As the rupee loses ground against the dollar, thanks to the burgeoning petroleum import bill, traffic experts have begun to look at how much fuel could be saved by rationalising traffic signals on busy roads.
How many of us think of shutting off engines at the signals, not just to save petrol used by our vehicles but also to conserve the foreign exchange we spend on buying fuel? The PMO and the finance ministry were crying from the top of the south block to regulate use of petrol and diesel.
Traffic experts, police officials, Pollution Control Board and the Petroleum Conservation Research Authority (PCRA) have started taking a serious look at the traffic signal systems in our major cities. The spotlight was on Bangalore as the city has a large scope for improving its traffic signal systems and signal free movement system.
“We need to develop widespread public awareness about the need for drivers and two-wheeler riders to switch off engines at signal lights,” traffic expert MN Srihari told dna.
“If the signal shows more than a 60 second recess, they can conveniently switch off their engines to re-start with 15 seconds to go for the signal to turn green. To do this, it is mandatory for the traffic signals to have the timer display at all signals,” said Srihari.
“The tendency to keep engines running at the signals, and needless braking and unnecessary shift of gears results in an avoidable loss of Rs 1,800 crores loss every year,” Srihari claimed.
He said the effort to save avoidable loss of fuel should start from Bangalore.
“The creation of synchronized signal corridors, Area Traffic Control (ATC) and Vehicle Activated System (VAS) are some of the measures available to us, but it is also a city that has over 48,000 junctions, many of themmajor traffic bottlenecks and and measures like ATC and VAS cannot be as effective as they could be,” said Srihari.
The officials of the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB) too are in favour of making it mandatory for the motorists to switch off engines at the signals, as it would reduce air and sound pollution.
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