Bengaluru traffic police have got the permission to purchase adaptive signal lights, allowing ambulances to pass through busy junctions during rush hours, officials in the know of the matter said on Tuesday.
With the help of sensors, the technology will open the signals for ambulances detecting the vehicle from as far as 200 meters, said the senior traffic police officer.
MA Saleem, the special commissioner of police (traffic), said that the traffic police received permission to go ahead with the project and have already asked Karnataka Road Development Corporation (KRDCL) to procure the required equipment to upgrade the signal lights.
A total of 163 traffic signal lights across the city will soon be upgraded with emergency vehicle sensors within four to five months, he said.
The special commissioner further said that the aim is to ensure that more lives are saved by ensuring that no ambulance is stuck in traffic during the golden hour.
Currently, if an ambulance is stuck in traffic, a policeman has to override the automated signals and allow the vehicle to pass through.
тАЬThis is part of the тАШB trackтАЩ project, and KRDCL is procuring the equipment to upgrade the signal lights. The project is expected to be completed within four to five months,тАЭ he said.
Explaining the technology, Saleem said that Emergency Vehicle Preemption (EVP) system uses sensors fixed on the ambulances and cameras.
тАЬOnce the cameras detect the sensor of the ambulance, it interrupts the normal traffic signal timing operations and provides a green signal to the vehicle. As soon as the vehicle passes, the signal is revered to the normal system,тАЭ said Saleem.
This project is not new to Bengaluru city. Bengaluru traffic police was one of the first in the country to propose the technology for public use. The project was proposed in 2015 by Bengaluru Police and went through a series of tests as well. Tenders were floated at least twice in the past.
A senior KRDCL official said that the tenders were first scrapped as not many bidders participated. In the second instance, the state government decided to divide the project into two due to the lack of funds.
However, a senior traffic officer said that unlike in 2015, more companies capable of producing better-quality cameras with this facility have come up since 2015.
According to the data from the traffic police, the city has 40,000 intersections and 330 signalised intersections. City locals said there is a need for more traffic signals and timers at junctions.
The use of the technology is not limited to ambulances, said Saleem, adding that adaptive signals can also be used to change the traffic signals as per the volume of the traffic, which is a part of the technology that will be implemented in phase two.
Moving away from the convention, a special commissioner has been appointed to manage BengaluruтАЩs traffic on the orders of chief minister Basavaraj Bommai.
Saleem took charge as the special commissioner (traffic) on November 14. His designation will be the same as the additional director general of police (ADGP), and a deputy inspector general (DIG) rank officer will assist him, according to a state government order.
The decision was taken by the state after several industrialists and investors raised concerns over crippling traffic, particularly during Invest Karnataka 2022 meet. Following this, chief minister Bommai, who also holds charge of Bengaluru development, prioritised traffic management.
Weeks after the Karnataka government appointed MA Saleem as the special commissioner to manage traffic in Bengaluru, one of the first directions he issued involved focusing more on traffic regulation than enforcement drives. The policemen, otherwise busy issuing challans during their surprise documentation checks, are now deployed at several junctions across the city, particularly during peak hours, to control the traffic.
