Modeling of Congestion: A Tool for Urban Traffic Management in Developing Countries

In order to formulate rational traffic management measures for urban roads, it is essential to understand the effect of different types of vehicle on congestion. The effect of different types of vehicle on congestion has been captured on the basis of marginal congestion. Using congestion models, the marginal congestions have been estimated for different road widths, traffic compositions and on-street parking levels. The peak hour vehicular composition and volume level vary for different roads in an urban area. Therefore, for assessing the operating conditions for different roads based on a comparable quantitative measure, the marginal congestion caused per Passenger Car Unit (PCU) of mixed traffic stream has been estimated and denominated ‘Marginal Congestion Index (MCI)’. The use of MCI for prioritization of management actions for different urban roads is discussed. It is shown that a congestion model explicitly accounts for the effects of traffic composition and volume level. Therefore, the effect of different types of vehicles on congestion at all traffic volumes could be estimated using congestion models. Altogether, modeling of congestion is established as a tool for formulating rational traffic management measures for urban roads in developing countries

Birthing practices of traditional birth attendants in South Asia in the context of training programmes

Traditional Birth Attendants (TBA) training has been an important component of public health policy interventions to improve maternal and child health in developing countries since the 1970s. More recently, since the 1990s, the TBA training strategy has been increasingly seen as irrelevant, ineffective or, on the whole, a failure due to evidence that the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in developing countries had not reduced. Although, worldwide data show that, by choice or out of necessity, 47 percent of births in the developing world are assisted by TBAs and/or family members, funding for TBA training has been reduced and moved to providing skilled birth attendants for all births. Any shift in policy needs to be supported by appropriate evidence on TBA roles in providing maternal and infant health care service and effectiveness of the training programmes. This article reviews literature on the characteristics and role of TBAs in South Asia with an emphasis on India. The aim was to assess the contribution of TBAs in providing maternal and infant health care service at different stages of pregnancy and after-delivery and birthing practices adopted in home births. The review of role revealed that apart from TBAs, there are various other people in the community also involved in making decisions about the welfare and health of the birthing mother and new born baby. However, TBAs have changing, localised but nonetheless significant roles in delivery, postnatal and infant care in India. Certain traditional birthing practices such as bathing babies immediately after birth, not weighing babies after birth and not feeding with colostrum are adopted in home births as well as health institutions in India. There is therefore a thin precarious balance between the application of biomedical and traditional knowledge. Customary rituals and perceptions essentially affect practices in home and institutional births and hence training of TBAs need to be implemented in conjunction with community awareness programmes

Potential rationalization of on-street parking on urban roads

The effect of various levels of on-street parking on the operating conditions of traffic stream has been quantified in terms of congestion and level of service. The data obtained from a controlled experiment of on-street parking has been used to model congestion and to estimate level of service characteristics for the traffic flow with zero, low, medium and heavy on-street parking. The quantified congestion at different operating traffic volumes and the corresponding levels of service have been analysed and used as a basis for developing a potential policy for rationalisation of on-street parking on an example urban road