In 2011, when the first automatic signals were installed in Mumbai city, it was hoped they would regulate the flow of traffic more smoothly than manually-controlled signals did. This, they did. But this year, when the automatic system (officially called Area Traffic Control) has grown to include 255 signals, traffic officials admit that it has started to function poorly. The reason? The excessive rush-hour traffic, say traffic officials.
In 2011, when the first automatic signals were installed in Mumbai city, it was hoped they would regulate the flow of traffic more smoothly than manually-controlled signals did. This, they did. But this year, when the automatic system (officially called Area Traffic Control) has grown to include 255 signals, traffic officials admit that it has started to function poorly. The reason? The excessive rush-hour traffic, say traffic officials.
How does rush-hour traffic confuse the automatic signals?
B K Upadhyay, joint commissioner of police, traffic, said, “The ATC system has its limitations. It cannot function well when the traffic is bumper-to-bumper. Sometimes one of the lanes has vehicles parked, or some type of encroachment, which leads to chaos. The device fails to capture all that and therefore the signal timing is not accurate.”
The result, of course, is that the ATC flashes green signals for too long or too short a time. “We do hear complaints of traffic signals taking too long to turn green or turning green for a few seconds despite higher density of traffic. We sort them out as much as we can,” said KP Shinde, API, traffic.
What is ATC?
ATC, supposed to be an intelligent traffic control system, is equipped with sensors that capture the traffic data in real time, calculate the optimal time for signals and transmit the data to the control centre. The technology which was supposed to be a solution to ensure efficient road transport is not enough for city roads, said traffic cops.
The city's traffic situation is on a perennial path of chaos and disarray. With more than 550 new vehicles being registered in the city everyday, the situation has become unbearable for both motorists and traffic authorities.
When ATC fails, what do traffic officials do?
Because ATC's functioning is impaired during rush hour, officials have to manually adjust the signal duration from the control room. “When the traffic is moving smoothly, ATC works quite accurately, but during peak hours, the signal timings do not function as per the traffic density. The whole point of signals is to take feeds of the traffic situation across all sides and ensure that movement is continuous and without delay,” said Shinde.
What does the city need?
The need of the hour, according to traffic officials, is to bring in more changes to the existing ATC technology. “In ATCs, we may not be manually going to each signal and changing the times, but we are changing the settings at the control room. We want it to be fully automated. We have asked the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to improve the system and make it compatible with the current traffic situation,” added Upadhyay.
The BMC has approved the installation of 50 new ATC signals in the city. Of the existing 255 ATC signals, 135 are in the South Mumbai, 60 in the western suburbs and 60 in the eastern suburbs. Most of the 325 non-ATC signals are in the western and eastern suburbs.
What about manual signals?
A non-ATC signal is purely manual. Traffic density is studied by a team of BMC and traffic officials and timings are fed manually from time-to-time. The team visits the spot and studies the traffic situation on all sides and the time taken for vehicles to cross the junction. “We study the traffic situation for a few days and calculate the average time which is fed into the signal,” said an officer. He added that density and time is calculated every month by the teams and if there is a change in the traffic dynamics, timings are set differently.
According to traffic officials, it is high time the city gets rids of manual signals. The department hopes that within the next two years, the entire city is equipped with ATC signals that have better technology and detecting mechanism than the ones in operation at present.
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