Hi-technology to tackle traffic

Hi-technology to tackle traffic
DH News Service,Bangalore:
Bangaloreans traffic woes may be reduced soon, the B Trac steering committee has decided to install 20 Variable Message Sign Systems (VMS), and 500 solar blinkers to caution commuters at critical junctions without signals.



The committee has also decided to bring 160 junctions under surveillance, before the end of March 2009.
Some of the other decisions taken by the committee include: purchasing of 125 state-of-the-art alcometers (to measure alchohol levels in the driver’s blood) and five more interceptors. Highly reflective direction boards will be installed at traffic signals. Signals will have no advertisements, and traffic policemen will get reflective jackets and rain coats.

The meeting was held at Karnataka Road Development Corporation Limited (KRDCL) premises on Tuesday and was attended by Praveen Sood, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic & Security), Basavaraj, Managing Director, KRDCL, Sanjai Sahai, Additional Commissioner of Police (CAR), Dr Mahesh, Traffic expert and others were present, while it was chaired by Shankar Bidari, Commissioner of Police. The surveillance cameras will provide useful data about vehicle density and traffic conditions and the information will be analysed using video analytics, and disseminated to commuters through Variable Message Sign System (VMS) to enable them to make an informed choice about routes to be taken.

The VMS will be installed at main entrances to the City, and at important junctions which offer alternate routes for a destination. The VMS will be useful during a large number of diversions of traffic -which will be necessary in view of the construction of Metro on Reach-2 (Mysore Road to Magadi Road), Reach-3 (Yeshwanthpur to Sheshadripuram) and Reach-4 (RV Road to KR Road) - which will start soon.

Services sought

The police will also engage the services of system engineers and transportation experts to operationalise the Intelligence Transportation System (ITC) presently underway at Interim Traffic Management Centre (TMC). Experts will work on creating real-time knowledge of traffic conditions through different inputs, and creating communication technologies for guiding road users towards optimum choices of their travel needs.
The experts will facilitate integration of all the components of Traffic Management Centres - such as surveillance cameras, enforcement cameras, traffic signals and VMS, in addition to system development and deployment, planning asset management, data centre operations, traffic signal operation and server management.

Caution

At the newly constructed medians by BBMP, hazard markers and median markers will be fixed to caution the drivers against hitting the medians.

BSNL has been entrusted with the task of providing the communication backbone to all 204 new traffic signals in the next three months. Hence, all 380 signals will be connected to TMC by the end of the financial year.
Bangalore City will receive five more interceptors to enforce traffic violations, within two months.
The task of painting 50,000 square metres of road using thermo plastic paints has begun. Road humps will be provided with cautionary sign boards.