UNDERSTANDING TRAFFIC CONGESTION FROM STAKEHOLDERS’ PERCEPTIONS IN THE CENTRAL AREA OF LAHORE, PAKISTAN

Nazam Ali1*, Muhammad Ashraf Javid2, Syed Arif Hussain3, Abdur Rahim4 1University of Management and Technology, School of Engineering, Department of Civil Engineering, Lahore, Pakistan 2University of Nizwa, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nizwa, Oman 3University of Engineering and Technology, Department of City and Regional Planning, Punjab, Pakistan 4University of Engineering and Technology, Department of Transportation Engineering & Management, Lahore, Pakistan


INTRODUCTION
Experts around the globe rank traffi c congestion among one of the nine major infrastructural defi ciencies, which is a major cause of massive delays, greater fatalities, more mental stresses, more operating costs and overall reduced transit effi ciencies [1]. Traffi c congestion is one of the very severe problems especially in the developing world which is expected to get worse over the next decade if not prevented or mitigated by effective management [2], [3]. Traffi c congestion is affecting developed countries as well. For example, according to the mobility report by Texas Transportation Department [4], traffi c congestion has increased substantially in the last two and half decades which accounts for an extra incurred cost wastage of 83-124 billion dollars. The worst traffi c jam has been experienced by the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo, where on average people are stuck on the roads 3-4 hours on daily basis [5]. Hebei, a province in China, had the worst ever traffi c jam in the recent history when the people were stuck on the roads up a length of 100 km between 14th to 26th of August 2010 [6]. Traffi c congestion situations are having very clear and obvious implications on economic activities, fuel and time wastage, and economic loss [7]. The major cities of Pakistan such as Karachi, Lahore, Hyderabad, and Faisalabad are much vulnerable to the effects of the traffi c congestion, which have attracted very less attention and interests of the researchers from academia and traffi c management organizations [8]- [13]. Pakistan has witnessed some of the institutional reforms on over the last two decades which shaped the current transport system of the country. These reforms include the establishment of the Department of Transportation Engineering at University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, which is one of the prestigious engineering institutions in the country back in 2001. The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) [14] constituted an autonomous body Traffi c Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA), which formulated a Transport Plan for Lahore city in close coordination with Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA) for the fi rst time in 1991 and then in 2011, 2012 keeping in view of the Transport Master Plan 2021 [15]. Thus, TEPA is responsible for the management, maintenance, and operations of the transportation infrastructure in the Lahore city. T vehicles is maximum due to large volumes of traffi c in peak hours [9], [15]. These central areas are mainly busy shopping markets with poor traffi c management systems. These congestion bottlenecks are very troublesome for reliable transit movements but have attracted very little attention for research point of view [11]- [13].

Research objectives
This study is aimed at understanding the main causes of traffi c congestion, effects of traffi c congestion from stakeholders' perceptions, and how these fi ndings can be used to infl uence the effective policymaking for better traffi c management in central Lahore. These fi ndings can also be replicated in other busy market areas of Pakistan, with similar characteristics and traffi c patterns. This study can be used as a milestone for transport / urban planners for traffi c management from stakeholders' perspectives in developing countries. The results of this research study can be helpful in understanding the existing traffi c problems in the central Lahore area and can be implemented in other cities with similar traffi c characteristics. However, the selection of the characteristics is an important and essential part of choosing suitable and feasible measures [9]. In this study, an attempt is made to answer the following questions: • What are the main reasons behind traffi c congestion in the central Lahore area from stakeholders' perspectives? • What are the effects of traffi c congestion in the central Lahore area from stakeholder's perspectives? • What strategies and measures can be adopted for effective and effi cient traffi c management control from stakeholders' perspectives? • How these measures can infl uence the policy formulation for traffi c management control in central Lahore? The remainder of this research paper is divided in seven section; section 2 discusses the literature review with major focus on causes, effects of traffi c congestion, and traffi c management policies which can be put in place in developing countries, section 3 discusses the study area, section 4 is focused on research methodology, highlights research design and demographic features of the respondents, section 5 and 6 describes the research fi ndings and discussions, and section 7 concludes the fi nal recommendations about policy implications and future research directions.

