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Heterogeneous traffic in Delhi is complex to understand due its typical composition, speed acceleration, cruising, deceleration and idling activity in flow. To arrive at accurate emission factor estimates and implement proper traffic demand management there is need to understand microscopic vehicle operation activity. The vehicular operations are easily quantified by understanding driving cycle of the particular vehicle in real world driving conditions. The purpose of this paper is to present a study on the understanding of driving conditions in India that are heterogeneous in nature.

To understand the heterogeneity, the driving cycle data were collected using GPS on different types of both motorised and non‐motorized modes of transport, e.g. car, auto rickshaw, bus, motorcycle and cycle rickshaw and bicycle on different traffic corridors in Delhi.

Research findings show that driving cycles differ for different types of vehicles. Therefore, each mode should be encouraged based on their average speed‐time sequence in any traffic mix. The real‐world driving cycle will be also useful for the understanding of fuel consumption and emissions in real‐world scenarios, in order to control vehicle emissions properly, achieve fuel efficiency and to obtain a more sustainable transport system.

This type of research has not been carried out previously in any Indian city.

Purpose – This chapter reviews planning and design approaches for cycle traffic in order to direct future thinking towards the critical aspects of network design that will have a beneficial impact on the utility and nature of the environment for cycling.

Approach – This chapter provides a critique of the approach of adopting a so-called hierarchy of solutions frequently adopted in western countries with low levels of cycling use.

Findings – The guiding principle for designing routes for cycle traffic is that the bicycle is a vehicle capable of speed and, as a consequence, links and junctions need to be designed according to appropriate geometric design standards. In addition, owing to the nature of the cycle and rider combination, the oft repeated Dutch characteristics for good design for cycle traffic of coherence, directness, attractiveness, safety and comfort remain firm.

Practical implications – The practical implications of the outcomes from the chapter are a method of approach for planning infrastructure for cycle traffic which starts with an analysis of demand and works through to the creation of suitable networks for cycle traffic which are grounded in, and extended from, suitably regulated existing highway networks.

Social implications – An extensive transport system suitable in nature for cycle traffic will attract a wide base of users and consequently allow for the benefits of cycling to be captured.

Value of chapter – The value of the chapter rests in its emphasis on the need to treat cycling as a distinct transport mode and, consequentially, planning and engineering needs to be undertaken in a way conducive to providing the basic necessary infrastructure for such a distinct mode.

The purpose of this paper is to provide executive management at a regional university with empirical data to justify, or otherwise, a substantial outlay of funds to support bicycle commuting as a viable strategy for the reduction of traffic congestion.

A custom designed questionnaire was completed by 270 participants who were enrolled in a first year undergraduate science, technology and society course which focussed on the environment and sustainability issues. The questionnaire targeted the likelihood that participants would use a bicycle to commute to university and the factors which influenced the decision to bicycle commute.

Principal components analysis identified a common underlying construct which addressed the likelihood to ride to university and involved the opportunity to ride on bike paths, the availability of appropriate facilities at the institution, knowledge of other people who rode to university and the number of study contact hours on a given day. Qualitative analysis identified route safety as the primary factor influencing the decision to bicycle commute. No association was identified between the likelihood to bicycle commute and the participants' confidence or experience level in riding a bicycle. While the study provides evidence to support the expenditure required to develop an appropriate built environment which facilitates bicycle commuting, it indicates that such action taken in isolation will have minimal effect on increasing this mode of commuting.

The study was conducted to meet the needs of a particular institution and is not considered generally applicable. However, it provides a framework for others who may wish to conduct similar research.

This study targets a perceived gap in the literature in relation to the attitude of tertiary students towards bicycle commuting and provides empirical evidence to support bicycle commuting as a sustainable transport option.

There is gap in literature on understanding of the issues of following headway behaviour of the driver and a lack of sufficient data in different traffic conditions. The purpose of this paper is to find the effects of type of lead vehicle on following headway in mixed traffic condition in India on different category of roads and flow.

Real-world headway data were collected through video and extracted. Data were analysed using tools and statically approach was adopted to present the results in detail.

