Bengaluru civic body moots tech to ease traffic congestion

Automatic signalling, signal-free corridors and other ‘solutions’ have been tried in Bengaluru before but have barely had any impact on the ground as traffic has gotten denser and travel times have nearly doubled from a decade ago, according to the state transport department and traffic authorities.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is deliberating over several solutions like automatic signalling, studying traffic movement at junctions and other technical interventions to help reduce congestion in the city, chief commissioner Tushar Girinath said on Friday.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike is deliberating over several solutions like automatic signalling, studying traffic movement at junctions and other technical interventions to help reduce congestion in the city. (HT File)

The proposed solutions include trying to channel CSR (corporate social responsibility) by private companies to partner with various government agencies like traffic, city corporation and the department of urban land transport, among others, he added.

“We are proposing automatic signalling, the study of traffic in a systematic manner as some companies want to spend their CSR funds and want to get involved. Automatic signalling is one thing suggested by the CM so that traffic can be smoothened. We are working in this regard,” Girinath told HT on Friday.

The statements come at a time when Bengaluru residents continue to suffer due to poor quality of infrastructure, pothole-laden roads, constant digging and construction, bad planning and unavoidable traffic snarls.

Automatic signalling, signal-free corridors and other ‘solutions’ have been tried in Bengaluru before but have barely had any impact on the ground as traffic has gotten denser and travel times have nearly doubled from a decade ago, according to the state transport department and traffic authorities.

Karnataka chief minister Basavaraj Bommai has also made easing traffic in Bengaluru a priority ahead of the BBMP elections, which are likely to be held later this year, in a bid to help the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) return to power.

With over 10 million vehicles for a population of at least 12 million, Bengaluru has one of the highest traffic to population densities in the country, adding to the challenges of the average commuter in the technology capital of India.

According to government data, the number of vehicles in Bengaluru has increased from 5.33 million in 2011-12 to 10.04 million as of March 2022.

According to the city traffic police department, of the total vehicle density, two-wheelers account for 70% of all vehicles, 15% are cars, 4% are auto-rickshaws, and the remaining are buses, and vans and tempos.

With metro and suburban rail networks delayed and lower occupancy on buses, the number of cars and two-wheelers has seen an exponential increase.

The Covid-19 pandemic has also instilled fear of public transport as more people choose private vehicles to avoid contracting the virus.

“Our government is committed to the comprehensive development of Bengaluru. Works on ₹6000 crore Nagarothana projects have started. About ₹1600 crore has been provided for the development of stormwater drains. The Prime Minister recently laid the foundation stone for the Bengaluru Suburban Rail project. Tenders have been invited for the Peripheral Ring Road. Work will start this year itself. The Metro is being extended,” Bommai said on Friday.

The chief minister blamed the previous governments for the “mess” that Bengaluru has become. Bommai also mooted the idea of satellite towns to decongest the city.

Experts have suggested low-flying helicopters to hover over the city to conduct studies on traffic if the Karnataka government and the city administration are serious about trying to ease congestion in some of the most choked junctions in the city.

“In other countries, they go with low-flying helicopters, they will do junction studies and if there is a problem in one junction, they will try to inform the next junction to immediately change to green signal to allow smooth flow of traffic,” MN Srihari, an expert in traffic engineering and former advisor to the Karnataka government, said.

However, officials said that these were just “passing remarks”, and the administration was not deliberating on these issues yet.

“Generally, there was a discussion that we have enough means with us, on what has been the status of the roads, which can be determined by so many means including running a vehicle with a camera, drone, low-flying (helicopters). But these were passing remarks,” Girinath said.