Traffi c congestion
There is no concur defi nition of traffi c congestion, however, it is considered as a physical and relative phenomenon [16]. In physical phenomenon, the traffi c demand exceeds the capacity of the road network causing massive delays, increased transportation costs, and greater time spending on roads. However, relative phenomenon is the difference between the road infrastructure performance and users' expectations about the serviceability of the transit network. Traffi c congestion is an unavoidable scenario in many of the vibrant cities around the globe, which are economically and socially active [17]. Urban congestion is greatly because of the two types of fl ow entities, namely passengers and freight, both of these domains of circulation share the same infrastructure. Traffi c congestion is perceived as an inevitable situation because of the scarce transportation facilities such as road width, parking arrangements, signal control systems, and archaic traffi c management systems [18]. Traffi c congestion is broadly categorized into two different types based on their patterns of occurrence, named recurrent congestion and non-recurrent congestion. The report by Litman et al. [19] at Victoria Transport Policy Institute defi ned recurrent congestion as, it occurs at the same location on the road intersections, at the same time on daily basis in peak hours and can be predicted. This occurs as a result of the common or familiar factors of commuting for special purposes or weekend trips. However, non-recurrent congestion is the effect of the unplanned or unexpected large events or factors such as accidents, road maintenance activities, religious / social gatherings. They infl uence the effi ciency of the transit network randomly and are not predictable easily. Vickrey classifi ed six different types of traffi c congestion based on the interaction of the fl ow entities and type of occurrence; (1) simple interaction: two vehicles are moving closely on the homogenous road and cause delay, (2) multiple interactions: multiple vehicle travelling on homogeneous route interact with each other and cause delay, (3) bottlenecks: multiple vehicle converge in narrow lanes to pass the same point and cause delay, (4) trigger neck: initial narrowing of lanes generates a long queue of vehicles which do not follow the jammed itinerary, (5) network control: traffi c signals programmed to control the traffi c during peak hours delay traffi c during off-peak hours, (6) network morphology: this is also called as poly-modal polymorphous congestion which is depict the state of traffi c itineraries for all transit modes. The cost of intervention on a specifi c route or segment affects the whole road network because of the effects of the triggered congestion problems [20]. The possible reasons for traffi c congestion are not confi ned and may not be easy to identify all of them in the same research study because of the complexity of the traffi c scenarios and schemes. However, there are some of the much specifi ed instances, which aggravate traffi c congestion such as; drastic increase in urban populations, surge in vehicle ownership, economic activities and greater employment opportunities in urban centers, poor infrastructure design and investment policies, lack of traffi c rules awareness, poor urban and traffi c management designs, road-side illegal parking, non-feasible traffi c control designs, social and political gatherings, and unpleasant weathers [1], [3]- [5], [18], [21]- [25].

Traffi c congestion in developing countries
Jain et al. [26] identifi ed some of the very common and known reasons of traffi c congestion in developing countries such as; unplanned expansion of cities, poor traffi c sense, lack of public transportation, archaic traffi c management systems, and poor road pavement markings. The unplanned expansion of the cities has resulted in narrowing of roads which are poorly built. As most of the cities expand in ad-hoc manner without any prior planning, very little or no attention is given to scale the capacities of the road networks. This results in creation of bottlenecks on many of the routes which extends for an undefi ned period of time. Most of the road users are not well-educated and not trained enough to follow the traffi c rules for smooth mobility. Mistakes by few individuals such as jumping red light can result in massive delays which cost a total wastage of money, resources and deteriorate the already crowded situations. In many of the developing countries, the surge in vehicle ownership is also an important factor which contributes to traffi c congestion. Many of the cities are have very poorly designed or non-availability of effective public transit systems, which encourages the riders to own their own private vehicles. More vehicles on-road results in more traffi c congestion. Another, important consideration in the developing countries is that people are compelled by social stigma to riding by personalized vehicle and public transport ridership is considered as lower echelons in society. Still, in many of the developing countries, the traffi c signal control is archaic and unmanned in many cases. It allows road users to drive in chaotic manners and encourages them to jump the traffi c rules. Even if there is any of the traffi c police offi cer or red light, it only controls the traffi c of the respective intersection in the direction of the maximum fl ow. These kinds of poor traffi c management strategies further worsen the situation due to the mismanagement accelerating further congestion collapse. Many of the roads in vibrantly active economic cities are not equipped with proper pavement markings or road cosmetics. For example, in case of narrow roads, lane dividers are not provided which allows mixing of the incoming and outgoing traffi c, causing traffi c delays.

