Analyzing the challenges to mitigate traffic congestion in densely populated cities: implications for efficient urban planning and sustainability

Abstract

Traffic congestion (TC) disrupts everyday life, elevating stress levels, extending commute durations, diminishing productivity, and reducing overall quality of life. Due to extended stress and pollutant exposure, TC causes environmental degradation through air pollution, fuel inefficiency, company losses, and increased health risks. Congestion exacerbates already-existing problems in densely populated places by taxing the little infrastructure, reducing productivity, and disrupting supply networks. Urban planning is made more difficult by the residents' lower accessibility and higher levels of distress. Reducing traffic is essential to creating sustainable, livable communities, which calls for creative ways to handle expanding populations while minimizing negative impacts on the environment, economy, and public health. Therefore, this study employs a combined method for multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM), integrating the Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) technique with the interval-valued Pythagorean Fuzzy (IVPF) theory to pinpoint, rank, and analyze the relationships between the challenges impacting the mitigation of TC, with an emphasis on densely populated urban areas like Dhaka. At the outset, 18 (eighteen) challenges were identified through a review of existing literature. Following expert validation, 16 (sixteen) challenges were chosen for analysis utilizing the IVPF DEMATEL method. The findings of the study show that the three major challenges to TC mitigation are “Lack of efficient coordination and management of traffic signals”, “Insufficient choices for public transportation”, and “Lack of integration of advanced data analytics and IoT-based technologies”. The anticipated impact of this study lies in its substantial contribution to future innovation and development in urban planning. By aiding policymakers, urban planners, and stakeholders in formulating long-term strategies through strategic decision-making, the study aims to alleviate severe TC, particularly in densely populated cities. and bring about positive changes in the urban planning sector.