Bengaluru: Smart signals to cut queue lengths by 30% at 28 junctions

The Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) plans to resolve the city's traffic woes by implementing smart signals at 28 junctions by September 2023.

Part of the Advanced Traffic Information and Management System (ATIMS) project, these signals will monitor real-time traffic at each junction and adjust signal timing accordingly to minimise the waiting time for vehicles.

Selected parts of the junctions will have queue-length measurement (QMS) devices. These devices will provide real-time data to develop optimised signal plans and reduce traffic delays. DULT expects the average queue length to decrease by approximately 30% after the implementation of the smart signals.

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DULT officials clarified that traffic counters will also include video detection systems. The footage recorded by these systems will not be stored or transmitted for enforcement purposes.

The city traffic police will remotely manage these systems at the Traffic Management Centre (TMC). In case of an emergency or VVIP movements requiring the creation of traffic corridors, the police can manually override the signals to ensure smooth traffic flow.

First in India: DULT

DULT officials said this technology is being introduced for the first time in India. The project is funded through a grant from the Government of Japan, and the implementation agreement was signed on June 30, 2021.

Due to the pandemic and delays in obtaining permissions and clearances from civic departments, construction work began a year later, in October 2022.

Right now, DULT does not plan to expand the system beyond the initial 28 locations. The decision to expand will depend on the performance of these signals once they are implemented.

Prof Ashish Verma, convener of the IISc Sustainable Transportation Lab at the Department of Civil Engineering, IISc, welcomed the signals’ implementation, adding: “There needs to be a robust mechanism to study the impact of the system before, during, and after the implementation of the smart signals.”

He also said long-term measures to reduce traffic congestion should focus on three aspects: reducing the number of motorised vehicles, decreasing the distance travelled by each vehicle, and shifting to renewable energy sources to fix the energy mix.

Some of the junctions where the smart signals will be implemented:

* Queen's Statue Circle (Queen's Road-Kasturba Road-MG Rd Jn)

* Anil Kumble Circle (MG Road-St Mark's Road)

* Mayo Hall Junction (MG Road-Residency Rd Jn)

* Trinity Circle (MG Rd-Trinity Church Rd Jn)

* Manipal Centre Junction (Cubbon Rd-Dickenson Rd Jn)

* Kamaraj Road Junction (Cubbon Rd-Kamaraj Rd Jn)

* Opera House Junction (Residency Rd-Brigade Rd Jn)

* Shoolay Circle (General KS Thimayya Rd-Hosur Rd Jn)

* Old Madras Road & Indiranagar 100 Ft Junction (Swamy Vivekananda Rd-Indiranagar 100 Ft Rd Jn)

* Hosmat Hospital Junction (General K S Thimayya Rd-Magrath Rd)