CHENNAI: Driving on city roads is not for the faint-hearted, especially during peak hours. If you are one of those who hate to ride on the congested roads, worry not, because soon you will have information on congestion status of the road network and the expected travel time, courtesy the proposed Intelligent Transport Systems Installation project.
An official said the detailed project report for Rs 660 crore Chennai Metropolitan Area Intelligent Transport Systems Installation project to construct an efficient traffic system to meet increasing traffic demands is ready and tenders are likely to be floated before end of next month, after nod from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), which is funding the project, and the State government. JICA will pump in Rs 465 crore while the State will invest Rs 195 crore for the project.
The major components of the project include Chennai Traffic Information System, Traffic Management System and City Bus System. The Traffic Information and Management System will enhance proper traffic control and management and will provide effective traffic information. This would include setting up of Adaptive Traffic Signal Control System (ATCS) at 165 junctions.
ATCS is a solution that automatically adapts the timings of traffic lights based on real-time traffic conditions to optimise flow of traffic. The traffic management system will also have a Vehicle Incident Detection System (VIDS) at 58 locations. This would also include Red Light Violation Detection System (RLVD) at 50 junctions, Speed Limit Violation System (SLVD) at 10 locations, Automatic Traffic Counter and Classifier (ATCC) at 115 locations and Probe and Internet System.
The ATCC monitors the real-time traffic flow of a road section, keeps count of vehicles, and classifies them according to their predefined classes. The project has been planned for the entire Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA). However, the ATCS will be implemented in the core area of Chennai encompassing 165 junctions and the rest of the sub systems would cover the entire CMA. In later phases, the proposed sub system can be expanded covering the entire CMA area.
Chennai will also have two Command and Control Centres (CCC). These centres will have an integrated view that provides a fully integrated solution to enable seamless incident response management, collaboration and geo-spatial display and to serve as a decision support engine for city administrators in day-to-day operations. The Command and Control Centre of Chennai Traffic Information and Management System (TIMC) will be set up at Greater Chennai Police headquarters and a Command and Control Centre of City Bus System (MTC) will be set up at MTC Headquarters.
Similarly, the Fleet Management data of the City Bus System will be collected to support the Probe System of the Chennai Traffic Information System. The Probe System will generate congestion information of the road network in CMA, based on probe data obtained from the Bus Tracking System. This helps commuters to take a decision at various places to reach their destination. The congestion status on the road network and expected travel time will be calculated and information would be provided to road users.
Control centres
The Command and Control Centre of Chennai Traffic Information & Management System will be set up at Chennai Police HQ and a Command and Control Centre of City Bus System will be set up at MTC HQ