A Study Of Current Traffic Problems In Pune City:

Causes And Solutions

ISSN 2319-9725
Medha Tadpatrikar
Pune, Maharashtra, India
Ratnakar Phadtare
Pune, Maharashtra, India

Abstract: Pune traffic has become problem for its citizens. Once a small Pune city has sprawled in
to a major city of state; but the old problems such as small roads, encroachment, and delayed
projects have resulted in to chaotic traffic situation. The city has seen the increase in its population
as well as the number of two wheelers in last two decades. Today almost sixty five percent of Pune
citys population is the owner of one type vehicle. This is not the sign of affluence or development
but a rather a sign of failed public transport system
This paper will reveal various factors which cause the traffic problem along with the solutions from
the perspective of residence. The paper also reflects the various types of vehicle violation and the
problems faced while travelling.
In conclusion, this paper closely examines the causes of traffic problems in Pune city and will shed
new light on the solutions to ease the traffic problem.
Keywords: Traffic, Problem, Pune city, Pune city traffic problems, Traffic congestion

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1. Introduction:
Pune has changed in various ways in last couple of decades. Once a small intimate sleepy
city, Pune has boomed in to becoming one of the busy IT destinations in the country. Today
the city has grown to 450.69 sq km in 2014. But even as the population has increase there has
not been the same with the infrastructure growth. The city today is still plied with small roads
than the number of vehicles that run on it.
Like many cities in the world that have bloomed in to mega cities, Pune also faces the similar
challenges namely traffic problems. The citys traffic is a subject of jokes in the country for
its unruly drivers and traffic jams.
Pune once known for high number of bicycles today has made name as city with two
wheelers. The number of two wheelers has been increasing steadily in last two decade. Now
almost every household in city has at least one two wheelers to its name. The number
estimated in 2013 of two wheelers in city is to be around 20 lakh vehicles out of total twenty
six lakh vehicles. With that number it translates to more than 65 percent of population of
Pune city owns a vehicle.
The economic and environmental loss that results from severe traffic congestion is harmful
for developing city such as Pune.
In context of developed along with under developing countries traffic has become serious
global problem where traffic jams are viewed bothersome problem for its residents.
It is the consequence of inconsistency between demand and supply on the various modes of
transportation along with the infrastructural growth. This is mainly seen in urban areas.
The rapid population growth together with restricted space available for new roads, limited
resources for the development of public transport facilities, along with the brisk rise in
vehicle demand, existence of a large number of vehicles on roads, lack of proper traffic
management are creating severe transport problems in almost all the areas of Pune.
According to Wikipedia the traffic congestion has been summarized as the condition on roads
that occurs when use increases, which is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times,
and increased vehicular queuing. When traffic demand is greater than the interaction between
vehicles slows the speed of the traffic stream, which results in traffic congestion.

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2. Objectives Of The Study:

The present study has the following specific objectives:
1. To find out the current problems faced by citizens in terms of traffic in Pune city.
2. To understand the traffic law violations.
3. To understand the expectation regarding the measures to discipline the traffic
4. To know the opinion of citizens regarding current traffic situation
5. To find out the possible solutions for traffic jam.

3. Methodology:
Under present study the respondents in survey were those who use roads for various reasons
such as pedestrians, bicycle users, two wheelers, four wheelers, rickshaw drivers and bus
drivers. The survey conducted in Pune city helped to gather the primary data through face to
face interviews. The questioner designed for survey had questions pertaining to problems
faced during the travel, most congested time, traffic rules broken by commuters along with
solutions for current traffic problem. Most of the questions were multiple choice questions.
Random sampling technique was used wherein the respondents were those who use all
modes of transport in all 650 respondents. The respondents were both male and female from
age group ranging from below 16 to over 60. The information collected was analyzed by
using mostly the mean and percentage.

4. Findings:
Of the total respondents about 31% were two wheelers as Pune has large number of two
wheeler population. Amongst the respondents about 22% were four wheeler drivers followed
by 15.85% followed by 12% pedestrians. The bus/ public transport drivers are 10.31%
followed by 7.69% of bicycle users.

