The State government has given its nod for the commissioning of an Intelligent Transport System, covering 435 road junctions in the Chennai Metropolitan Area.
“The government order has been issued for accepting loan assistance from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Chennai Corporation will identify a consultant to study all the road junctions shortly. The project is estimated at ₹660 crore,” an official said.
The new system will promote the safety of pedestrians, cyclists and other non-motorised transport. Chennai has already adopted a non-motorised transport policy for the city. The benefits of the proposed system also include better coordination between line agencies such as the Chennai Corporation, the Metropolitan Transport Corporation and the traffic police.
“The civic body will commission the facilities at 159 junctions in the first phase,” said an official. JICA will give a loan assistance of ₹465 crore. The State government will give a share of ₹195 crore for the project. Improved coordination among line agencies will enable swift response for movement of ambulances, fire engines and other vehicles for civic services. The new system will facilitate decongestion of key junctions based on real-time monitoring of traffic volume. Traffic police will be able to improve the policing of traffic junctions, collecting evidence.
Two sub-systems
The project has two sub-systems — intelligent traffic management and intelligent transport management. Traffic management will control traffic through adaptive systems which include configuration of traffic signal at each junction. This will include development of signal control plan for individual operations. The transport management facility will manage buses by developing an electronic ticketing system, monitoring vehicular movement, a passenger information system, and a fleet management system.
The project will have an adaptive traffic controller that can be controlled by the command and control centre of Corporation. Traffic police personnel will be permitted to operate the system at the junctions during emergencies and switch to manual mode.
GPS-based vehicle tracking system will monitor performance of the public transport. It will be linked with digital display boards at bus shelters of the Chennai Corporation.
Passengers will get information using smartphones. Bus stops will show the location, speed and the expected time of arrival of a buses at all the bus shelters of the Chennai Corporation.
