With the much delayed Hyderabad Traffic Integrated Management System (H-TRIMS) project finally gaining steam, the aging and often ‘dysfunctional' traffic signals in the city are set to fade into the twilight of an era that is marked with chaotic traffic.
The decades-old traffic signals installed are beset with a host of problems ranging from lack of connectivity to inability in configuring the signal timings properly. But if the H-TRIMS project takes-off as per the plans, the city will see a better traffic management within a year. Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) won the bid for installing the ultra modern signal system under the H-TRIMS project on Tuesday.
“One of the most important reasons for the present traffic chaos on the city roads is lack of proper signalling system. How can police control the traffic when the signals themselves fail?” a senior police official said.
No power backup
“The present signalling system has no power backup because of which signals go blank during the power cuts and also result in fused bulbs. Apart from this, there is no possibility of synchronizing the present signals to optimize the traffic flow during the peak hours,” he explained.
In contrast, the 221 signals that are to be installed under the H-TRIMS project are completely wired with one another and all of them will come with power backup facilities. Each signal point will also be provided with countdown timers, and have a provision to set signal timings manually or from a control room.
That is not all, the cameras provided at each signal point will keep a watch on the traffic flow and will automatically increase the green light duration on the side that is witnessing heavy traffic flow.
Control room
With all the signals connected to the control room, the traffic police will also have a greater control over the overall traffic flow in the city and can take timely action to maintain a smoother vehicular moment.
The new system comes with a few more promises. To facilitate the movement of pedestrians, the signals will have an ‘all red' duration when the traffic from all sides will be stopped. The duration changes for each signal according to the pedestrian volume.
Detecting breakdown
Since the signals are connected to the central control room, detecting a breakdown at any signal point becomes much easier, officials added.
The number of traffic signals installed in the city are168, while the number of signals removed as not necessary are 27. The number of signals to be up-graded under H-TRIMS in city are160 and the number of signals to be up-graded under H-TRIMS in Cyberabad area are 60.
