City yet to get new traffic light mgmt system

Ramkrishan Upadhyay

Tribune news service

Chandigarh, April 29

Residents may continue to face traffic jams for some more time as the UT Department of Engineering has failed to allot the work of implementing the intelligent traffic light management system in the city even seven months after floating the tender for it.

As per sources, the department has set aside the whole procedure for the selection of the firm as it is considering to revise the tender to incorporate some new features into the project. Sources said after revising the terms and the conditions, a fresh tender would be floated. The department had issued the tender for the Rs 42-crore project last year and the project was to be completed in a year. The ITLMS system will be implemented on the Madhya Marg, Dakshin Marg, Shanti Path, Vikas Marg, Jan Marg, Himalaya Marg, Vidya Path, Chandi Path, Purv Marg, Sukhna Path, Sarovar Path, Paschim Path and the Udyan Path . A sensor-based technology will be used in the cameras installed at various junctions. The system at each traffic junction will be automated and linked to the main control room, situated at Sector 29. The cameras will send video footage to the control room, which will be analysed by the software installed for the purpose to get a sense of the traffic pattern. Intelligence signals from the control room will then be sent to succeeding junctions to maintain a smooth flow. In case of heavy traffic jams, the software, integrated with a variable messaging system (VMS), will alert people about the nature of traffic ahead. Mukesh Anand, Chief Engineer, UT, said they were considering to bring the latest technology in the project. “Once finalised, a tender will be floated,” he added.

The project

It is aimed at making the functioning of traffic lights smart, which will be managed through a control room. Under the system, all traffic lights will be synchronised in a way that the commuters travel without stopping at the light points. The system once implemented will reduce the average halting time of vehicles at traffic lights, fuel wastage and pollution.