So the Delhi city authorities have finally, after the millions and millions of prayers and rage induced screaming matches, understood that traffic is a real problem.
Up until now, it seemed more like nothing would be done about the insane traffic that has been plaguing the roads of Delhi. Making sure that even a 15-minute journey is stretched to at least 30 to 45 minutes.
Be it the big mains roads or the small lanes of residential colonies, traffic jams are literally everywhere, worse even during the rains.
Traffic stretching up to a kilometer almost, lasting for a good couple of hours and more was becoming more and more common place than it should be.
But now, the Traffic Police has decided to actually do something about this with the installation of LED boards all over Delhi, which will keep the people travelling informed about any traffic ahead in real time.
Delhi Traffic To Be Controlled By VMS
The system is called the Variable Messaging System (VMS) in which, LED boards about 50 at the moment, will be placed near locations that experience a lot of heavy traffic, important streets, and flyovers getting high traffic volume.
But the boards will not be placed right at these traffic heavy zones instead will be just far enough away so as to not cause any traffic if someone slows down to read the boards.
The main aim of these boards will be to reduce traffic by giving out real-time information on traffic on those routes and even suggesting alternative routes that can be taken.
The text is colour coded with ‘Red’ text meaning congestion ahead, the text in ‘green’ suggesting a less traffic-heavy detour that people can take.
How Will The Boards Be Updated In This Case?
You must know that cops have already been sending out traffic alerts for some time now on Facebook and Twitter, well in that manner only they will have access to the VMS controls and send updates about traffic directly there.
Another team from Todapur which houses the traffic police headquarters will also be updating the displays.
On the part of the DMRC and PWD, the Delhi Traffic Police has asked them to inform them about any construction/ repair projects underway as well as any potholes on any road that have come up.
In my opinion, this is just a small step towards at least bringing the traffic just slightly under control but even still there are many other factors that contribute to the growing lines of Delhi traffic.
But definitely for a start, this seems to be an excellent move by the Delhi Traffic police and something that I have seen on my trips abroad. So to finally see this system being integrated especially when traffic has become more than a nuisance is really good.
However, maintenance and proper implementation, as well as the cooperation of other parties will be extremely necessary if this project is to result in any success.
Image Credits: Google Images
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http://edtimes.in/2016/09/maharashtra-traffic-police-to-get-body-cameras-on-their-uniform-brilliant-move/
As part of this project i ran few survey’s on various platforms like Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and Wattsapp asking people why they prefer their personal cars over public transport. Most of the people were concerned with the comfort level they have while using their personal vehicle. They wanted public transportation to be more comfortable and less crowded to commute on daily basis. The second question of the survey was what frustrates them while they commute to office and home during peak hours. Most of them responded about the traffic stress they feel when had to spend lot of their time and energy standing still for hours on the road. Traffic stress due to traffic congestion was the main pain point. When we asked about the solution, most of the people voted for private carpooling instead of using public cabs like Uber and OLA in the city, specially women who feel unsafe while travelling after late working hours in Delhi, the capital of India. After these surveys were finished, i planned to consolidate all these point of views and feedback from people during phase of ideation to develop insights based on that. Then finally decided to come up with a solution which could create awareness about impact of traffic congestion on civilians health. Platform should be able to collect ideas, data and stories that could inspire people to take steps against traffic congestion and pollution. So here i am sharing the final product with all experts here for suggestions, feedback and review. Please follow this link to review my solution http://www.greentechdelhi.com and request you to share your thoughts here.
