Survey Report of Traffic Circular at IIT Kharagpur

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur

Survey Report of IIT Traffic Circular Organization Structure and Design By:

Gaurav Jain (13HS60001) Kunal Anand (13HS60002) Saurav Gupta (13HS60006) Sudhanshu Shekhar (13HS60020) Ankur Parey (13HS60021)

Survey Report of IIT Traffic Circular 2013

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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................3

2. OBJECTIVE.................................................................................................................................3

3. THE PROBLEM .........................................................................................................................3

4. SURVEY METHODOLOGY .......................................................................................................4

5. SURVEY RESULTS AND ANALYSIS .......................................................................................6

6. COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION .................................................................. 15

7. CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................... 18

8. REFERENCES .......................................................................................................................... 19


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1. Introduction

IIT Kharagpur has recently passed a new circular on the following of traffic rules to the residents of IIT. This must done in affect of the following reasons:

Huge traffic at various points on different times causing congestion on roads.

Increasing number of accidents causing risk to life of students, faculties, etc.

2. Objective

The report aims at achieving the following:

Finding the high traffic points within IIT.

Estimating peak times when traffic is high.

Conducting a survey from the residents of IIT to know from them if they are aware about the Traffic circular, how they feel about traffic rules, what change would they like to bring, etc.

Analyzing the data collected from the survey.

Presenting a viable and implementable solution to solve the problem of traffic within IIT.

3. The Problem

IIT Kharagpur was established in 1951. The roads within the campus were built long back which has made it difficult to cope with the increasing amount of traffic at peak times. This is causing problems to students, faculties and other inmates of IIT.

We can study the magnitude of problem by taking into the population of IIT and estimating the number of vehicles driven within IIT.


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We consider that other than 5%, all students own a cycle and drive it around the campus to classes and other activities.

Academic and Admin Staff will be owning at least one vehicle in their family of 2-4 persons. In some families, there might be a two-wheeler and a four-wheeler. Let’s consider 25% of the staff own four-wheelers and 90% of staff owns two-wheelers.

Other Non-IIT population includes vendors, suppliers, cleaning staff, mess staff, cab, auto and rickshaw drivers, waste disposal trucks, etc.

Apart from this, people also go out for morning and evening walks and jogs at various locations in IIT. 30-40% of the total population walks daily at some time of the day.

Based on the above, we can safely assume the amount of vehicles in IITs will be:

4. Survey Methodology

To collect the data regarding the problem of traffic within IIT, we adopted the following methodologies:

i. Online Survey: The survey was created on surveymonkey.com at http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M6RDQMT, and was pasted in different facebook groups containing students and other IITians. 74 responses were received and recorded. Some the facebooks groups where it was posted are:

IIT Kharagpur (https://www.facebook.com/groups/kgpians/)

MMM Hall Council (https://www.facebook.com/groups/416345798478294/)

Vgsom2015-Mhrm2015 Interaction (https://www.facebook.com/groups/507780235979936/)

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M6RDQMT

https://www.facebook.com/groups/kgpians/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/416345798478294/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/507780235979936/


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ii. Manual Observation: We personally observed the amount of traffic at different times of the day at key locations of IIT to monitor the number of vehicles and situations.

iii. Informal Discussions: We discussed these issues with some of the people within the IIT and noted their opinions.

The main data collection points in our survey have been shown in the map:

1. Tikka Circle 2. Main Building Circle 3. Vikramshila Circle 4. Gymkhana 5. Tech Market


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5. Survey Results and Analysis

We conducted an online survey to find out the response of people in IIT Kharagpur about the

traffic circular. We asked them five questions to gauge their response. They are:

1. Are you aware of the Traffic Rules as per the new circular (Ref No. IIT/CO/A-2(a)/2013)? 2. Do you feel bounded by these rules and regulations? 3. At which places do you find the traffic most? 4. Do you observe people obeying the following traffic rules?

a) Use left side of the road and do not overtake on/before/after any turnings. b) Speed limit of 20 KM/hris strictly adhered to. c) Uselight/hand signals before turning. d) Parking at designated places.

5. Any suggestions to improve the traffic condition in IIT KGP? This survey was widely circulated through social media like Facebook to various groups related

to IIT Kharagpur. A total of 74 respondents took this survey. The data was collected, analyzed

and interpreted.

The response to the above questions was as following:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/


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1. Are you aware of the Traffic Rules as per the new circular (Ref No. IIT/CO/A-2(a)/2013)?

For this question, only 40.54% of the respondents said that they had heard about this circular.

Analysis:

There can be many reasons for it. Some of them are listed below:

1. Circular was not communicated properly – The notice was sent to all the departmental

offices but not to each and every individual. Should have been sent to the personal mail

ids of all the students and faculties.

2. Lack of interest shown by people in reading the circular – People usually give less

importance to public circulars which are not related to monetary policies.


