Intermodal and Intelligent Transportation Systems for Indian Transport Sector

Abstract

Various studies showed that the quality and robustness of road transport infrastructure network greatly impact the economic growthand poverty alleviation efforts of any country. Over last couple of decades, road connectivity has improved across the most parts in India, however, further improvements are essential for fuelling the economic growth. Road transport infrastructure development in India has been an insurmountable challenge because of variety of reasons. Recent infrastructure connectivity efforts in India deal with integration of road networks at various rail-heads, major river ports and sea ports via appropriate highways. Regional road network infrastructure projects are usually more difficult and expensive than national road infrastructure projects, particularly in the hilly and inaccessible terrains. Intermodal connectivity,, therefore, plays a vital role in seamless movement of people and goods from one point to another. Government initiatives such as increased use of containerization, Multimodal Transport Act (1993) and implementation of goods and services tax (GST) are few mile-stones, which are expected to strengthen evolutionary march of India towards an efficient integrated transport ecosystem. This paper presents the current status of Indian road transportation sector, with special emphasis on intermodal transport. To enhance the impact of intermodal transport, role of intelligent transportation system (ITS) is also discussedin detail. Hence this article provides future pathways for intermodal transport and application of ITS in the Indian road transport sector.