Rains in Delhi and Some Administration Points
The rains in Delhi are generally mild ,however if it rains for 1-2 days,then that can cause havoc to the daily lives of the masses.A 2-3 hour non stop rains can flood whole of Delhi.The rain water has no place to go except to submerge the roads,get into the localities and bring the city to stand still.The problem gets further compounded because of the traffic snarls which result due to the water logging and to make matters bad to worse the traffic lights invariably get switched off.The common reason is the short circuiting of the wires and the vehicles get locked on the crossings.Other major issue that people face is the trees that are generally stooping over the roads come down and can cause lethal or fatal injuries to the people as also collateral damage to the property,vehicles etc.There is great shortage of the police personnel and they are very conspicuous by their absence during such difficult times.They can be located only in the VIP areas or so called NDMC areas where their Bosses live or the people who matter. Many a times ,you find one good Samaritan who volunteers to regulate the traffic and eases out the voes of the commuters.At most of the times people rough it out and the distance or the route which takes generally half hour takes 2-3 hours during the rainy times.Now what should be done during such times is the great question.It is not that the rains lash city or country all of a sudden.Today we have state of the art equipment which gives us detail forecast with exact inches of rain that can be encountered during the rains.The Management has to take timely decisions to ensure all things are in place,namely,all traffic lights should be doubly checked,the trees which are old and have chances of falling should be pruned or cut.Due the rains and water holding on to the leaves and loose soil causes the weak trees to give way and can cause havoc for the traffic.There is a need to have extra volunteers to be trained who can assist the traffic police in such times of need.There are many schools or organisations can help in this regard.The worst part of the which leads to collapse of the system is the very poor discipline of the people.Everyone wants to take shortcut,they will violate the queue and bring their vehicle right in the front of the turn and cause whole traffic to slow down.To make matter worse there would be many more who would follow and will make one,two or three extra lines and make themselves as legitimate line and push the initial lines to the back.To make matter worse the Green Light would turn RED and people would continue to push in to the middle of the crossing and delay the other side vehicles and slowly leading to the jam.India is a land of festivals and from August onwards the festivities start with all roads becoming shopping centres,roadside shops, the beggars moving from all sides on the crossings,the cranking of the horns while you are still way behind the first vehicle near the start line..oh my God the experience is nightmare for any foreign visitor and for us it is a daily grind.
What are the measures that we can take at all levels.At Government level, they have to think from long term perspective.Should get data on daily traffic on various roads,the break downs that take place, time taken during various times of the day to commute the same distance, build additional roads and bye passes,increase the public transports,buses and metros routes.Most important aspect which the Government should think and work on is the dynamic change of the croosing Lights timings.At times there is no traffic on the front side Right and from one side there is huge jam up.Insuch cases,it should keep the light Green ON for longer duration to ease out the traffic.This dynamism can effectively reduce the traffic snarls.Other important aspect is to try and create work or jobs for the people in their surrounding areas.The Employers should be motivated to select the people from their own areas on priority and if not available in first chance should go for two or three chances and make sure the vacancies are filled up from local available manpower.This would be a win win situation for all and would lead to increase in productivity and reduce the abstentions. Moreover, it would reduce the consumption of the fuel and this would in turn increase in savings of the individuals and also of the Country as a whole.
Another important aspect is to have the schools compulsorily admit the children from the surrounding areas only. Incase the vacancies are still left unfilled then it should increase the diameter to six ,seven ,eight etc kilometres and fill up the vacancies.Wrong address given by the people should be punishable and same goes with the schools faultering on this aspect to be taken to task. Another important aspect is the timings of work. Whole of the government offices start at 9 AM and finish at 5.30PM and this causes jam on the roads at the same time. The timings should be staggered and there should be three bands of thirty minutes each, that is 830,9 and 9 30,similarly they should depart at 430,5 and 530 PM respectively.This would also ensure that some employees would be available for whole of nine hours and in a way increase efficiency.In Delhi the Markets are spread in every inch of the city.The first and foremost thing which has to be doneis lift all the street hawkers from the Main Roads like Ring Road.You drive along the Ring road near Naraina,the whole area is choked due to the presence of these kachoriwallas…chat wallas..ice creamwallas and the commuters on the