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Respondents Type

Frequency

Percentage

Two Wheelers

202

31.08

Four Wheelers

145

22.31

Auto Rickshaws

103

15.85

Pedestrians

83

12.77

Bus/Public transport

67

10.31

Bicycle

50

7.69

Total

650

100

Table 1: Current problems faced by citizens in terms of traffic

Parameter

Percent

Traffic Jams

75.38

Undisciplined Drivers

64.92

Vehicles that stop suddenly on middle of the road 41.85

No Proper Footpath

36.62

Vehicles parked on footpath

27.02

Vehicles stopping on Zebra Crossing

24.35

Difficulty in crossing roads due to vehicles

21.24

Table 2
Multiple choice question.
It is indicated from table 1 is that the major problem faced by Pune residents is that of traffic
jam or traffic congestion with 75.38% of citizens facing the wrath of jams. Intolerable traffic
jams at the important roads in the city have made lives of citizen miserable. The traffic
system of the city has already collapsed as the vehicles face long delays on the main roads of
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the city due to congestion. This is followed by the problem of undisciplined drivers which
stands at 64.92%. It has been observed that there is a CHALTA HAI (Anything /everything
Ok) attitude is behind it. 41.85% of people feel that vehicles that stop suddenly on middle of
the road. There is a tendency of many drivers to stop in middle of road to drop/pick up
passenger, or to ask for directions it creates havoc for following as the obstruction created on
a smaller road. 36.62% people feel that there are no proper footpaths for pedestrians so
inevitably they come on roads while walking or crossing the roads creating more people and
obstacles for drivers. 27.02% people feel vehicles parked on footpath also pose problem for
pedestrians. This is followed by 24.35% people thinking that Vehicles stopping on Zebra
Crossing create problems not only for pedestrians but also for drivers. 21.24% find difficulty
in crossing roads due to vehicles. This clearly indicates that the pedestrians are not given any
preference in the traffic management of the city which is creating many problems for citizens.
Parameter

Percent

Admitted

58.25

No/Not admitted

41.75

Total

100.00
Table 3: Admission of Traffic Violation

In table 2 shows that many traffic problems are created due the unruly drivers or the drivers
who break the traffic rules. There were 58.25% drivers admitted to breaking one or more
traffic rules during the period of last month. While 41.75% have not admitted or have said
that they have not broken any kind of traffic rule in past one month.

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Parameter

Percent

Using Cell phone while driving

27.60

Jumping the Signal

22.54

Driving through no entry

18.57

Parking vehicles in No Parking

16.71

Stop Vehicle at the Zebra Crossing

15.01

Total

100.00
Table 4: Traffic Violation

The table 3 states the type of broken by various modes of vehicle drivers in Pune city.
27.60% admitted to using cell phone while driving. This is a very dangerous habit and can
cause accidents. After that 22.54% admitted to jumping the signal. In Pune city on various
signals there are digital timers which show how many seconds are left before the signal turns
to green. This was installed so the drivers who used to jump the signal in anticipation. But
this has not helped as now people start their vehicle 5- 6 seconds before the signal has turned
to green. Driving through no entry was done by 18.57% but this could be due to the fact that
there are no proper sign boards indicating no entry sign board, also the police are usually
more interested in giving fine/ tickets to people rather than preventing them from entering the
no entry. People who park their vehicle in no parking zone are 16.71%. This could be due to
the fact that there are very few and far between parking spaces available in the city. Most of
parking is on road parking where the white lines indicating the area earmarked for legal
parking. There is also tendency in people to park near from where they want to go. And if
they have to spend few minutes at particular place they tend to ignore the parking area and
take a chance of parking in no parking area. When traffic police impound the vehicle, the fine
imposed on the offender is very small or very negligible, which does not deter the repeat
offenders. Some 15.01% people stop their vehicle on zebra crossing which creates problems
for people wishing to cross the road.

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Parameter

Percent

Need heavy fines

49.23

Require more number of police

42.77

License revocation

35.69

CCTV camera to capture offenders

23.23

Teaching kids about traffic rules

14.31

Table 5: Measures to discipline the traffic

Multiple choice questions.
It was essential to know what measure people feel are needed to discipline the traffic. Almost
49.23% people feel that to deter the traffic violations there is a need for heavy fines. This is
followed by 42.77% people thinking that there is need for more policemen on the road who
could uphold the law. 35.69% are of the opinion that there is a need for license revocation for
serial law breakers. There is demand for CCTV camera to capture rule breakers by 23.23%.
This was followed by 14.31% who think teaching kids about traffic rules in schools could
produce new generation of law abiding citizens.
Parameter

