Imagine New Delhi without traffic snarls, long wait at red signals and the unending struggle to find a parking space. As per the initiative taken by the Union Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), this would soon be a reality.
A top level committee under the ministry has recommended changes to decongest the traffic in the city where it emphasises on usage of intelligent traffic management system (ITMS) for road safety and traffic management.
“Intelligent Transport System is suggested to be adopted for surveillance, automatic vehicle location, public information boards, red light cameras and stop line violation detection,” The Hindustan Times quoted the report.
The first major step towards this has already been taken by the Delhi Traffic Police by using automatic number plate recognition cameras across 20 major junctions in the city’s southwest area.
The department is also working on implementing intelligent signalling that enables synchronised functioning of traffic lights along a stretch by end of the current year.
The department also intends installation of stop line detection lasers on traffic heavy signals. The report highlights 44 choke-points from around the city and suggests how to decongest them.
As per the report, owing to the growth in the number of private vehicles in the last three decades, the city has witnessed a sharp rise in the per capita trip rate. The number of trips has gone up to 150 lakh trips from 45 lakh trips between 1981-2011.
“If all the stakeholders join hands then we will be able to produce better results. Effective use of technology will not only help in reducing the number of traffic jams reported from across the city but will also control the number of accidents and the resultant fatalities,” Special commissioner of police (traffic), Sandeep Goel, told The Hindustan Times.
The data compiled by the Delhi Traffic Police shows more than half of road accident deaths in the city involved pedestrians and cyclists.
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