Children boost school transport safety with traffic system

Students at Sri Sri Ravishanker Vidya Mandir have made their school transport system safer and more efficient.

They have developed a traffic signal system that ensures the safety of children and staff in and around the campus. The system consists of two poles of around 10 feet each — one near the school’s main gate and the other near the playground.

The poles are placed 100 metres apart. Each pole consists of two coloured lights — red and green. Users can access the system with three switches: one to power it and the other two for controlling it. The signals could use automated or manual system. “We made the entire traffic signal system ourselves. The poles and LED lights can be controlled through the bibox kit,” said Aaska Vayeda, a class 9 student who was part of the team that led the project. The bibox kit is a programmable electronic device connected to a software.

Jayasmruthi Parthasarathy, another class 9 student who led the project, said, “There is a small road that leads to the school and there is usually chaos especially during school hours when buses come inside the school and go out. Owing to this problem and clogging, we decided to build a traffic signal system ourselves.”

The school has 1,000 children and 30 buses. “Our signal system helped in organising the flow of traffic. Earlier, a security guard controlled the traffic and there was a lot of confusion. Now, the buses form a line and everything is organised,” Vayeda said.