A lesson in EFFICIENCY

A lesson in EFFICIENCY
Bangalore’s unique B-TRAC initiative has many traffic-management features that may soon be replicated in other cities
Dipannita Das | TNN

Bangalore: Management of the ever-increasing traffic volume in the city is not an easy task. But as far as efficiency is concerned, Bangalore seems to be ready to show the way to other cities in the country.
BSNL’s Bangalore telecom district, which provides connectivity for the city’s infrastructure plans including BTRAC — the project aimed at streamlining and effectively controlling traffic — has been approached by other cities to replicate the system there. BSNL is involved in the project’s features like surveillance cameras at important junctions, and the networking of various traffic signals.
Additional police commissioner (traffic) Praveen Sood said many cities have shown
an interest in replicating the
technology-driven management used in B-TRAC to ensure efficient traffic management and safety measures. “The project, envisaged by Bangalore police, is the first of its kind in the country. It is unique for its long-term sustainability. We have received many calls from interested parties who want to come here and see how it works,” he said.
So far, BSNL has networked 163 junctions in Phase 1 of the project. In the second phase, due for completion by June, 204 more will be connected. BSNL, Bangalore, entered into an agreement with Karnataka Road Development Corporation to execute the project at an investment of Rs 6 crore.
BSNL principal general manager Subhendu Ghosh said the project was a real challenge, considering its significance in a growing city. “The physical connectivity network was a big task at traffic junctions where there were no cables before the project. In some cases, the laid cables were useless because of road resurfacing carried out subsequently,” he said.
BSNL connected the junctions to the traffic management centre by laying new copper and fibre cables across the city, linking them to its exhaustive network. The process involves coordination with BEL, traffic police and Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike.
All the network elements are accessible by remote monitoring, making maintenance easy and flexible. Some junctions are equipped to deliver a bandwidth of up to 12 mbps. This can even meet future requirements, Ghosh added.
WHAT IS IT?
Bangalore city police launched the B-TRAC 2010 project in 2008. It is designed to: Reduce traffic congestion and number of accidents by 30% each in central areas of the city Achieve significant reduction in pollution Ensure substantial compliance of traffic rules Set up an effective trauma care facility COMPONENTS
Junction improvement Street furniture (signage, direction boards) Road markings Area traffic control Variable message systems at 250 junctions Traffic surveillance and enforcement through cameras Educational training BSNL ROLE Networking of junctions In outdoor units at traffic junctions, BSNL provided network equipment along with UPS to deliver bandwidth for applications such as traffic signals and cameras