The running gag of tech capital Bengaluru’s traffic cops hiding behind trees to pounce on unsuspecting motorists may soon be a thing of the past.
The city is now booking 96% of traffic violation cases through contactless enforcement (using surveillance cameras), according to the latest Bengaluru traffic police records. Statistics show contactless enforcement was only 38% in 2014, which increased to 75% in 2020 (Covid-19 year), 83.4% in 2021 and 92% in 2022 (as shown in the graphics).
“We booked a total of 12.8 lakh cases between January and February 2023. Of this, 12.4 lakh cases (96%) were contactless. The number of traffic cops needlessly stopping motorists on roads has reduced. Instead, they are managing the traffic to ensure smooth-flow. Apart from visible violations like overspeeding /reckless driving and also drunken driving, we want to move towards 100% contactless enforcement,” MA Saleem, special commissioner of police (traffic) told Moneycontrol. He took charge as the traffic police chief of one of the world's most congested cities, Bengaluru, in November 2022.
Bengaluru traffic police launched the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) in December 2022 to detect traffic violations without the need for human intervention. They have installed 250 AI-enabled Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and 80 Red Light Violation Detection (RLVD) cameras at 50 major junctions in the city.
“Under ITMS, artificial intelligence-enabled cameras detect traffic violations, issue challans and send SMS to the mobile number linked with the vehicle's Registration Certificate of the violator,” Saleem, who has a PhD in traffic management, said.
In addition to this, 7,500 cameras have been installed across the city which are being monitored on a real-time basis from the state-of-the-art Traffic Management Centre on Infantry Road. These cameras are used to book cases for various violations such as riding without a helmet, triple riding, speeding, and not wearing seatbelts, among others. In order to apprehend errant drivers, traffic police also use Public Eye, the official app through which citizens can report traffic violations.
Linking fines to FC-insurance
Bengaluru traffic police have submitted a proposal to the state government to amend the Karnataka Motor Vehicle rules to link traffic violations to Fitness Certificate (FC) and insurance. “For yellow-board commercial vehicles, FC has to be renewed once every two years. Similarly, private vehicles have to renew their insurance annually. FCs and insurance should be renewed only after all pending fines are cleared,” said Saleem.
Increase coverage, link it with insurance, says expert
"There are more than 1,000 junctions in the city so the coverage of enforcement cameras should be increased. They should also focus on crash-prone areas. Bengaluru heading towards 100% contactless enforcement is great news," Pawan Mulukutla, urban mobility expert and director of the World Resources Institute (integrated transport), said.
The idea to link traffic violations with insurance is a good idea, he believes. "In many foreign countries, it is already linked with insurance so they incentivize safe drivers and also disincentivize those who indulge in traffic violations. It will make our roads safer."
‘Gig workers major violators’
According to Saleem, gig workers, especially food delivery staff are major traffic violators. “Since they have the pressure to deliver food and other items within a particular time, they intend to over-speed and break one-way violations. Some of the firms have paid the pending fines when we announced the 50% reduction in fines,” he said.
Traffic primarily in outer areas, tech corridors
The traffic police chief said that traffic in Central Bengaluru has improved. “During my earlier tenure, 128 roads were made one-way and are still working well. There is not much congestion and the traffic is moving,” Saleem said.
He pointed out the congestion is now largely in places like Hebbal, Gorunguntaplya, Silk Board and KR Puram. “But once the Metro rail network gets expanded, there will be a noticeable reduction in traffic congestion in outer areas. In Whitefield, we made some tweaks and traffic flow has improved. On Outer Ring Road, traffic congestion is between Bellandur and Ibbalur due to Metro work”.
Saleem said they segregate school traffic by 8:30 am and then office traffic during the morning. "The traffic congestion during evening hours remains a challenge," he said.
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