Traffi c congestion in central Lahore area
According to the observations of the authors and literature from Mensah et al. [27], some of the obvious factors of traffi c congestion in central Lahore can be as follows but not confi ned to; poor road networks, poor public transport, security check posts, poorly designed traffi c signal controls, loading and off-loading of passengers and freight along the roadside, pedestrian obstructions, trading obstructions, narrow traffi c lanes, road-side parking lots, illegal parking patterns, lack of self-discipline and awareness of traffi c rules.

Effects of traffi c congestion
The main effects of traffi c congestion can be broadly grouped into economic, environmental, social and health [21], [24], [25], [28], [29]. However, the nature and severity of the effects may differ based on the conditions of the road infrastructure, availability of transport modes, Spatio-temporal and travel behaviors [2]. Though there is an increasing trend of hybrid vehicles on roads, still vehicles stuck in traffi c produce a lot of emissions and noise which causes many of the problems such as smog and respiratory-related issues. The riders who use non-air-conditioned vehicles and are exposed to the open air are more prone to get health risks as compared to commuters who are traveling by closed doors and air-conditioned vehicles. Apart from stress-related issues, there is high probability that their lungs might get affected because of more exposure to the open-air environments. According to the WHO report [30], air pollution causes an apparent 3.2 million deaths each year worldwide. The data record of 2012 by the National Emissions Inventory (NEI) shows that around 71% of the pollution comes from vehicles on road. However, these numbers are expected to grow around 85% as per the records of National Capital Region (NCR).

Traffi c management strategies
It is not possible to completely eliminate the traffi c congestion but somehow it can be reduced to an acceptable level by employing some of the following measures suggested by Rodrigue et al. in his report [8].

Lane management
An effective lane management system should be properly and strictly implemented. Different kinds of vehicles should run in their specifi ed lanes and heavy penalties should be imposed on driver who does not comply with lane management systems.

Deterrent measures
The law enforcement agencies should strictly adhere to their SOPs and ask the drivers, pedestrians, and traders to follow the road traffi c sense as advised and implemented. Heavy fi nes should be imposed on drivers who inherently do not follow guidelines by wrong overturning, lane changing, wrong parking, one-way driving and picking, and off-loading passenger and goods at improper places. The pedestrians should be forced to follow proper pedestrian crossings and direct infi ltration from unspecifi ed points on roads should be discouraged. They must be compelled to use over-head pedestrian facilities wherever they are provided on major arterial city roads.
The traders and shop keepers should be warned, and heavy penalties must be imposed on wrong road-side parking, loading and unloading of goods on roadside.

Traffi c education
Traffi c awareness and education have positive impact on improving smooth traffi c fl ow and reducing traffi c congestion. Traffi c awareness seminars should be conducted on regular and consistent manner in schools, universities, and organizations to educate people about the road sense and traffi c laws. The textbooks must include traffi c safety material with appealing colored diagrams to motivate children's interests in focusing and obeying traffi c rules.

Road capacity
The traffi c congestion can be effectively reduced by proper Traffi c Demand Modelling (TDM). It can be done either by improving the road capacity (supply) or adjusting the traffi c (demand) on the road network. There are various ways of improving TDM on the route; increasing number of lanes, creating new or multiple routes connecting the existing road network, proper lane management, parking restrictions, carpooling, provision of better public transport, and reduction in private vehicles on road.

Enforcement of rules
It is mandatory to change the inherent behaviors of road users through the intervention of traffi c laws and making them compelled to follow them. However, the recruitment of traffi c wardens or traffi c police will not be only suffi cient for better traffi c management. They must be trained frequently and periodically for better traffi c control in unexpected events. Also, they must be authorized fully to implement traffi c rules without any socio-political pressure.

Provision of proper parking lots
Provision of proper parking places is inevitable for central market areas, especially which are main attraction points from business point of view. There must be proper bus stops and places for pick and drop of passengers by Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) and taxis. The Triad conceptual framework of effective traffi c management [31] is presented below, it highlights the main contributing causes of traffi c congestion in developing countries. The main causes include poor discipline, poor cities planning, lack of road traffi c sense, archaic management systems, curbside parking, and infi ltration of unwanted movements in the main traffi c stream. The possible effects of traffi c congestion include environmental, economic, social, and psychological effects. The impact of these effects on individual level may cause higher

