The rise in petrol and diesel prices has failed to deter the State’s hunger for motor vehicles with the two-wheeler population rising in the last two decades.
The study, which was carried out by the Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Services Ltd, states that between 1993 and 2012 the two-wheeler population has seen a nine-fold increase from 13.91 lakh to 1.26 crore.
The report said that private vehicle population had increased at a greater rate than public transport. In 2011-12, the total number of public transport vehicles registered was 1.38 lakh whereas the number of private (non-transport) vehicles registered during the same period was 16.35 lakh, of which two-wheelers and motor cars alone amounted to 16.06 lakh.
The density of motor vehicles per square km in the State increased from 22 in 1996 to 52 in 2004.
The report states that Chennai accounts for about 24.5 per cent of the registered vehicles in the State and has more registered vehicles than other cities.
In Tamil Nadu two-wheeler population is nearly 1.30 crore, which accounts for 78 per cent, while cars add up to only 14 per cent. However, registration of new cars is also on the rise, the report stated.
The report states that in 2011 Chennai saw a rapid increase in vehicle population with 2.22 lakh new two-wheelers and over 52,000 new cars hitting the city roads.
Overall, the State witnessed an increase of 13.7 lakh two-wheelers and 1.45 lakh new cars in 2011, the report said.
The report, while stressing the need to promote public transport, said that the abrupt rise in the vehicle population along with construction work eating up road space has slowed down traffic movement to a crawl on virtually every road during peak hours.
The vehicular population explosion has increased not only congestion on the already clogged city roads but also pollution levels, the report added.