Technology has its benefits and India’s tech hub Bengaluru noticed its efficient use when the town site visitors police launched synthetic intelligence (AI) to ease congestion on roads. It not solely filed the very best quantity of site visitors violations in the world, but in addition earned crores in fines.

The use of AI helped the site visitors police register 1,04,00,000 violations in only one yr, which is the very best recorded in any metropolis of the world, and earn Rs 180 crore in tremendous assortment. “This shows that our enforcement mechanisms are robust. We can effectively book violators and also give the people of Bengaluru the ease of comfortable and safe travel,” mentioned particular police commissioner (site visitors) Dr MA Saleem, who has been tasked with eradicating the town’s “terrible traffic” tag.

The highest quantity of site visitors violations was for incorrect parking with 12 lakh instances and one other 1,54,000 instances for parking on footpaths. The site visitors police are being critical about each these offences and are submitting FIRs in opposition to violators as a substitute of reserving them below the Motor Vehicles Act.

“It is uncivilised and unacceptable behaviour and needs to be curbed immediately,” Saleem mentioned.

Over the previous 5 years, the site visitors violations has elevated by 25%. The site visitors violations recorded in 2018 have been 83,89,647 instances and since has shot as much as 1,04,65124 instances.

Interestingly, the site visitors police finds the quantity to be increased because the contactless reserving has helped observe violations higher.

Bengaluru’s crippling site visitors had change into a serious concern for the Basavaraj Bommai-led Karnataka authorities. In November, the chief minister mentioned his authorities’s prime precedence was to re-haul and professionalise site visitors administration in the state capital.

So when Bommai went searching for an individual who may assist resolve the issue, there was only one identify – MA Saleem, the person who is aware of Bengaluru and its site visitors just like the again of his hand. The 1993-batch IPS officer’s ardour for site visitors administration and innovation led him to do a PhD in the topic with regard to metropolitan cities.

Speaking solely to News18, MA Saleem defined how the division needed to make a paradigm shift to type out the town’s site visitors woes. “We had to make a paradigm shift of our focus from enforcement to regulation. The traffic police were focusing on registering cases and stopping vehicles, and that was further adding to road congestion,” he mentioned.

During his earlier stint in managing metropolis site visitors, he had earned the moniker ‘one way Saleem’ for introducing one-way rule on 122 key roads and junctions to streamline site visitors movement by way of a scientific research and strategy.

Saleem additionally discovered that the rule banning entry of heavy and medium items autos throughout peak hours was not being successfully applied, inflicting roads to choke.

“Once we stopped the movement of these vehicles, it cut down traffic by 25% and brought great relief to office-goers during peak morning and evening hours,” he mentioned.

For areas like Hebbal, Gorgunteplaya, Silk Board junction, and KR Puram – which have perennial congestion points – Saleem and his group labored out a system of making them “signal-free” or introducing synchronised alerts to assist free movement of site visitors.

“In places like the Hebbal flyover, which used to be completely choked, we segregated local traffic from those going to the airport,” he mentioned. In the six weeks since he took over, Saleem was capable of make a visual distinction in the site visitors movement. The division has additionally launched contactless site visitors administration via which violators could be booked with minimal human intervention.

The newly developed Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), which is an AI, helps in detecting seven seen site visitors violations and generates challans. It has 250 automated quantity plate recognition (ANPR) cameras and 80 purple mild violation detection (RLVD) cameras.

“The 330 cameras installed under ITMS can detect violations like overspeeding, jumping signal, triple riding, using mobile phones while driving, driving without seat belt, or riding without helmet. The cameras capture the number plates and face of the person, and the information is then transferred to our server where the challan is automatically generated,” the particular commissioner mentioned.

This superior know-how is being examined at 50 key site visitors junctions throughout Bengaluru, however Saleem underscored the truth that the target was to make sure good street behaviour, act as a deterrent and convey in site visitors rule compliance – not simply gather fines.

When requested about what occurs to the fines collected by the division, Saleem defined whereas the cash is given to the federal government, a portion of the gathering is given to the site visitors division which is used for site visitors gear upgrades, annual upkeep and set up of site visitors alerts and CCTV cameras and patrolling autos. “We use the funds based on our requirements and the rest is handed over to the government,” Saleem pointed out.

Deputy inspector general of police MN Anucheth, who also holds the post of joint commissioner traffic, was also roped in to assist Saleem. He has played a pivotal role in encouraging the use of technology and AI to help work out smoother travel on Bengaluru roads.

He spoke to News18 about how people’s thinking should move away from congestion to enhancing mobility. “There is a need to use multi-modal means of public transport, and judicious use of private transport will enhance the comfort level while travelling from point A to B. The mindset should change towards enhancing mobility,” Anucheth mentioned.

The DIG said he believed that any new form of connectivity, apart from the road, should be explored and since the surface area does not increase compared to the vehicles that hit the roads, it would be optimal if people could start using alternate forms of transportation like Metro, buses, suburban rail among others.

“A case in point is Mumbai, where 73 percent people use public transport. But in Bengaluru, it is only 47 percent. Imagine us going to 73 percent, there will be a huge improvement in traffic management. We need to encourage the use of public transport,” he added.

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