JOIN USGoing the 'tech' way...
With automated traffic control system and real-time information streaming in, their main aim is to bring the traffic in the City under control. Metrolife finds out more about this.
This is part of the B-Trac Project, which is a five year programme implemented at the cost of 350 crore by the government-owned Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) and other private stakeholders.
Under this, they had introduced a traffic wireless system, traffic surveillance system, traffic signalling system and traffic helpline. Presently, the City has 180 surveillance cameras and five enforcement cameras at various junctions. All the cameras are connected through cables with the control room.
Says Vasanth Bhagath, “These cameras can be rotated in 360 degrees and zoomed in upto 1.5 kilometres to see any point on a particular junction with the help of which, even pictures of the number plates of erring vehicles can be captured. The various artery roads in the City are divided into 20 corridors and each one is monitored by a person at the centre.”
They also aim to control the traffic congestion. They have prepared a database, based on video analysis, which is used to control the duration of the green lights at the junction depending on the traffic. Says Vasanth, “This technology is called Traffic Logic Control (TLC) through which, we calculate the maximum time of every signal light.
This varies according to the traffic flow at a particular time of the day. Only in case of VVIP movement or heavy rains, it is shifted to a manual mode.”
The policemen on the roads also carry BlackBerry phones and bluetooth printers (linked to the Central database) to penalise an offender and also check on previous cases. Says Vasanth, “At the time of any law-breaking, the convict is checked for previous offences by entering the vehicle number which is recorded in the database and a printed receipt is given.”
Has this system actually helped the police? Says S A Pasha, Assistant Commissioner of Police, “With the introduction of technology, there is less scope for errors while booking a case. Also, it has created a sense of wariness among the citizens to follow rules and hence, has resulted in lesser accidents over the years.”
The general public too feels it has been put to good use. Says Pallav Ghosh, an IT professional, “The initiative is quite good as it keeps things error free. As the violating drivers are given a receipt right then, there are less chances of people taking bribe. Even the way the signal lights are managed has brought respite to the traffic woes we faced a few years back as everything is computerised.”
The Traffic Management Centre is located on Commissariat Road on the first floor of Ashok Nagar Police Station and is open to the public.
Helpline
103 and 25588444/555(IVRS)