STUDY AREA
The map of the Lahore city which is the capital of the most populated province of Pakistan is shown in Figure  1. According to estimation the population of the Lahore city is 11.13 million which has increased unprecedentedly over the last decade due to huge infrastructure development investment as compared to the other cities in the province. It is the second most populated city in Pakistan.
The Lahore central area is formally characterized for the informal economy. The most part of the city is covered with traders of foodstuff, cookware, clothing, building materials, shoes, and jewelry. However, it is also congested residences with narrow streets and irregularly planned pathways. There are a lot of banks and other saving fi nancial fi rms located in the central area. With respect to the recent economic active population, males are the dominant gender who shares a greater part of the traders there. The central part of Lahore city is concentrated with many educational and medical facilities, employment centers, and public offi ces. There is a high migration of masses from suburban and other parts of the country. The city population has increased rapidly in the last two decades due to concentration of facilities in it and migration trend. Over the years, Lahore has expand- The present public transport systems connecting major hubs of the central Lahore city are not effi cient and underdeveloped despite construction of BRT on one of major artery. There is still a big gap between the demand and provision of a good quality public transport system. The multitude of small vehicles on road networks in central Lahore has become major problems in terms of traffi c management and environmental concerns. Motorcycle traffi c has a major share in the road traffi c and posing a serious threat to public in terms of traffi c safety and demand. Low and middle-income groups consider it as a family mode as it is cheaper than public transport. Uncontrolled land use pattern, ineffi cient and underdeveloped public transport system, two and three-wheeler traffi c and roadside encroachment are contributing factors in traffi c congestion. Traffi c congestion has become a major issue for the masses as it tends to increase social costs in terms of increase in generalized travel cost and environmental pollution. This traffi c congestion is affecting both the commuters from urban and suburban areas. Traffi c management and urban land-use policies are required to be considered for mitigation of traffi c congestion.

Research design
In this research study, the explanatory type of research design was followed to get an understanding of the conclusive evidence about traffi c congestion problems and Explanatory type of research is always followed to get an idea of the existing problems and how they can be managed wherever it is very little or no research is conducted [32].

Demographic features of the respondents and data collection
In this research study, a random cluster sampling technique was employed to select the respondents to know their perspectives about major traffi c congestion causes and their remedial measure.  Keeping in view of the privacy concerns of the respondents regarding the education disclosure, "Others" option was also included if they do not intend to disclose it. The administration of the questionnaire surveys was carried out through road-side survey methods. The response was collected in the form of statistics of data, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The questionnaire was divided into fi ve main parts. The fi rst part includes the basic demographic information of the respondents such as gender, age, marital status, education, and category of the stakeholders. In the second part, major causes of traffi c congestion were listed based upon the observations of the researchers, from literature review, and recommended reasons from transport experts. The respondents were given the options of "yes" or "no" to select against each cause of traffi c congestion. The third part contains the options for selecting the obvious effects of traffi c congestion on the lives of the respondents, which include economic, environmental, social, health, and psychological. The fourth part includes selecting the most responsible stakeholder of traffi c congestion in the central Lahore are with options of traders (shopkeepers), pedestrian, motorists, or inadequate planning from transport and traffi c planners. The last part includes the descriptive remarks of the respondents about suggestions and recommendations how the menaces of traffi c congestions can be reduced. However, the response of the transport and traffi c experts was recorded via faceto-face meetings or recorded phone calls. The socio-demographic features of the respondents are shown in Table 1.

