growing traffic menace. the survey also contains supportive facts like high rate of bus trips -- 10,000 every hour -- on 18 bus corridors existing in ahmedabad." saxena adds: "a month from now surveyors would supply us with three to four viable in-city transit projects. these would then be put through a feasibility test for zeroing in on a suitable intra-city travel and a way to relieve excessive traffic pressure from city thoroughfares. be it privatisation of existing city bus services or creation of a light rail transit system, the projects have to be pretested before opening them for a public-private partnership."

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The worlds 20 cities with the worst traffic jams

By admin. Exclusive [89] Comments
Traffic jam is a real headache for every driver of a big city. While hurrying to work or vacation traffic jams always get on the nerves and ruin psychological health.

1) Tokyo metropolis has many monorails and other kinds of transportation, but it is still a big trouble for the ones to have cars. Probably, thats why there is Tokyo Traffic Control center working 24 hours a day. This center allows to manipulate traffic lights if any traffic jams occur, it also has 17,000 vehicle detectors. Imagine Tokyo is the biggest city on earth and it has less traffic jams nowadays than other great cities.

2) It is commonly accepted that LA is the most terrible metropolis of traffic jams. Though the city has many highways, freeways and different routs, it is still ranked among the top 10 most congested points in the country.

3) Time Magazine reports So Paulo has the worlds worst traffic jams. n May 9, 2008, the historical record was set with 166 miles (266 km) of queues out of 522 miles (835 km). There is an opinion that the problem of traffic congestion occurred due to accelerated rate of motorization since 2003. And people buy about 1000 new cars every day.

4) Many tourist guides can warn the guests of Bangkok about heavy street traffic. Even some new railways and highways couldnt save the situation. The bicycles can cross the narrow overcrowded streets without any warning, so can some other vehicles. The visitors consider this phenomenon a real traffic chaos.

5) Moscow also has different reasons why traffic jams appear. One of them is frosty severe winter. The transport roads cannot work well because of black ice. The other problem is high quantity of life and, as a result, possession of many vehicles. And apparently some streets must be reconstructed and broadened.

6) Shanghai as many other densely populated cities has the problem of traffic. From 1998 till 2003 the number of private vehicles increased from 7000 up to 170,000.

Many people can afford to have own auto and the streets become crowded.

7) Mumbai traffic jams appear because of many reasons: bad weather (heavy rains), terrible narrow streets, and high quantity of vehicles. Many tourists complain about the air there and its not a surprise.

8) To prevent own traffic jams Mexico shortened the quantity of vehicles on some special calendar days. But it apparently doesnt help.

9) NY is one of the three major US cities with heavy traffic jams. The city always seemed not to have sufficient place. But when most of inhabitants bought cars it lost the rest of free spaces in the streets.

10) Seul peoples life becomes wealthier and in spite of several Asian car crises, people buy new vehicles. Thats why in rush hours there are not enough place for some vehicles.

11) Old ways and routes, newly bought cars altogether played a bad trick on Chicagoinhabitants. Its a great problem to be at workplace in time!

12) As many overcrowded cities Manila is suffering from traffic jams. The Holland transport instead of other vehicles cannot solve the task of traffic jams redundancy.

solution of the problem, i.e. using bicycle

13) The roads of London are too old to pass so many vehicles per hour.

14) There is no Jakarta without traffic jam at all. More than a hundred new cars appear in Jakartas streets each day. Do you think it cannot affect the traffic?

15) As the other Japanese city Osaka cannot remove

traffic jams at all. Maybe the city will take Tokyo Traffic Control Center system

and become the second largest city which could solve the problem.

16) As Venezuela fixed the prices for gas since 1998 you can imagine the number of vehicles appearing on the roads each day. Not speaking about pollution, the traffic jams are terrifying indeed.

17) Athens faced many traffic jam crisis many years. It has a special system of reducing the traffic jams comparative with Mexico system. But the old streets and increasing of population and the vehicles still gets on authorities nerves.

18) Though Auckland is not as big as Tokyo it still has the greatest car-ownership ratio after the USA. Thats why congestion in the big centers is a really great problem for the city.

19) The center of Rio de Janeiro cant manage great traffic jams. The reason is similar with the other listed above: weather condition (rains, flood), high car-ownership rates and the streets which are in need of widening.

20) Kathmandu is called a city of pollution and traffic jams. Its true for the city is too overcrowded and has too narrow streets. But its not the only problem of the city, because there are traffic and higher police. The traffic police have to wait for the other police orders and maybe because of such bureaucracy nobody knows when the traffic jam starts and when it finishes.