When two-way traffic was reintroduced on EVR Salai, after six years, the increasing influence of social media in matters of civic governance came to the fore. The Facebook page of Chennai City Traffic Police (CTP) — @chennaitrafficpolice — made this exercise easier than anticipated.
Days before the new arrangement came into force, motorists and pedestrians were educated about it through this page.
According to CTP, feedback and suggestions offered by road-users on its Facebook page and Twitter account are taken into account before traffic changes are effected.
Started in 2011, CTP’s Facebook page has over 82,000 followers, and its Twitter account — Chennai Traffic Alert (@CCTPolice_Alert) — has over 2,000 followers.
A team of three policemen under the Traffic Planning Wing manages the social media pages from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. Prem Anand Sinha, Joint Commissioner of Police — Traffic (South), reads the comments on the pages, every day.
Besides reports of traffic-related issues, the department relies on social media to understand the traffic flow at a specific place, before and after the introduction of a traffic change there.
“We concentrate on suggestions that would help us make improvements in a traffic arrangement. If a suggestion is workable, we study all aspects of it for a few weeks or months before presenting it to senior officials. Once we get the clearance, we apprise the civic authorities concerned about it. If we have created banners explaining the new changes on a road, we put them up on FB and Twitter to disseminate the information,” says Prem Anand.
For example, when the old traffic system was restored at the Vadapalani-Arcot junction, there was chaos for a few months.
CTP’s Facebook page witnessed a regular stream of complaints about the congestion at the junction as well as suggestions on how the problem could be solved.
“Based on a few suggestions, we identified a small gap below the flyover, which could provide access to motorists. This discovery helped us improve the flow of traffic, at least on one side of the flyover. Hence, vehicles from Kodambakkam heading towards Vadapalani, can take a left turn, then U-turn below the flyover, followed by another free left,” explains the JCP.
Social media played a significant role in improving traffic at the Tidel Park junction and during Deepavali. “Similarly, I regularly noticed posts about traffic congestion near Dr. Kamakshi Memorial Hospital on Radial Road, Pallikaranai. According to motorists, the junction was always chock-a-block with vehicles. The social media posts helped us initiate a detailed study, and in 10 to 15 days, we will introduce some changes there,” adds the IPS officer.