RESULTS
As per the response results, most of the people (44%) consider that maximum traffi c congestion is between 12:00 -02:00 PM (Figure 3). This is the opinion of the respondents and may not exactly refl ect the actual situation. As the study conducted by JICA as a part of the master plan of the city suggested that the peak-hours at maximum location are between 06:00 -10:00 am and 04:00 -07:00 pm [33]. This response can be attributed as most of the shopkeepers open their businesses during this time and park their vehicles on the roadside. It is signifi cantly less as per their perceptions before (7%) and after (19%) this time period. This may also be inferred as most of the respondents are shopkeepers, so they experience the most traffi c congestion during this time frame. The second highest response of traffi c congestion is experienced between 02:00 -04:00 PM, which can be attributed as people are moving back from schools and offi ces, which results in traffi c congestion. As per their response, there is very few traffi c on roads during early morning (2%) hours as there are only people on roads which are either going to schools or offi ces. The descriptive statistics of the response of the respondents pertinent to traffi c congestion during different times of the day can seem in Figure 3.  Figure 4, narrow streets (53%) and non-compliance of traffi c rules (42%) also main contributing factors of traffi c congestion. As indicated in Table 2, many of the respondents perceive that economic (41.64%) and environmental (28.76%) are the most important and direct effects of traffi c congestion. However, many of them perceive that it has negative impacts on social (13.15%) and psychological (9.59%) behaviors of road users. The descriptive statistics of their response are shown in Table 2. However, many of the respondents perceive that illegal parking on roadside and vendors' activities are one of the obvious reasons for traffi c congestion in central Lahore area. It suggested that major source of traffi c congestion are traders and shop keepers who do their businesses and activities on roads without complying the traffi c rules and regulations. As it constitutes more than fi fty (53%) percent of the total response. The second highest contributor to the traffi c congestion is non-compliance and violations by drivers and motorists which contribute around 22% of the respondents' perceptions. The inadequate and scarce policies by transport and traffi c planners are also an important consideration (18%) for traffi c congestion. However, pedestrians are perceived to be the least contributing factor (7%) of traffi c congestion in central Lahore area. Details of Perception of the respondents about users responsible for traffi c congestion are shown in Figure 5.  The main problem in central Lahore area is the narrow right of way for streets and the residents are residing in decades on constructed houses and shopkeepers are having previously constructed shops. In previous years, these wide roads were serving the needs of the occupants. However, as the population of the city has increased immensely within recent years and many of the core businesses are in central Lahore area. It leads to congestion on main roads in peak hours due to limited capacity of these roads. However, our institution is continuously working on developing effective strategies for the reduction of traffi c congestion. As our main core purpose is to make policies, which are being implemented by Government in conjunction with other law enforcement agencies. So, sometimes, proposed policies are not executed on-site or observe delayed execution due to limited funding options.

