Traffic congestion has become a serious problem for Karachi City, and with every passing day it is going from bad to worst. It not only causes inconvenience to all of us, it’s also costing us in terms of excess fuel consumption and loss of precious time etc.
In order to quantify this economic cost, IMC carried out a research project “Toyota – Research on Traffic Congestion” (T-RTC) being undertaken on National High in collaboration with NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi. This study is the first of its kind in the country, and is not only beneficial for industries to ascertain the role of traffic congestion in their budgeting and cost borne by them due to traffic delays but also helps relevant authorities to take corrective measures.

RESEARCH FINDINGS:

NED research team gathered various traffic parameters data over 12 months, incorporating seasonal fluctuation, using professional equipment designed for such researches. The data was then analysed using statistical software/tools to determine key findings which are as follows:

1. The traffic volume at peak hours stood at ‘3,500 vehicles/hour’ against the road design capacity of ‘3,400 vehicles/hour’ which results in massive congestion at peak hours. Moreover, with encroachments at various points along the road, the road design capacity reduces significantly.
2. The free flow time from Star Gate intersection to Steel Mills intersection is 17 minutes at reference speed of 40 KM/Hour, whereas it takes 30 minutes on average resulting in delay or time-loss of 13 minutes per trip. Project this loss time and the extra fuel during idling over total number of trips made on this stretch of road and the result becomes shocking.

SUMMARY REPORT: TRTC Brief Summary Report.pdf