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In either case, the level of information regarding the changes was below expectation. This can

prove detrimental in implementation of the new circular.

2. Do you feel bounded by these rules and regulations?

Only 41.89% of the respondents replied in affirmative.

Analysis:

The response for this question challenges many prejudices. It’s usually believed that youngsters

and students feel bounded by traffic rules and are prone to breaking it. Assuming that most of

our respondents were students (they constitute a majority of the IIT population), it was

surprising that close to 60% of them did not feel bounded by these regulations.

Some of the reasons could be:


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1. Open mindedness – People understand that the rules are meant to protect them and to

bring proper structure in place. Although it may seem to cause some problems but it will

be the common people who will be benefitted after all from this initiative.

2. Accidents could be avoided – By following proper traffic rules we can greatly reduce the

number of accidents which are happening in IIT these days. People turn without giving

any hand signal, ride double on bicycles, ride in groups (covering the entire road), all this

leads to accidents. People understand that if they follow the new guidelines and avoid

such type of behavior, accidents could be avoided.

3. Unnecessary traffic jams could be avoided – Frequent jams which take place near ‘main

building circle’, ‘Tikka circle’ can be avoided by following proper rules. This will help

reduce the important time which gets wasted because of traffic jams.

4. Reduction in monetary loss (asset) – Bicycles/ Bicycle parts usually break because of

improper parking. Owner of the vehicle then has to get the repairing done. If the

vehicles are parked properly then a lot of money could be saved which gets wasted in

the bicycle/bike repair.


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3. At which places do you find the traffic most?

The responses were mainly concentrated in the first three options.

Analysis:

Although there were five options, an overwhelming 58.11% of the respondents said that the

Main Building Circle was the most congested place.

Some reasons for these are:


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1. Main Building Circle is the gateway to Academic Block from the hostels. So all students

travelling from hostels to attend the classes travel through Main Building Circle. Peak

time traffics at this point is normally during class timings like, 8:30 am, 12:30 pm, 1:30

pm and 5:30pm.

2. Tikka Circle being the second most congested place results from students frequenting

to grab a snack or tea in between their classes. Heavy rush is seen at this circle during

lunch hours 12:30 to 1:30 pm.

3. Vikramshila Circle has been one of the pain points for traffic in IIT. This is the junction

for JC Bose Laboratory Complex, Tikka, Academic Block and Faculty Residences. 12:30

pm is the peak traffic time at this circle, when large number of B.Tech students travel

from JCB Complex to hostels/Tikka, and faculties travel from Academic section to

Faculty Residences.

This clearly shows that to ease the traffic woes in IIT, special attention must be paid on

traffic near the Main Building Circle, followed by the Tikka Circle (40.54%) and Vikramshila

Circle (24.32%).


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4. Do you observe people obeying the following traffic rules? a) Use left side of the road and do not overtake on/before/after any turnings. b) Speed limit of 20 KM/hris strictly adhered to. c) Use light/hand signals before turning. d) Parking at designated places.

62.16% people feel that people do not obey traffic rules.

Analysis:

The response shows a serious concern about whether traffic regulations are being followed in

IIT. Surprisingly, while most people said they do not feel bounded by traffic regulations

(Question 2), most of them also feel that traffic rules aren’t being followed. This shows that


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expecting people to follow rules without “binding” those to it by strict implementation may not

yield expected results.

Some of the reasons for this may be:

1. Students often double on bicycle when they are getting late for a class or when they have to give lift to an injured friend or when their bicycle is broken/punctured.

2. Speeding usually happens when a student gets late to a class (which is the usual scenario) or they have to rush between classes.

3. During lunch hours, students rush to their hostel mess. They don’t follow the ‘keep left’ rule, move in groups and cover the entire road. Same is the case before the morning class when everyone rushes to the main building complex and the entire road gets covered with people going in one direction only.


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5. Any suggestions to improve the traffic condition in IIT KGP?

This was an open question and people could write their response freely. Analysis: Many people stuck to ‘No suggestion’ kind of response. This might be due to lack of ineterst or time shortage. But many of them came up with suggestions. Some of them were:

1. CCTVs at junctions 2. Fines for defaulters 3. Restrict outside vehicle (especially 2-wheeler)


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4. Better enforcement of Rules by assigning guards/police personnel 5. Giving an orientation lecture to all the users (like every batch of students and professors

too) 6. Volunteers need to be assigned for energizing public about traffic rules and its pros and

cons 7. The traffic circle in front of Main building and Vikramshila need to have proper security

in charge to avoid accidents. Also there should be foot paths in front of main building road.

The answers show that:

1. People want better monitoring at key junctions. 2. Traffic awareness initiative is desired. 3. Motorized vehicles, although banned for students, is a major concern.

