Application of AHP-GIS Technology to Assess Congestion Vulnerability, a Case Study of Ranchi City, India

Urban traffic congestion is a multi-dimensional phenomenon and therefore, is sensitive to certain influencing factors behaving in a random manner. Consequently, the possibility of a route characterized by smooth flow of traffic becoming congested cannot be ruled out. The present research investigation attempts to categorize different routes of the study area in terms of their degree of congestion vulnerability. Average Speed (AS), Delay Ratio of Average Speed (DRAS), Stopped Time (ST), Stopped Time Gradient (STG), and Absolute Deviation in Congestion Index Value (ADCIV) were identified as the potential influencing factors. The AHP was employed to rank the importance of the aforementioned influencing factors in triggering congestion that can sometimes lead to traffic deadlock. On the other hand, the GIS Weighted Sum Overlay technique was employed to determine the integrated impact of the influencing factors on the behavior of traffic flow. The results showed close agreement with the real scenario of the traffic congestion observed in the field.