road who arewith their drinks love to have chat pata and that causes traffic slowdown etc.Another very important aspect is the way our Delhi traffic police functions.They can be seen generally hiding around the tree,looking for the defaulter vehicle which may have taken wrong turn,crossed the Red Light or exceeded the speed limit etc.Now,the problem is all the roads are heavy on traffic and just to catch one odd vehicle they would halt it on one side and will do it so suddenly that this would cause the vehicles behind either to bump in the front vehicle or come to screeching halt if found alert.The traffic police should not be allowed to stop the vehicle and should just note down the vehicle number and initiate the report.The details of the owner should be held with them and then get him or her to pay the penalty ,whatever it is.This would reduce not only the corruption,but also speed up the traffic. The human interaction naturally leads to greasing of palms and their expectations have increased so much in view of the increased official penalties.The people do not have time to go to the Courts and thus end up greasing the palms of these policemen.The Traffic police should have all the data with them and should get the penalties paid online or deposit the cash or cheque in certain kiosks or outlets or Banks. The way the Traffic Police approaches the erring driver is very very wrong and hurting.The first sentence the policeman speaks is : show the registration certificate of the vehicle..he examines and the asks for the driving license.After observing the same and he goes to the side to build the pressure.The Commuter runs behind shyly with the vehicle papers and asks for forgiveness.The pressure tactics continues.They point to the presence of the sub inspector or some senior person or to the cctv camera which is not in use.The aim is to extract maximum from the commuter.The pleading continues and the policeman then starts movingin fron t of the vehicle and starts feeding the number on his hand held machine.This is enough for the commuter to shell out sufficient amount and handover.This is taken quite reluctantly and then suddenly the policeman will turn around and will let you go. The Government should sensitise the policeman towards the common man woes and make them more humane in their approach.The important part is to give us good policing.They should work upon reducing the accident chances,by removing the unauthorisedly parked vehicles, remove the road squatters, the beggars from the crossings, clear the trees branches, ensure the Red Light signals are not obstructed by the advertising poles and other advertisements.Those flouting these regulations should be charged heavily and to set an example for the others to beware. Another raspect which needs immediate attention is the system of lights functioning. All the signals should be in particular sequence.That sequence can be decided for the ease of traffic.The commuters face different scenarios at all the red light signals.Somewhere you find the traffic going straight and to the right are left at the same time and at others you find the right going traffic is halted and the straight one is allowed first.It is at these points also that unsuspecting commuter turns and gets caught by the traffic police and has to dish our money for no fault of his. The Government would greatly benefit if the penalty slips are sent directly to the defaulting drivers at their address.All that the police needs to know is their vehicle number and then scan through the data base and thereafter the challan or penalty slip should be autogenerated.The SMS and mail should go to the owner of the vehicle and means to pay the penalty should be eased out.
Another big irritant is the Eunuchs who throng the red light crossings.They would come clapping their hands funnily,some ladies seek their blessings and they fero their hands on their heads and get some money.They knock on your windows as if you have to return some amount they owe to you.
The sale of flowers,small goodies at red lights should be stopped forthwith. The commuter decides to buy when only ten seconds are left and the light turns green.The small girl or boy runs like hell behind the vehicle to make a sale.This, many a times leads to accidents and slowing down of traffic.Many commuters loose time and are again stuck at the same light which they would have crossed in the normal manner.The traffic police must make a BOLD RED LINE all along the market areas beyond which no vehicle should be parked.The cranes should be parked at every 100 metres to deter the people and to be well marked on the line with boldly written DO NOT PARK BEYOND THIS LINE.Heavy penalty should be charged for this offence. On heavy traffic routes like on the Ring Road flyovers at the top or on either sides during the morning hours of 8-10AM and in the evening hours of 6-8PM the Light Cranes should be parked and where ever not possible there should be Mechanics readily available on the Bikes to repair or pull up the broken down vehicle to the side.All this should not take more than three to five minutes of the vehicle being broken down.This kindof the drill should be practiced on daily basis. Similarly there should be the teams for the removal of water logged in any place.They should be equipped with the water pump with electricity connection available.They should be well rehearsed in their roles and should be able to take immediate actions.
Well,if all these measures are taken our Delhi would become livable and be more happier…and have safe driving with no hate fights etc.