Om Shakthi Temple junction in Banaswadiis one of the junctions where the automated

City traffic police have launched a trial run of an automated traffic signal system that gauges vehicular density on each road at the junction and operates accordingly

Time comes to a standstill for motorists waiting at traffic signals on city streets, especially during the peak hours. This might soon become a nostalgic memory. The city traffic police have launched a pilot trial run of ‘smart’ automated traffic signal system that gauges vehicular density on each road at the signal and operates accordingly. The lane with the highest number of vehicles will be given preference over lanes which do not have too much traffic.

These signals are called Vehicle Actuated Adoptive Signals (VAAS). As of now, the system is in place at two junctions on trial basis, one at Old Madras Road in KR Puram and another at Om Shakthi Temple junction in Banaswadi. Another VAAS signal is functioning at Mattikere bus stand junction, he added.

“The trial run is being conducted on the outskirts and, based on the results, we will soon switch over to these smart signals even in central business district (CBD) areas in the coming days,” said R Hitendra, Additional Commissioner (Traffic), Bengaluru City Police.

VAAS signals will be equipped with various detectors and cameras. Based on the vehicle density, the detectors will switch the signal to green for the road that has most number of vehicles. Unlike the system that is currently in use, these signals will not be fed with cycle periods.

“The signals operate with the help of cameras and detectors that gauge the traffic on a particular road,” Hitendra said.

Initially, the city police attempted to synchronise traffic signals in the city so as to ensure smooth movement of traffic. But the proposal was put on hold as it was difficult to implement the synchronisation due to technical reasons such as infrastructure patterns in the city.

“The distance between signals is not uniform. The roads are small in some places and wide in other places on the same stretch. So, the synchronisation could not be effectively done. In the automated mode, the timing is decided according to the density of the vehicles,” Hitendra added.

Traffic signals in the city are currently maintained by Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL). For the period of 24 hours, the signals are fed with 16 cycle periods. For example, after 11 pm, the signals automatically change to 15 seconds for each road at the junction. And during peak hours, the maximum time for each signal is 180 seconds and it is split into 45 seconds for each direction.

The junction has four signal poles, one on each road. The signal poles have a camera pointing at each road. The camera calculates the density of traffic on each road. The camera has a red and green light which indicates the signal has to go green or remain red based on the density.

We saw that the timing for the main road was set for 60 seconds and for the minor roads at 30 seconds. At a moment when there were only four to five vehicles on one of the minor roads, the signal remained red for all of 60 seconds allowing the traffic on the main road to pass. After that, the signal of the minor road turned green for 30 seconds. The cameras then calculated the density on the main road and the signal of the main road opened.

An engineer who was at the spot said the traffic will be smooth and faster only when main roads are clear. The system gives preference to main roads and tries to reduce traffic on them by giving them longer periods of green.

Constables Unhappy

Traffic constables that operate some of these signals manually are not so happy with the move. They feel that not all the junctions in the city can be run on automated mode. Also, for the emergency vehicles like an ambulance, it is difficult to program the automated signals to change to green. According to senior officials, the instructions are very clear that ambulance should be given priority.

TRAFFIC EXPERT

M N Sreehari, advisor to govt of Karnataka for traffic, transport & infrastructure, said, “It is good that police are gearing up to go for vehicle actuated signals, they should have done it a long ago. It’s a good move. This also increases the capacity of the road. It is similar to the synchronisation of signals.” However, he said, they can implement vehicle actuated signals by using cameras only at a few junctions. “In Delhi, they are using sensors. City police are collecting around Rs70,000 each day as traffic fines. Let them use this money to buy sensor devices for the betterment of the traffic movement,” he added.

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