MODAL CHOICE MODELING FOR MULTIMODAL TRANSPORT SYSTEM IN DELHI

Abstract

The migration of population from rural areas to urban areas has put a severe pressure on the infrastructure of urban cities. Delhi being the centre of socio-economic and political activities of India is growing at an alarming rate. The population of Delhi was 9.37 million in 1991 which is expected to rise 13 million by the year of 2011. The number of accident is highest in Delhi amongst all metropolitan cities in India. There is various public transport modes used in Delhi. The road based mass transit system and Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) has failed to meet this demand efficiently and there is a need to evolve a Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) in the present scene. To development of new urban transport infrastructure it needs coordinated and integrated approach amongst several agencies involved with urban services and development along with a participatory planning process at local level. Multi Modal Train s port System (MMTS) relates to single trip consisting of combination of modes i.e. vehicle modes (bus, metro, car, auto, etc.) between which the commuter has to make a transfer. Transfer is an essential part of multimodal trip including change of modes at transfer nodes. A properly planned Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) has always played a vital role to relieve the congestion level on roads although it requires high initial investment. Metro is the best example for public mode in Delhi but due to lack of proper integration amidst public constituent modes, the present utilization of metro by commuters is at a lower side. To provide relief to the commuters, best possible use of the available public modes of transport must be made through an adequate interface of rail based (metro) and road based public iii transport system. An integrated approach consisting of bus route and metro corridors can be the only solution if it can transfer commuters from road based bus transit to rail based transit through convenient and efficient connections of bus and metro stations using feeder bus services. The concept of integration which leads to the development of the methodology consist of a bus route connected with metro corridor through feeder bus services. Mode choice modeling is an important step in Multi-Modal Transportation Planning. Conventionally mode choice analysis has been undertaken within the domain of revealed preferences where the commuter has actually considered the modes in making choice decision. In the revealed preference approach the models are based on the data obtained by direct observation of travel behavior. A comparison of chosen travel alternatives and the rejected alternatives reveals the preferences of the commuter. Mode choice analysis allows the modeler to determine what mode of transport will be used, and what modal share results. Mode choice models have the inherent potential to predict change in modal share as a function of transfer elements, cost components of Multimodal Transport System. Applicability of the choice model has been demonstrated by evaluating the impact of different operational strategies. Evaluation of the options though modeling not only saves the cost of avoidable experimentation; it also provides a quick and inexpensive way to evaluate several policy options. It is expected that the understanding of travel behavior for a Multimodal Transport System in this study shall be useful to design measures which can successfully reinforce patronage of pu!,'. is transport system.