I have never been to Delhi and I am not intimately familiar with the traffic situation in Delhi. Yet, like many others I am going to make suggestions on what should be done about the traffic in Delhi. I am open to mocking. I am not an expert on this issue and whatever I say might have multiple problems But here are some thoughts in various directions that I have not seen thoughts from others flow. Also, the discussion is about pollution. So I will write some more about pollution later.
Let the government work 7 days a week - everyone still works 5 days a week
How about all government employees work 5 days a week and take 2 days off. But, they do not do so on the same 5 days. Divide the available workforce such that the government works all 7 days a week, but only 5/7th workers are at work any given day. According to Wikipedia, in 2001 the government employed 620,000 people. So about 442,000 people would work on any given day. This will reduce the number of people going to work at Government offices by about 177,000. But that is not all. The number of people going to Government offices for getting some work done will also reduce by 5/7 for each day. In fact, it is likely that more people will go to government offices during the weekend instead of weekdays and in turn will be more efficient at their own jobs.
Shun government holidays
Except for 15th August and 26th January, shun all public holidays. In 2015, Delhi had 16 holidays according to this list. Instead, if only 2 holidays are observed, we will get 363 days of work instead of 349 days of work that we get today. That is an approximate 4% increase of time to work. This results in a slight reduction on everyday's work load and thereby a slight reduction of traffic.
Get work done in one trip
Create apps for people to use, create awareness and use local information booths for information about the documents to carry when trying to get some work done. As far as possible allow government related work to be completed in one trip to the government office. For example, typically a lot of government related work requires address proof, identification and age proof. Clearly tell the public the set of documents that satisfy each of the categories. Also, simple forms should be available at local libraries, bus stop, post offices, shops etc. People should not have to travel to first get the forms and then again to file them.
Cleanup road construction and remove debris
Many inner roads are congested because of construction work on the road or in the neighborhood. A large part of this is because the area is not clean and clearly demarcated. Stones and pebbles on the road left over from the last repair work, barrels of tar lying on the roadside, electric poles coming in the middle of the lane are all responsible for slower moving traffic. Cleanup after construction is done is very important.
Remove speed breakers
According to Delhi police website, speed breakers should be about 10cm in height. But that will hardly be the case anywhere in Delhi. [If you do click on the website, you may have to accept the certification authority for that website.] I have not verified the heights of speed breakers in Delhi but I am sure about the problem from this link. Speed breakers are bad for multiple reasons. But they are also a cause of pollution. Also, note that they are also a source of sound pollution. Vehicles invariably make more sound near a speed breaker.
Small average red light duration
It might be better to have a short duration for red lights. If your round comes quickly, there is less chance and temptation to jump the signal. Also, it allows traffic to keep moving in all directions.
Provide better Internet
If you want to make people travel less, it is useful to have better Internet. More people can work from home. In fact, it is great to provide good incentives for work from home jobs.
Reduce generators
It is okay to make electricity more expensive if electricity is going to be guaranteed. In fact, it is much better for the state to produce and provide electricity 24x7 since it reduces generator pollution a lot. Also, if state run power plants are polluting, get them cleaned up!
Run freight Metros
Introduce metro trains that can carry goods. That way, trucks may just load up their supplies into metro compartments and take their wares into the heart of the city. No need for trucks to enter the city. I know the volume of freight in Delhi must be huge, but I feel this can still be done.
Decentralize the Government
Everything does not have to be in Delhi. A lot of offices and a lot of governance can be done from outside. It is worthwhile and easy to decentralize the government particularly in this age of the Internet. It is easier than ever before; files do not have to physically travel between departments they could be emails, instead. It might be too hard for Delhi to implement this, but decentralization should really be the thought process. As an example, one of the high courts could work as the Supreme court while a new Supreme Court campus is built somewhere new. It would be so nice to have a "Corrections City" which houses the best jails, police headquarters, and the Supreme Court and The Bar Counsel.
Carpooling
There are multiple aspects to Carpooling and it can never become successful unless many of those aspects are solved and looked at. First is the problem of timing. Are there two people who know each other going somewhere at the same time? Another is the problem of trust. Do you trust each other enough that you will feel safe going together? A further problem is making a distinction between paid car-pooling and mutual car-pooling. Can Uber be treated as a car-pooling facility? What if a company starts such a service for its own employees? Can government employees set an example here?
One of the ways to incentivize carpooling is by giving immediate incentives for cars with more than one person in the car. One example is the "High Occupancy Vehicle" lanes in California. Please note that: Regular "mixed-flow" lanes are never converted to HOV lanes. Rather, HOV lanes are always added to existing facilities.
