ENVIRONMENTAL STUDY OF PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM USING KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES

Abstract

Urbanization, motorization and industrialization are taking place at an ever growing phase in most parts of the world. The deterioration of the environment in terms of noise pollution and air pollution in urbanized areas of different zones of the world has reached such levels that it requires proper and immediate concern. Urbanization is aworldwide phenomenon experienced by economically advanced countries as well as developing countries. The population of India has increased from 548 million in 1971 to 683 million in 1981, 846 million in 1991, 1028 million in 2001 and 1210 million in 2011. On the other hand, the urban population of India increased over the past three decades, rising from 109 million in 1971 to 160 million in 1981 (C47%), 217 million in 1991 (C36%), 285 million in 2001 (C31%) and 286 million in 2011 (Census of India, 2011). The primary cause behind the fast urbanization is availability of opportunities in urban cities. Proper employment, better education, better health related facilities etc. are pulling factors for urbanization. These factors attract people from rural to urban areas which results into the overcrowding of the city. Mobility is also required for urban people to move within city or intercity. To fulfil this necessity vehicle population is increasing continuously in metro cities. This rapid industrialization, urbanization and motorization bring many environmental issues i.e. noise pollution, air pollution and traffic congestion that endanger sustainability of megacities like Delhi in India. The city of Delhi is highly urbanized and supports about 14 million people living in a dense mode with mixed land uses i.e. residential, commercial and industrial. In developing countries due to mixed traffic composition, impact of transport on urban environment is further critical. Like many large metropolitan urban cities, the city of Delhi is also suffering from various environmental problems like traffic noise pollution, vehicular emission, traffic congestion and open land depletion due to the expansion of transport infrastructure. Such kind of environmental pollution shows its adverse impact on human health and causes various somatic and genetic diseases in human being. Road &rail traffic are considered as primary source of noise pollution and air pollution. Due to lack of proper city planning, practically there are no control strategies for reducing the level of noise from various sources. Road traffic noise is considered to be the most awful kind of environmental problem and documented as aserious human health dilemma in developing countries like India. On the other emission from road traffic is also a very significant source group throughout the world especially in developing countries like India. Vehicular air pollution is one of the solemn problems faced by worldwide people, particularly in urban centres of developing countries. In megacities, road traffic accounts up to 90-95% of lead and carbon monoxide emissions, 60-70% of ozone precursors and a major contributor of respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM), harmful to human health (Faiz 1993; WHO and UNEP 1992). Such a high emission of CO due to road traffic is a serious concern from human health point of view. Air pollution in urban cities is one of the greatest menaces to the human health, which in turn causing danger to the endurance of mankind. The excessive concentration of air pollutants pulls up the number of people suffering from different kind respiratory diseases and serious health hazards. Different air pollutants i.e. carbon dioxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2), hydrocarbon (HC) and particulate matter (PM) are added in the atmosphere from variety of sources that change the composition of air and affect the biotic environment. Different models have been developed to examine the source of emission from the vehicles in urban areas either in terms of noise emission or vehicular air emission. Modelling is an indispensable tool for traffic noise and air pollution management and related decision making process during traffic congestion. It can help to generate different scenario for the noise and air pollution in coming years which can be used in the formulation of different policies for the environmental sustainability of transport infrastructure. The present study is basically focused towards the analysis of the existing transport related environmental pollution problems in Delhi. In addition to this, different appropriate models have also been generated for the prediction of traffic noise and air pollutants concentrations under heterogeneous traffic conditions existing in Delhi. A number of mitigatory measures have also been recommended to overcome the environmental issues. For this, the study has been conducted at different selected locations of major public transport corridor in Delhi i.e. Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) and Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS). The study consists of six major aspects namely monitoring of road and rail traffic noise, monitoring of air pollution, model development for the prediction of road noise, rail noise and vehicular pollutant, performance evaluation of the developed model, emission inventory formulation for Delhi and some mitigatory measures like design of noise barrier and application ofKM and Non-KM practices in transport related environmental pollution. For the evaluation of noise level at selected locations due to road and rail, ambient noise level has been monitored along Public Transport Corridor (PTC). The measurement of ii metro rail noise has been performed at different floors of high rise buildings situated near by the metro corridor. The ambient noise level analysis has been executed by comparing observed noise level with Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) standards at each selected location. The analysis indicates that the measured noise level at every location exceeded the prescribed limits. On the other hand, to judge the air quality status due to surface transport, major pollutants i.e. CO, NOx, S02, HC and PM have been measured at identified locations along public transport corridor. Along with this, the traffic characteristics, meteorological data and geometrical parameters have also been collected. The analysis reveals that the concentration of oxides of nitrogen is higher than CPCB standard at all the locations. From composite air quality analysis, all the selected locations along MRTS and BRTS corridor are found under severe pollution. In second part of study, two noise pollution model one for road traffic noise and another for metro rail noise has been developed in MS EXCEL worksheet system. Along with this for the prediction of vehicular air pollutants, a General Finite Line Source model has been formulated in the same worksheet system. The basic reason behind the development of all the models in MS EXCEL platform is its user friendly characteristics. To avoid the long mathematical calculation and complexities, the EXCEL sheet has been elected for the formulation of model. The performance evaluation of these models has been assessed by using different statistical tool and quantitative methods to judge the applicability of the model in Delhi condition. The statistical analysis reveals that modified Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) road traffic noise model and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) based metro rail noise model are applicable for the existing condition in Delhi and can be used for modelling purpose. Likewise the performance of General Finite Line Source Model is analysed with respect to various inputs such as traffic volume, temperature, wind angle, wind speed, atmospheric stability and traffic characteristics. In addition to this, statistical test has also been applied to check the appropriateness of this model in Indian condition. The performance of General Finite Line Source Model (GFLSM) is found better for the prediction of gaseous pollutants at all identified locations of major public transport corridor. The third part of the research work is basically emphasized towards application of the study. Keeping in mind the above discussed problems, some mitigatory measures have been suggested to control the rising environmental pollution. The first part of the mitigatory measures includes installation of noise barrier along the road as well as along iii the elevated metro track. For each selected location, different barrier of different height is required along road as well as at elevated track ofmetro line and it is calculated through the developed noise barrier designing model in MS EXCEL worksheet system. In second phase of remedial measure, emission inventory is developed for Delhi for 2025. This inventory has been developed to know the overall scenario ofthe capital city. Anumber of inputs like category wise number of vehicles, distance travelled in a year by different vehicle and pollutant emission by a vehicle type per kilometre travelled. Through this inventory, it has been concluded that by the use of Public Transport System, the vehicular emission can reduced by 27% (CO), 16% (NOx), 13% (S02) and 31% (HC) and 12% (PM). Thus in present scenario for the reduction of vehicular emission, it is very essential to motivate people towards the use of public transport system. The last phase of the remedial measure for the reduction of vehicular pollution is the incorporation of knowledge management in transport sector. The equilibrium between the sustainable transportation and traffic overcrowding is an immense challenge to the developers, operators and policy makers of the urban transportation network. Through the application of knowledge oriented approach or knowledge based decision support system; it will become very easy to users to find the descriptive answer of his question from the system and take appropriate action at a particular situation A number of practices have been identified from the past applied models in transport sector and on the basis of that, two KM models have been proposed. The first KM model includes various knowledge and traditional practices, which can be employed in megacity like Delhi to overcome the problem of traffic noise as well as traffic air pollution. In addition to this, the orientation of the other developed model is towards proper traffic management. The basic aimof this developed model is to reduce traffic noise pollution and vehicular emission through proper traffic management. This model also consist miscellaneous knowledge and common practices and it is possible to lessen traffic noise air pollution problem, time delay problem and fuel consumption problem by the implementation of these practices in transport division.