Cities around the world are putting their money, energy, and technological talent into developing algorithms that is dramatically altering the face of the transport sector. Even small disruptive changes in the world of automotive technology could have long term impact over the mobility and we are seeing some incremental shift in terms of smart traffic management, which most global cities are opting for. It is a time for the India cities to catch up with the latest trend.
India has four of the world’s 10 most congested cities. One study estimated that, in Delhi, traffic congestion costs averaged Rs.4.91 per kilometre for cars and Rs.9.83 per kilometre for buses during peak periods, and Rs.0.32 for cars and 0.63 rupees for buses during off-peak periods. This could amount to additional costs for India of approximately US$120 billion-US$140 billion in congestion and pollution costs per annum by 2050, compared with compact, multi-modal urban development.
Rise in urbanisation could see an additional millions cars by 2050, most of which will have to squeeze into the already crowded streets of Indian cities which threatens to choke our already crowded streets.
Therefore, many Indian cities are investing in modern intelligent transport technology that could would make a big difference in solving the traffic woes.
Integrated Traffic Management
Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) has already working on Master System Integrator, which aims to integrate an array of services such as traffic, parking, transit and city WiFi into a single service with an investment worth Rs. 585 crore.
Under the project, there will be a smart traffic management module, which will focus on reducing traffic congestion and improve journey experience of the citizens. The projects will include implementation of traffic signalling with area-based traffic control, monitoring traffic network flow, variable signage, red light violation detection systems at 25 major intersections and an e-challan system. To work it efficiently, the administration plans to provide 1,800 access points. The smart tracking management application will have a track and monitor mechanism and will look after functions of about 475 public service vehicles. Citizens will also be able to get bus-related information on their mobiles through an app. Apart from that it also calls for Emergency Management and Incident Response System will support monitoring of day to day operations of the city and supplement citizen safety.
Even the Bangaluru is working on the ambitious Intelligence Traffic Signal System in the city in which it has selected 25 traffic signals which will have auto mated traffic lights which gauge the amount of traffic and change from red, amber and green. The system manages vehicular flow through actuation by using cameras that can capture vehicle presence and modify the signal countdown time depending on real-time vehicle movement. The system will be synchronised to countdown timers. If a signal is timed to remain green for 50 seconds and there is not much traffic flow after 30 seconds, the loop shifts to another signal in the junction. Other cities like Pune, Surat, Chandigarh, Vijaywada are following the suit.
Tracking Vehicles
The Union Ministry of Urban Development along with IIT Madras is working on a solution that proposes for buses fitted with a GPS device, which provides the data on the vehicle’s location for a given period of the day. Analysis of this data can help in determining the actual travel time for a bus, and the distance between consecutive locations. Using the data on how long the bus takes to cover two subsections of a route, the IIT-Madras algorithm forecasts how much time it would take to traverse the next subsection. This gives a predicted time of arrival at a stop, which is what the passenger needs. The study was already conducted on buses of Chennai’s Metropolitan Transport Corporation. The government is now planning to implement it in all smart cities to improve mobility.
Intelligent Transport Systems, such as area traffic control, which can automatically adjust traffic signal timings within a large urban area based on real time traffic information, bus priority signals, computer-aided bus dispatch, and real time passenger information, which can significantly improve the capacity and quality of existing bus services and can also help in managing traffic efficiently during the peak hours.
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