Results shows the impact of type of lead vehicle on driver following time headway behaviour under different level of traffic and types of road characteristics. It was found that driver following behaviour is affected by the type of lead vehicle. It also shows that drivers are inconsistent in their choice of headway.

This research has special strategic study area of India in typical two cities Silchar and Shillong of northeast region of India. The traffic characteristic and composition is quite different as compared to other cities of India. Therefore the study results cannot be generalized for whole India.

The result of the study has focused on impact of type of lead vehicle on following behaviour. This can be useful to safety reduction and changing the driver behaviour through education and display of information. However, the real application of this result is to be implemented by local transport and road managing authority to reduce accidents and increase safety of drivers.

In mixed traffic conditions, the impact of type of lead vehicle on following behaviour affects the safety of drivers and the accounting for such behaviour is never been explored in mixed traffic condition. If the study is implemented, it can be useful to simulation modeller and intelligent transport systems (ITS) to design and operate many in-vehicle systems for smooth traffic processes.

Purpose – This chapter provides a think piece on economic evaluation and policy for cycling. Bicycle investments are often motivated by a desire to improve health, the environment and congestion conditions. However, we argue that since the bicycle is a part of the transport system, it should be evaluated as such. Focusing on implications for cycling appraisal in general, we also discuss two conflicting trends in Stockholm: a sharp decrease in cycling in the outer areas, and a sharp increase in the inner parts.

Methodology – We use (i) travel survey data to analyse the potential to reduce congestion through improvements for cyclists, (ii) travel survey data from 1986 to 1987 and 2004 and bicycle counts over 25 years and (iii) a value of time survey of Stockholm cyclists including questions of exercise habits.

Findings – Additional benefits in appraisal from reduced car traffic and improved health seem to be small. Given bicyclists’ high values of time and low investment costs, bicycling investments are still likely to be socially beneficial. The conflicting bicycling trends can be explained by (i) increased road congestion and improved bicycle infrastructure, (ii) increased visibility of bicyclists generating a ‘positive spiral’, (iii) increased interest in physical fitness and changes in the relative prices of cars versus central residences turn cycling into a high-status mode and (iv) in peripheral areas, increasing distances and less dense land use patterns decrease cycling levels.

Practical implications – The results underscore the need for dense, mixed-use spatial planning and ‘smart’ marketing using the effects of cyclist visibility to reinforce the ‘status’ of cycling.

A bi-level programming approach has been used to tackle an area traffic control optimisation problem subject to user equilibrium traffic flows. In the upper level problem, the signal timing plan for coordinated fixed time control has been defined. In the lower level problem, user equilibrium traffic assignment obeying Wardrop's first principle has been formulated as a variational inequality problem. Mathematical expressions for various components of the performance index in the upper level problem and the average delay in the lower level problem have been derived and reported (Chiou 1997a). A mixed search procedure has been proposed as the solution method to the bi-level problem and a range of numerical tests have been carried out (Chiou 1997b, 1998a,b). In this paper, further numerical tests are performed on Allsop and Charlesworth's (1977) road network in which various traffic loads are taken into account. Effectiveness in terms of the robustness and reliability of the mixed search procedure in congested and uncongested road networks is thus investigated further. Comparisons of the performance index resulting from the mixed search procedure and that of mutually consistent TRANSYT-optimal signal settings and traffic flows are made for the congested road network.

Due to the conflicts between left turn traffic and opposite straight-going traffic in urban traffic network, some of the traffic lanes cannot be used to discharge vehicles during its green phases and the intersection capacity can be greatly reduced. This study/paper aims to reduce the effect of conflicts and increase its capacity through the reasonable pre-signal phase time with the exchangeable lanes.

This paper took into consideration various influence factors to intersection capacity and formulated the capacity optimization model based on 0-1 mixed-integer programming model. This model is efficiently solved by standard branch-and-bound algorithms.

The authors took an intersection as an example and solved the optimal signal timing and entrance lane capacity via this model. Then, simulations were carried out to verify the effect of the exchangeable lanes strategy of this intersection through the simulation software VISSIM and take the traffic volume and delay as outputs, which indicated that this model has better performance.

The front-end control strategy can not only exploit the full potential of the intersection but also significantly improve the operational efficiency of the intersection. It plays a positive role in improving urban intersection congestion.