City's growing traffic stumps smart signals in Central Business District

Bengaluru: Smart traffic signals installed at various junctions in the city, especially in Central Business District (CBD) areas, have become ineffective because of a steep increase in vehicle density on roads.

Smart signals were installed to ensure that motorists do not wait at traffic signals when there is no traffic at other signals. They study

vehicular density and change the signals accordingly automatically. Whenever there is lesser movement of traffic, the green light will be for a shorter duration and when there is a high volume of traffic, the green light stays on for a longer time.

Sources in the city traffic police department said that smart signals have become ineffective as the number of vehicles on city’s roads has increased manifold. These signals come in handy only on Sundays, public holidays or other days when there is not much traffic, they said.

A senior traffic police officer said, “Smart signals were installed to keep traffic flowing freely wit out much hassle to motorists. But now, we have a high density of traffic throughout the day and smart signals have become ineffective.”

“This shows how the vehicle population has increased at an alarming rate. We have to find solutions to ensure that the roads are not clogged with vehicles. The road capacity is stagnant, but the number of vehicles is on the rise. People should move towards using public transport, otherwise in another three years, the city roads will be choked completely,” he warned.

Another traffic police officer said, “The reason that smart signals have become ineffective is that according to reports, the city alone has over 76 lakh vehicles, while the entire state has two crore vehicles. These figures give us a clear picture of what is happening to the city traffic. Under such conditions, smart signals cannot be adjusted to such high volumes of traffic.”