Spatial Analysis of Road Network and Traffic Congestion in Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT 

The purpose of the study was to assess the spatial distribution of road network and traffic congestion in Zaria. The study focuses on the road transportation system in Zaria Metropolis of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The objective of the study was to examine the various factors contributing to overall traffic congestion, assess the spatial distribution of the road network and determine the traffic hotspots area. Zaria was chosen for the research due to its strategic location as a transit point which connect North, South, Central and Western parts of Nigeria, which makes it prone to traffic congestion. Different methods were used to generate data based on the objectives. A household survey was undertaken using questionnaires, interviews, observation and reports on the randomly selected respondents to collect data on traffic congestion. While hotspot analysis was carried out in a GIS environment using GPS coordinates collected from the field based on the vehicle and traffic flow characteristics/parameters. The simple index framework was also used to analyze the level of accessibility and road network connectivity using the Alpha, Beta and Gamma index. The results of the findings showed that various factors were responsible for traffic congestion in Zaria, among the top four factors included; poor road network (92%), passengers/ goods pick up and dropping (87%) and poor traffic coordinates (72%) illegal parking (70%~. Certain types of vehicles are also discovered to be among the contributing factors, the top three are; Town service buses (51%), Tricycle (27%) and Goods vehicle (13%).. The Alpha index showed that the road network in Zaria was 0.07 or 7% maximally connected. This also is an indication of low level of economic development. The road network connectivity using the Beta index is 1.16 and the Gamma connectivity index was 0.40 or 40% which was an indication of low level of road network development in the area. The findings also showed that the hotspots were heavily congested (48.2%), moderately congested (39.6%) and slightly congested (12.1%). The synchronized flow (52.7 %) was the most common type of traffic experienced, followed by Moving Jam (41.9%) and Free Flow (5.4%). From all the Hotspots identified a 90% confidence interval and statistical significance were achieved between the identified hotspots and cold spots. The commuting time varied between the public and private pickup times. The implications of this study indicated that mobility in Zaria Metropolis is restricted due to congestion, causing excessive travel delays, particularly, during peak hours and negatively affecting productivity due to certain factors, poor traffic coordination, illegal parking, passenger picking/dropping, goods pick up and uploading and poor road network are among the top factors. Therefore, expanding transport infrastructure as well as improvement in the traffic management and control system should be given attention to improve the transportation system in the metropolis.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION

APPROVAL

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

LIST OF ACRONYMS iv

ABSTRACT

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF TABLES

LIST OF FIGURE

CHAPTER ONE 1

INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.1.1 Historical Perspective 1

1.1.2 Theoretical Perspective 3

11.3 Conceptual perspective 4

1.1.4 Contextual Perspective 5

1.2 Statement of the Problem 7

1.3 Purpose of the study 8

1.3.1 Specific objectives of the Study 8

1.4 Research Questions 8

1.5 Significance of the Study 8

1.6.1 Study area 8

1.6.2 Population 10

1.6.3 Transportation 10

1.6.4 Topography .10

1.6.5 Soils 11

1.6.6 Climate 13

CHAPTER TWO 14

LITERATURE REVIEW 14

2.0 Introduction 14

2.1 Theoretical Review 14

2.3 Traffic Congestion 15

2.3.1 Types of congestion 17

2.3.2 Causes of Traffic Congestion in Metropolises 18

2.4 Spatial Distribution of Road Network 22

2.4.1 Connection Pattern 27

2.5 Assessment of Traffic Hotspots 29

CHAPTER THREE 33

METHODOLOGY 33

3.0 Introduction 33

3.1 Research design 33

3.2 Population 33

3.2.1 Target population 34

3.3 Sample size 34

3.4 Sampling procedure 35

3.5 Data collection .35

3.5.1 Primary Data 35

3.5.2 Secondary data 36

3.6 Data Analysis 36

3.6 Spatial Distribution of Road Network Analysis 36

3.7 Hot Spot Analysis 37

CHAPTER FOUR 39

DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION 39

4.0 Introduction 39

4.1 Background information of the respondents 39

4.2 General Questions as colTespond to Objectives 42

4.1 Factors contributing to the road traffic congestion 42

4.2 Types of vehicle contributing to overall road traffic congestion in Zaria 45

4.3 Spatial distribution ofroad network 46

4.4 Type of traffic experienced on the spatial road network 49

4.5 Level of Traffic congestion on the road network 50

4.6 Hot spot analysis 51

4.7 Commuting time of private vehicle along the hot spots 53

4.8 Commuting Time of Public Transport along the hot spot 54

CHAPTER FIVE .55

DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 55

5.0 Introduction

5.1 Discussion of Findings 55

5.2 Conclusion 58

5.3 Recommendations 60

REFERENCES 62

Appendix 1 Questionnaire 68

Introduction 68

Appendix 2: Generate Traffic Coordinates 74

Appendix 3: Handheld GPS Receiver 74

Appendix 4 :Vehicle manual count tally sheet 75

Appendix 5 Sample Size Table 76