Autorickshaws and private buses are responsible for the snarls on city roads, a Besu study has revealed.

The study, commissioned by the Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC), was conducted by the transportation engineering and planning wing of the civil engineering department under the leadership of Prof Sudip Roy.

“There are over 100 auto routes in the city and the count is rising by the day,” said Roy. “Initially, an auto carried three passengers. Now, they ferry up to six in violation of traffic rules.”

The report — Traffic and Transportation in the CMC Area — blamed the traffic chaos on the “higher manoeuvrability” of the autos and a shift in their service from the on-hire mode to the fixed-route mode.

“The number of autorickshaws would not have increased had not the fixed-route mode been introduced,” said Roy.

The “updated data” — five years old — that various government agencies had supplied to the Besu team suggested that the growth in the number of autorickshaws has surpassed the growth in all other modes of passenger transport in the private sector.

The report also blamed private buses, especially minibuses, for the traffic congestion. The buses overtake from the wrong side and block crossings, leading to snarls.

“Widening of roads, construction of flyovers and underpasses at busy crossings, setting up of multi-level parking lots and shifting of roadside auto, taxi and bus stands are some of the remedial measures suggested by the university team. We are drawing up schemes accordingly,” said CMC’s director-general (town planning) Dipankar Sinha.

“We had requested Besu to draw up schemes on transport engineering, street furniture, beautification of parks and conservation of heritage structures for effective urban renewal. They have submitted a report,” said municipal commissioner Alapan Bandyopadhyay.