6. Communication and Implementation

Some of the ways of communicating and implementing traffic rules are suggested here:

1) Posters & Hoardings: Putting hoardings across the entrance of IITs are the first things

which need to be implemented. Similar types of banners can be put before the starting

of those places where heavy crowd is mostly expected. Giving a message like ‘It’s our

town’ activates the Altruistic–Nurturing (Blue) part of the Motivational Value Systems

Theory. Altruistic-Nurturing describes about concern for others’ protection, growth and

welfare of others. These types of messages bring a sense of responsibility in one’s mind

because of which they are expected to behave altruistically.

2) Security Checks: As we look into the information gathered in the survey, most of the

respondents have highlighted the insecurity because of the outsiders driving the motor


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run vehicles because of which the chances of accidents get increased. The road from

Tech Market to Main building is straight and most of the time is occupied by the

students because of the classes. But those who are not related to IIT in any way drive

their vehicles insanely and it creates a lot of problems. Either they should not be

allowed in IIT Kharagpur Campus or they should only be allowed after thorough

checking at the entrance and warning. Those who violating the rules should be fined and

their vehicles should be confiscated.

3) Close Circuit Cameras: Traffic cameras are most effective when dealing with Traffic

problems. Some surveillance cameras can be put on the roads at various points where

maximum traffic is expected. The output of these cameras should be sent at the

entrances where guards stand so that offenders of traffic rules do not get away just like

that. These traffic cameras calculate the speeds also, so checks on speed can also be

brought by using this method.


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4) Awareness among Students: This is also a very important factor which can help us

fighting the cause of traffic awareness. In IIT, future of India is created and we need to

take care of them. There are many reasons because of which students are also involved

in rash driving, for ex – when they are late for classes, someone else who has got an

injury or his/her cycle is not in a right condition taking a ride behind their friends,

sometimes race among themselves, etc. So to bring awareness among them, we should

bring the following changes:

a. Technology Dramatics society can be requested to organize Nukkad Natak in

various functions and during events like Spring Fest, Techno fests, etc. This will

attract a lot of students in maintaining the traffic rules. And we should try to

make optimum use of the resources already available to us.

b. The circular can be sent to all the IITians to their personal and professional IDs.

They should be asked to sign the document and submit it to academic

departments. Supreme Court made it mandatory for all the higher education

students to sign the Ragging form and submit it to the college. In the same way,

IIT can implement this circular to be submitted by students. In this way, students

will read the rules as well as actions may be taken against those who did not

follow the rules.

c. In the first semester, a small lesson on Traffic awareness should be introduced in

any of the subjects which appeal to environment or any other similar subject.

Though we can believe that all the IIT students are aware of the general traffic

rules, but adding a chapter like this will remind them of their responsibilities

towards other fellow IITians.

d. All the IITians are very much active on the Social media; this can be effectively

utilized to educate them about the traffic rules. Videos can also be shared on the

official page of IIT KGP so that it gets maximum attention. The page can also post

some of the unfortunate stories, images or videos which take place in the other

part of the worlds because of the traffic rules violation. Social media can be used


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for educating as well as instilling a small fear among the students if they violate

the traffic rules.

e. During Spring fest and Kshitij, small bands should be encouraged to tie at the

wrist of the students. Like AIDS symbol, the symbol for traffic awareness should

also catch the attention of students. This will bring a sense of responsibility

among themselves and this also help in the spread of knowledge among the

students.

5) Sudden checks can also be carried out in the campus with informing students or

outsiders. In this way, current violators can be imposed fine and the vehicles of the

outsiders can be confiscated. Strict measures are very much necessary for bringing an

effective change in the campus of IIT Kharagpur.

7. Conclusion

In this Traffic Circular Survey assignment, first we discuss about the circular which has been

passed at IIT Kharagpur regarding traffic rules. Then we go on discussing about the objectives of

this survey report. We also discuss about the main reason of the problem which is the huge

number of vehicles and cycles in the campus. In this part, we make some approximations while

calculating the numbers owned by various bodies that access the campus of IIT Kharagpur on

their transport modes. The information collected in this survey has been gathered online,

personally and through interpersonal communications. Survey results have been analyzed in

detail with properly researched explanations. We have also tried to find the reasons for the

survey results. Responses by the respondents have been captured in the survey report as well

to understand the view of fellow IITians. At the end, we have worked on effectively

communicating and implementing the Traffic Circular across IIT. In this part, we have made

some recommendations which we feel if implemented will bring a positive change in the

current traffic situation.


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8. References http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Technology_Kharagpur

http://www.esurveyspro.com/article-reporting-survey-results.aspx

http://www.iitkgp.ac.in/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Institute_of_Technology_Kharagpur

http://www.esurveyspro.com/article-reporting-survey-results.aspx

Survey Report of Traffic Circular at IIT Kharagpur

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