DISCUSSIONS
Traffi c congestion has some of the severe impacts on the lives of the road users who continuously and daily experience it [2], [26], [34]. However, these bottlenecks can be of recurrent or non-recurrent nature [28]. Most of the main causes and factors of traffi c congestion in the central Lahore area can be perceived of recurrent nature which is result of on-road parking and use roads right of way by on-street vendors (traders), especially during peak hours. The increase in the vehicle ownership and non-availability of effi cient public transport systems is also one of the main cause traffi c congestion [3], [11], [19]. The narrow streets and non-compliance of traffi c rules and regulations by motorists and traders are also an urgent issue of traffi c congestion in central Lahore T area. Due to limited right of way, it seems impossible to expand these narrow roads due to heavy residency on both sides, to meet the needs of the increased vehicle occupancy and expanded traffi c volumes. In the central Lahore area, the major reasons for traffi c congestion include illegal road-side parking by motorists and traders, the bad attitude of motorists and running of on-road business by traders (Figure 4). Some of the bad attitudes of motorists include; one-way driving, violating traffi c lights, on-road picking, and dropping off passengers, and wrong turns [15], [16]. As evident from this study, traders are one of the main reasons for traffi c congestion because they occupy the streets and curb the pedestrians' right of way as well. This restricts and compels the pedestrian and motorists to share the same right of way of the already narrow roads in the city. Some of the very obvious effects of traffi c congestion that are categorized in this study are economic, environment, social, health and psychological. In many of the studies, the respondents put economic effect in the top as it is directly related with the transportation and fuel costs [1], [2], [9], [13], [17], [19], [24], [29], [35]. It is reported that on average, in the US alone, the economic burden of 83-124 billion dollars is experienced annually [4]. The extended time period spent on roads result in wasted working time and economic loses [2]. Traffi c congestion is also an important contributor to increased pollution because of more fuel burning on roads in congested environments. The stationery vehicles on road consume an extra amount of fuel which emits an approximately 15,434 kiloton of CO2 in the atmosphere from UK, Germany, and the US alone. It has been estimated that it will be increased by 16% up till 2030 which will result in 17,959 kilotons of CO2 emissions [36]. Traffi c congestion can cause serious health issue as it is main source of carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and greenhouse gasses emission [37]. The effects of traffi c congestion on public health are inevitable especially in densely populated area due to the lack of non-existent Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) [38]. The road users who are exposed to traffi c congestion are more prone to get psychological issues due to these hazardous gases exposures [39]. The individuals who experience traffi c congestion more frequently as compared to other road users are more subject to mental stresses and premature mortality issues [34]. The traffi c congestion in the central Lahore area cannot be totally eliminated but however can be managed to an acceptable level by employing some of the traffi c management strategies. To manage the traffi c effectively some traffi c management measures may be adopted considering their specifi c nature. The selected measures should focus on changing travel behavior pattern of masses. These measures would be proper control on land use and development, public transport development and improvements, and pricing policies on use land and road infrastructure. Generally, a combination of incentive and disincentives measures is more effective in reducing traffi c congestion through behavioral changes. Public transport improvements should be introduced considering the target group of travelers and must be integrated with land use control measures, for example, parking management [40]. Public transport improvements and development would help in making modal shift from private transport to public transport. Therefore, provision of an effi cient, well management, and safer public transport should be focus of authorities. Service quality of improved public transport should be competent enough to auto transport so that status-conscious people do not mind in using it. Social marketing programs should be used in order to improve the image of public transport to users. Para-transit modes are required to restrict as feeder modes to bus and rail transit lines. Public transport improvements alone will not be effective in changing travel behavior. The imposition of pricing strategies and restrictions on use of private vehicle is important such as parking management and road tax or toll on private vehicle entry in specifi c areas or roads. Improvements in public transport network on one side would provide incentive to the travelers, and on the other hand, imposition of fi scal and entry restrictions on private vehicle would be disincentive on use of private vehicle. Parking management should include area wise parking fee and limited parking facilities in those areas served by public transport and main market areas. Land-use policies need to revise and implement in relation to above measures. An urban road-based pricing scheme can be considered, and the implementation of such policies should be assessed from stakeholders' perspectives. Parking charges are required to be imposed gradually at commercial areas. Public awareness is much important about the benefi ts associated with the implementation of pricing measures. Public awareness programs such as radio, TV, seminars, and workshops must be used in this context. In addition, share mobility-based policies are required to be encouraged among public. These include carpooling, car sharing and vanpooling. Suitability of such policies should be assessed from social and operational aspects. Also, TEPA and DTEM must work in close conjunction with other law enforcement agencies to implement these traffi c management strategies in central Lahore. They can be implemented for effi cient and smooth fl ow of traffi c in the central region. Some of them are listed as follows: • The provision of proper parking lots near main markets is inevitable and road-side parking of vehicle by motorists and traders should be strictly discouraged. • The proper pedestrian pathways or overhead pedestrian bridges must be provided to avoid the intrusions of a pedestrian on narrow roads. • More traffi c police wardens should be deputed in main market areas to ensure compliance with traffi c rules and regulations. • The selling of the wares by traders' along-side the road should be strictly prohibited, and heavy penalties should be imposed on those who violate traffi c regulations. • The frequent and periodic traffi c awareness seminars should be conducted in schools, colleges, and main traffi c attraction centers by TEPA and law enforcement agencies stressing upon the after-mentioned effects of traffi c congestion. • The transport planners must ensure the engagement of other stakeholders for effective and sustainable policymaking and must incorporate the valuable inputs from them.

CONCLUSIONS, POLICY IMPLICATIONS, AND FUTURE RESEARCH DIRECTIONS
It can be concluded from this research study that the main urgent causes of congestion in central Lahore are from stake-holders' perspectives are; illegal parking on road-side, bad attitude of vehicle drivers (motorists), and selling of wares along road-side by traders. The negative externalities of traffi c congestion are mainly of economic, environmental, and social nature as per stakeholders' perspectives. The main contributors to traffi c congestion in central Lahore area are hawkers (traders) and motorists.
No holistic traffi c management strategy can be determined to mitigate the effects of traffi c congestion in the central Lahore area. However, TEPA and other law enforcement agencies must strive hard to get the hawkers and motorists comply with traffi c laws. The offenders must be arrest if required or penalized heavily for improved mobility in congested roads. The traffi c police wardens must be trained and directed to exercise their all powers to hold accountable the culprits who violate traffi c rules. Also, on-road parking signs if existent near main market areas should be removed immediately and proper parking lots should be provided. The traffi c safety and awareness seminars must be conducted frequently in main congested market areas for better understanding of the dos and don'ts for on-road traffi c safety among masses.
For the continuation of this research study, the impacts of traffi c congestion on the social desirability of the central Lahore area occupants from economic, environmental, and psychological perspectives will be studied. Also, more respondents should be included in the study to closely evaluate the implications of traffi c congestion on their social lives and behaviors.