Percent

Too many vehicles on Road

80.00

Drivers have no patience

79.56

No Fear of police force

78.23

Road work have stop in between

77.23

Public Vehicles are not proper

77.08

No use of BRTS

65.84

Roads are narrow

63.23

Traffic signals are not synchronize

60.11

Table 6: Causes for current traffic situation

Multiple choice question.
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It was of utmost importance to understand the possible causes for current appalling traffic
situation from the residents point of view. The top most cause of traffic problems with 80%
think that in Pune city there are too many vehicles on the road. This is due to the fact that
many major roads in the city are too small for the number of vehicles using the roads. 79.56%
feel that the drivers have no patience, which makes everyone wants to go ahead whether there
is way ahead or not. This creates confusion, bottlenecks which ultimately result in stress and
congestion. While 78.23% believe that Pune citizens are not afraid of policeman or the fines.
The tendency of Punekars is that if they get stopped by policeman either they deny breaking
rule or try to get away by dropping names of political connections. 77.23% are of opinion that
the road works which drag on over years causes traffic problems due to restrictions and
impatient drivers. 77.08% feel that the public transportation system is not good. The BRTS
project was started few years ago to ease the traffic woes of residents. But it has stalled due to
improper management and lack of government will power. The demarcation required for
BRTS is in place but unfortunately the project has not taken off the ground. Other commuters
cannot use the demarcated area which creates more hassle. 63.23% feel that roads are narrow;
again this is due to length which becomes smaller because of authorized and /or unauthorized
parking as well as encroachment on the footpaths and roads.. 60.11% think the traffic
problem occurs due to traffic signals not being synchronised. This creates bottle neck creating
congestion.
Parameter

Percent

Flyovers in suitable areas

52.31

Ample and Cheap parking facilities

49.82

More number of buses

35.60

Underground Metros

24.80

Prepaid auto Rickshaw

22.19

On Road Metros

18.20

Pedestrian way

18.11

Others

16.85
Table 7: Solutions for improvement of traffic

Multiple choice question.

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Once we understand the causes of traffic problem it was essential to know what could be the
solutions for better traffic management. 52.31% believe that flyover in suitable area would
ease the trip of ongoing travellers. There are some flyovers in the city but the faulty design
has created more problems. 49.82% feel that there is a need of ample and cheap parking
facilities and lack of these facilities force residents to park the car on the road. Need for more
number of buses is want of 35.60%. The metro project is on the cards for the city and has
been in news for various reasons. So 24.80% believe that the underground metro could ease
the traffic problems. 22.19% are of opinion that the prepaid rickshaw would help as there are
less number of buses on the road. 18.20% want above ground metro and 18.11 want better
pedestrian way make it trouble-free for people to walk and not come on the road for walking.

5. Conclusions:
Pune population has been increasing steadily over the years. T many large and known IT
companies have their offices in the city as well as the auto cluster in nearby Chakan &
Ranjangao employs large number of people who prefer to stay in Pune city because of its
quality of schools, hospitals and other facilities. The city has grown due to inclusion of many
small villages in to the municipal corporation putting lot of strain on current infrastructure
and allied facilities.
The major roads have not been of same length for many years and unless the Pune Municipal
Corporation decides to acquire land or makes some radical changes the roads will stay of the
same size. The numbers of parking lots in Pune are very few so many people are forced to
park on roads and pay for it. This makes it roads smaller for moving traffic. There is another
problem of encroachment on the footpath and there are hawkers on the road too. The state of
footpath is appalling, as they are not in condition that people can walk effortlessly on them.
So they have no other choice than to walk on the road which can result in accidents.
The increase in number of vehicles especially two wheelers is basically due to the fact that
public transport system in the city is pathetic and another is that a person of sixteen years can
get the license to drive. It has always been making loss but when there is a great need for the
better public transport service the local government has failed to provide that. Unless there is
better traffic management for public transport the number of two wheelers is going to
increase many folds creating more problems for traffic. The abidance of law of land and the
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fear of policeman are taken very casually. The problem of corruption is at the root. Unless
number of policeman is increased and the law is uphold without any corruption the anything
goes attitude and law breaking such as cutting signal, speaking on mobile while driving are
going to continue which would result in accidents. And from what is discovered in this
project to make people abide the law unless there are deterrent factors such as heavy fines
and licence revocation. People are looking for big brother rather than follow law willingly.
The traffic problems of Pune are going to increase as the time goes by; unless the local
government decides to study and implement various solutions to the current problem the city
will turn in to traffic nightmare. So there is utmost emergency to think radically and enforce
the law effortlessly.

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References:
1. Traffic congestion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion

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