...ranking 10 cities on a dozen parameters...
A safe and enjoyable pedestrian environment is the key element that makes a road a happy one to tread on. Maruti Suzuki, one of the leading automobile manufacturers in India, has been an advocate of the cause of road safety in India for years and recently released an index report, in association with Times Now that checks how major Indian cities are performing in terms of road safety. The report puts the spotlight on frowning concerns that each city must address.
The analysis happened across 10 cities – Delhi, Indore, Raipur, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, and Pune. These cities were judged across 12 parameters namely: pedestrian rights, road lighting & maintenance, motor laws & traffic control, emergency services, road cleanliness, connectivity, road transport infrastructure, road safety, road safety for children, differently-abled friendly, road quality and heavy vehicle traffic management.
The report mentions the key points taken into consideration while judging each parameter and a chart was formulated for each, ranking the cities on the basis of the index score they received. Since it is an initiative to improve the road conditions, the report mentions the differentiating factors of the winning cities from the rest while giving a list of takeaways that can be implemented to make the city roads ‘happier’.
Ahmedabad, widely known as Manchester Of India, turned out to be the top performer with happiest scores across three parameters - Emergency services, Road transport infrastructure and Heavy vehicle traffic management.
Whereas, Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur is ranked as the winning city in both Pedestrian rights and Road safety parameter with the respective index score of 70.40 and 73.60.
However, if we talk about Motor laws & traffic control, Chennai, often called as cultural capital of South India, is the happiest with 70.65 points while another southern city Hyderabad has scored the lowest rank.
Under connectivity and road quality parameters, which are crucial for the daily commute of a city, Delhi, the national capital of India, had the broadest smile surpassing other metro cities with an index score of 85.50 and 78.30 respectively.
Overall, Ahmedabad topped the chart thrice in the index report followed by Raipur, Kolkata, and Delhi that scored the first rank twice in respective parameters throughout the index report while Hyderabad constantly remained the lowest ranked city.
We must say that this is an incredible effort by the brand encouraging the citizens and the authorities to improve their road safety scores.
Let’s hope the authorities are taking note while we pledge to do our own bit towards happier, safer Indian roads. For more information about the Maruti Suzuki’s initiative and the Road Safety Index click here!