Traffic streamlined

Traffic streamlined
BENGALURU


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● NEW CENTRES TO ENSURE SMOOTHER VEHICLE FLOW

Come June andthe city may be able to cope better with its traffic which is driving most people insane at the moment.
The city police plans to soon set up a Traffic Management Centre (TMC) to monitor traffic jams, inform drivers about which roads to avoid and provide live traffic updates on specially installed signboards.

The end result could be smoother traffic flow on Bengaluru’s roads, says additional commissioner of police (traffic) Praveen Sood. “We plan to install 20 variable message signboards for live traffic situation updates to help road users. The operators at the TMC will keep a tab on traffic jams and inform motorists about them through the signboards. Ten such signboards which will begin to function from June,” Mr Sood reveals.

Signboards will be seen on Bellary Road leading to the Bengaluru International Airport, KR Puram, Old Madras Road, at the Central Silk Board on Hosur Road, Mysore Road, Residency Road, Richmond Road, Tumkur Road, Kanakapura Road and Mekhri Circle.

The city police is in the process of developing a traffic scan system to get real time information on traffic congestion. The information will be collated from videos, mobile phone density and data from GPS fitted BSNL buses and processed to arrive at the average speed at which vehicles are travelling on roads to indicate their level of congestion.

The scan system is being developed by Dr Ashwin Mahesh of the Indian Institute of Management with the help of the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation and two IT firms.To streamline the traffic, signals within a 100 metres of each other, will be suitably linked. “This is being done using the signal progression method which ensures partial synchronisation to minimise delays.

Already, the signals on Manipal Road, Cubbon Road, BRV junction, Minsk Square, State Bank circle, KG Road, Upparpet, Minerva junction, Ulsoor Gate, Police Corner, Hudson Circle and Web junction have been modified,” the additional commissioner adds.

There’s more good news.

An area traffic control system (ATC) has been planned for 14 corridors. A pilot project is in the offing on Bellary Road between Hebbal flyover and the international airport with the assistance of Bharath Electronics Ltd. The ATC will use traffic density data of all major junctions in a corridor and adjust the countdown at signal lights to reduce traffic hold-ups.

“In due course a parking information system will also be put in place. The availability of parking slots across the city will be fed into the TMC and displayed on VMS boards for the information of motorists.

The details will also be relayed through SMSes and websites. But this will be possible only after all parking lots are computerised,” Mr Sood explains.

The police, which is working on improving communication among its officers as well, has provided them 280 fully operational blackberries and plans to procure 400 more handsets for the use of cops up to the rank of assistant sub- inspectors.