In three months, several roads in Bengaluru will get adaptive signals that can detect traffic flow in real time and adjust the red or green lights accordingly. This will put an end to the long wait at a red light when there’s little or no traffic in the other lanes.
The traffic police has placed an order for 35 such signals as part of the first phase of the project. Adaptive signal lights work on the principle of regulating waiting time based on the number of vehicles present.
“The sensors will visually measure the number of vehicles present and the wait time will be adjusted automatically after a lag of 2-3 seconds,” said R. Hithendra, Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic). These signals will be installed on important junctions which see heavy traffic.
“This will lessen the need for manual intervention at traffic junctions and vehicle users will also benefit from reduced wait timings,” Mr. Hitendra said.
The work orders for procuring the signals have already been issued and it is expected that the signals would be functional in the next few months.
New phones from 2017
As part of its planning for 2017, the traffic police will also be bidding farewell to the Blackberry phones which have been in use for more than five years to record violations and collect fines.
As many as 625 smart phones, running the Android operating system, will be replacing the Blackberrry phones and are expected to arrive in January.
List of VVIPs sought
The traffic police has also requested the government to provide a list of VVIPs who are eligible for the “zero traffic” clearance, during which all the traffic is stopped for their movement. Currently this facility is being provided to the President, Vice-President, Prime Minister, Governor, Central Ministers, Chief Ministers, Home Ministers as well as other dignitaries on a case-by-case basis.
“After the passage of dignitaries, it is very difficult to bring traffic to normality. Hence, a separate communication is needed to give list of those entitled,” a statement from the police said.
