New Delhi: To reduce congestion and facilitate faster vehicular movement, the Delhi Traffic Police has planned an Integrated Traffic Management System (ITMS), officials said.
The new system that works on machine learning and artificial intelligence will also play a vital role in facilitating a quick passage to emergency vehicles such as ambulances and fire tenders, they said.
Also, a command centre to handle operations and monitor the programming will be set up at the Delhi Police Headquarters, they said.
According to the traffic police, the project aims to synchronise all the traffic signals and automatically regulate the signal light. The ITMS will also caution motorists on diversions to be taken in case of any congestion ahead.
This system will also be integrated with all the civic-body run parking lots in order to alert motorists on the free spaces that are available before they could reach the venue. "They can look for updates on the Municipality Corporation of Delhi's mobile application, which will generate a pop up message. It will also be linked with Google maps," SK Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic Headquarters-II), said.
The Delhi Traffic Police signed a Memorandum of Understanding for an integrated traffic management system with the Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC), which has further assigned the task to a consultant firm. Currently, the project is in its initial stage, Singh said.
"We have been given eight months' time for the project and the first Detailed Project Report has to be prepared after surveying the traffic at 42 junctions to cover 1,200 signals and 600 blinkers. It has to be submitted by November this year," the officer added.
A few days ago, a massive fire had broken out at a building in Outer Delhi's Mundka and it claimed 27 lives. It was alleged that traffic congestion delayed the arrival of some of the fire tenders and that their early arrival would have minimised casualties.
On this, Singh said the new ITMS will also incorporate a green corridor to facilitate hassle-free movement of emergency vehicles.
"At many of the junctions, it has also been noticed that even if there is no traffic, the red light continues to be on. So, by having an adaptive system, it will identify the traffic volume and accordingly change the timing. This will reduce the stoppage time at the junction," the DCP said.
Meanwhile, as part of the project, traffic authorities have identified accident hotspots and they are currently looking for congestion points in Delhi, he said.
The Public Works Department and the civic agencies concerned have been roped in to ensure appropriate road engineering. This will then be integrated with the Safe City project, Singh said.