The city is constrained between the Arabian Sea in the west and the hills in the east and thus takes a linear form. Three National Highways NH 17, NH212 and NH213 pass through the heart of city, which cater to the main activity system of the city. NH17 runs longitudinally through the city acting as spine. The broad gauge railway line Mangalore to Shoranur runs parallel to the NH 17 and forms a barrier between the east and west parts of the city.
The area in the city can be categorized as residential, commercial and industrial based on the activities. Most of the area in Calicut can be classified as residential except for the commercial agglomeration in the Big Bazaar, SM Street, Palayam, Kallai & Puthiyara. Industries are mainly concentrated in Feroke, Cheruvannur, West Hill and on the banks of Kallai river. 3.0 Development of Data Base
The data required for the study include zonal details of study area, road network details of study area and traffic volumes on selected links. These data can be classified as graphic and non-graphic data.
3.1 Graphic Data
Presently the graphic data of traffic zones and road network are available in paper form. These paper drawings have been converted into digital maps adopting the following procedure.
The paper maps, which are large in size, were scanned using the setup available in the laboratory. The setup consisted of video camera interface with a computer through a frame grabber card. The map was kept in front of the video camera such that it is perpendicular to the axis of the camera. Using the software for operating the frame grabber card, the image of the map was captured and stored in jpeg format. To have good clarity of captured images, the paper drawings were first traced with thick and dark ink pen. The zonal map and road network map were captured
