e-Traffic?

Chaos and disorder on Mumbai roads may just be a past for the

city in the near future, as the city's traffic police tighten screws over

transport mechanism in order to deliver a well-managed traffic situation, using

e-Governance tools.

Beefing up transport mechanism have become all the more

important in the view of increasing road traffic in Mumbai.

Statistics revealed that while the road length has increased by

230% since 1951, the vehicular congestion in Mumbai has jumped by over 3,700%

since then. As a result, the vehicular density of 700 vehicles/km is extremely

high as compared to the international average of 30 vehicles/km. "The

situation was all the more serious as other modes of transport were no

better," says Satish Mathur, joint commissioner of Police, Traffic, Mumbai.

During peak hours local trains in Mumbai carry an average of

5,000 passengers against their capacity of 1,700 passengers. The available

infrastructure of road and rail transport has reached a saturation point, says

Mathur. In addition to this, major road development projects have been adding up

to the traffic snarls for the last three years.

The Mumbai Traffic Control Board decided to use technology to

manage the traffic. As part of the e-Governance initiatives, the Traffic Control

Branch has launched its official website for disseminating information, with an

objective of encouraging public to plan their travel and avoid traffic

congestions. "We realized that it was necessary to adopt IT to collect and

process, and disseminate information about traffic management to more and more

road users, along with using ultra modern gadgets/tools in day-to-day

enforcement in order to bring discipline among drivers", says Mathur.

Reaching Out



"We have devised ways to keep pace with the growing traffic," says
Mathur. The Traffic Control Branch, Mumbai launched its official website in

September 2005. The website flashes regular updates on traffic situation at the

time of every major events in the city, providing directions for possible

traffic diversions. All these traffic related information are also mailed to

individual email-IDs of the group, which has currently more than 2,200 members.

The site has become a medium to reach more and more road

travelers. The Board also gets feedback via emails, which has acted as a

motivating factor for the department. "We receive complaints against erring

auto rickshaw/taxi drivers, which helps us taking suitable action against them.

The website has indeed served as a forum for Mumbai road users," says

Mathur. The number of enforcement cases registering a jump by over 41% over 2002

exhibits the positive impact the website has on the enforcement. This also led

to increase in the revenue generated by 35% (Compared to the year 2002). Among

the other key e-Governance initiatives, the Mumbai Traffic Control Branch also

started an effort of Interactive Voice Response system, which is a 24-hours

help-line for the road users.

A call received on the system is recorded in digitized format

and seen on the computer located at the traffic control room. The problem

is attended via a wireless network installed at the traffic control room and

followed up by the control room staff. We have also started SMS service for road

users to report traffic congestions, accidents, and other problems faced by

travelers, and to get traffic updates, explains Mathur.



The Board is in the process of setting up electronic display boards to
communicate recent and authentic traffic updates to commuters. "Seventeen

boards have already been installed and 18 more are in the pipeline. This was

initiated after the Mumbai traffic blues in 2005," informs Mathur.

Modernizing Traffic Signals



To further improve traffic management with the help of technology, the
Mumbai Traffic Control Board has also replaced the preset timing system in

traffic signals, which allots fixed seconds for each phase, irrespective of the

traffic flow, with actuated traffic signals.

In this system a vehicle actuates traffic signal system with the

help of the sensors affixed underneath the road surface, and the actual vehicle

count is taken through a software, and time for each road at junction is decided

accordingly. "The system provides flexibility in the timing which helps

manning traffic at a junction as per requirement, thus helping in reducing

waiting time for the vehicles at the signal," he points out.

Mathur draws attention to the change brought about by the

installation of vehicle actuated traffic signal system at the Bandra Kurla

junction, which was one of the heaviest junction linking western, eastern

suburbs to the mainland.

Added to this is the installation of CCTVs, which so far has

been designed for 100 Mumbai junctions to help the control room keep a track of

video recordings of important signals. The pictures/videos captured by these

cameras are sent to CCTV at the Traffic Control Branch via Internet protocol.

"Right now we have finished installing cameras at 30 locations which have

started sending the videos to CCTV control room," he says.

Mathur points out that the first CCTV was installed at Girgaum

Chowpatty on the last immersion day of the Ganapati Festival where lakhs of

people gather every year. "It helped us keep a vigil on the traffic

movements in the area. Similarly CCTV at Haji Ali Junction in South Mumbai

helped us in controlling traffic during Navaratri Utsav as well as on Ramjan

Id," he says. The recordings received at the control room also aided in

identifying traffic movements that were getting obstructed due to huge

pedestrian spillage on the roads, he says. "Consequently, we have been able

to communicate to the staff on the field via wireless network to take suitable

steps to control the crowd, and shift some of the bus stops in the

vicinity," he adds. Similarly, CCTV installations at Gadkari Chowk, Dadar

near the entrance to Shivaji Park has helped in controlling traffic movements

during the public rallies of political parties." The Traffic Control Board

plans to make these video clippings available to the main Police Control Room

located at Crawford Market soon.

The traffic control board has also initiated computerization of

all its branches and divisions last year. "Already 25 divisions have been

computerized, and steps are being taken to computerize other branches/offices,

connecting via LAN/WAN."

The proposal has been forwarded under the plan of modernization.

The project aims to digitize day-to-day enforcement statistics, correspondence,

accident information, and administrative database. For this more than 100

personnel from the TCB are being trained.

In the near future, the board also plans to implement

digitization of records, linking up all traffic chowkies/divisional offices with

head quarters, providing a facility to pay fine through ATM cards, procuring

handheld computers with a link to the digitized data about vehicles, and

providing license information to traffic personnel.

Urvashi Kaul



urvashik@cybermedia.co.in