Return part of the Road Tax
In case the government cannot allow all vehicles to be on the road on all days, the government must also return a portion of the road tax corresponding to the time that the vehicles are required to be off-road.
Let the government work 7 days a week - everyone still works 5 days a week
How about all government employees work 5 days a week and take 2 days off. But, they do not do so on the same 5 days. Divide the available workforce such that the government works all 7 days a week, but only 5/7th workers are at work any given day. According to Wikipedia, in 2001 the government employed 620,000 people. So about 442,000 people would work on any given day. This will reduce the number of people going to work at Government offices by about 177,000. But that is not all. The number of people going to Government offices for getting some work done will also reduce by 5/7 for each day. In fact, it is likely that more people will go to government offices during the weekend instead of weekdays and in turn will be more efficient at their own jobs.
Shun government holidays
Except for 15th August and 26th January, shun all public holidays. In 2015, Delhi had 16 holidays according to this list. Instead, if only 2 holidays are observed, we will get 363 days of work instead of 349 days of work that we get today. That is an approximate 4% increase of time to work. This results in a slight reduction on everyday's work load and thereby a slight reduction of traffic.
Get work done in one trip
Create apps for people to use, create awareness and use local information booths for information about the documents to carry when trying to get some work done. As far as possible allow government related work to be completed in one trip to the government office. For example, typically a lot of government related work requires address proof, identification and age proof. Clearly tell the public the set of documents that satisfy each of the categories. Also, simple forms should be available at local libraries, bus stop, post offices, shops etc. People should not have to travel to first get the forms and then again to file them.
Cleanup road construction and remove debris
Many inner roads are congested because of construction work on the road or in the neighborhood. A large part of this is because the area is not clean and clearly demarcated. Stones and pebbles on the road left over from the last repair work, barrels of tar lying on the roadside, electric poles coming in the middle of the lane are all responsible for slower moving traffic. Cleanup after construction is done is very important.
Remove speed breakers
According to Delhi police website, speed breakers should be about 10cm in height. But that will hardly be the case anywhere in Delhi. [If you do click on the website, you may have to accept the certification authority for that website.] I have not verified the heights of speed breakers in Delhi but I am sure about the problem from this link. Speed breakers are bad for multiple reasons. But they are also a cause of pollution. Also, note that they are also a source of sound pollution. Vehicles invariably make more sound near a speed breaker.
Small average red light duration
It might be better to have a short duration for red lights. If your round comes quickly, there is less chance and temptation to jump the signal. Also, it allows traffic to keep moving in all directions.
Provide better Internet
If you want to make people travel less, it is useful to have better Internet. More people can work from home. In fact, it is great to provide good incentives for work from home jobs.
Reduce generators
It is okay to make electricity more expensive if electricity is going to be guaranteed. In fact, it is much better for the state to produce and provide electricity 24x7 since it reduces generator pollution a lot. Also, if state run power plants are polluting, get them cleaned up!
Run freight Metros
Introduce metro trains that can carry goods. That way, trucks may just load up their supplies into metro compartments and take their wares into the heart of the city. No need for trucks to enter the city. I know the volume of freight in Delhi must be huge, but I feel this can still be done.
Decentralize the Government
Everything does not have to be in Delhi. A lot of offices and a lot of governance can be done from outside. It is worthwhile and easy to decentralize the government particularly in this age of the Internet. It is easier than ever before; files do not have to physically travel between departments they could be emails, instead. It might be too hard for Delhi to implement this, but decentralization should really be the thought process. As an example, one of the high courts could work as the Supreme court while a new Supreme Court campus is built somewhere new. It would be so nice to have a "Corrections City" which houses the best jails, police headquarters, and the Supreme Court and The Bar Counsel.
Carpooling
There are multiple aspects to Carpooling and it can never become successful unless many of those aspects are solved and looked at. First is the problem of timing. Are there two people who know each other going somewhere at the same time? Another is the problem of trust. Do you trust each other enough that you will feel safe going together? A further problem is making a distinction between paid car-pooling and mutual car-pooling. Can Uber be treated as a car-pooling facility? What if a company starts such a service for its own employees? Can government employees set an example here?
One of the ways to incentivize carpooling is by giving immediate incentives for cars with more than one person in the car. One example is the "High Occupancy Vehicle" lanes in California. Please note that: Regular "mixed-flow" lanes are never converted to HOV lanes. Rather, HOV lanes are always added to existing facilities.
Return part of the Road Tax
In case the government cannot allow all vehicles to be on the road on all days, the government must also return a portion of the road tax corresponding to the time that the vehicles are required to be off-road.
