ITMS to be installed on expressways to nab motorists using cheat apps

The state government of Maharashtra in India is installing an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) on two major highways to counter the use of mobile apps by motorists to evade CCTV cameras and avoid fines. The ITMS will cover the highways with optical fibre and install thousands of CCTVs to monitor the roads. High-end speed guns will also be used to detect speeding vehicles. The move comes after the Regional Transport Offices (RTO) apprehended hundreds of vehicles for speeding and other offences on the highways. The ITMS is expected to render the mobile apps ineffective.

Mumbai: Motorists using mobile apps to evade CCTVs on highways and escape paying fines will soon run out of luck. Taking cognisance of their rampant use over the past few months, the state government has begun installing an Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) on the busy Mumbai-Nashik-Nagpur Samruddhi Mahamarg and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.

HT Image

Senior officials from the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), which is setting up the ITMS, said that it was a much stronger system than the regular ones. Touted as a solution to speeding vehicles, traffic management and road accidents, MSRDC officials said that the ITMS—which will encompass the highways into a digitally woven system that can be thoroughly monitored—will make the apps ineffective.

Protecting the highways

The estimated cost of installing ITMS on the Samruddhi Mahamarg is ₹1,400 crore and ₹160 crore on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Under the system, the entire route will be covered with optical fibre and thousands of CCTVs installed at shorter distances. Additionally, vehicles with high-end speed guns will also be able to detect motorists zipping at more than 120 kmph. As a result, mobile apps will not be able to pick a web of multiple CCTVs along these highways.

“We know about mobile apps to evade CCTVs,” said Sanjay Yadav, joint managing director, MSRDC. “Once ITMS is installed, our highways will be fully protected. The entire length will be laid with optical fibres. We will install hundreds of CCTVs, which will be integrated with ITMS on both the Samruddhi Mahamarg and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway.” Under ITMS, the live feed of a vehicle that has been found speeding continuously will be sent to the toll naka ahead, and a hooter will be sounded off when the vehicle nears it.

From December 2022—when the Samruddhi Mahamarg was opened to the public—to July 1, the Regional Transport Offices (RTO) have apprehended 244 vehicles for speeding and 6,417 others for lane-cutting, parking offences and reflectors missing in vehicles. The authorities currently have RTO teams who use speed guns to capture vehicle movement, which are then stopped at toll plazas, where fines are levied along with a 30-minute counselling session.

Maharashtra’s transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar claimed that the apps did not serve any purpose to motorists. “We have intercepted many vehicles in the last 2.5 months on the Samruddhi Mahamarg based on the average speed of a vehicle,” he pointed out.

The work of installing over 400 high-definition CCTVs on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway will be completed by the end of the year. The Samruddhi Mahamarg will take 14 to 15 months, which will happen simultaneously with the work of extending the highway till Thane.

The Samruddhi Marg ITMS is being caried out in conjunction with the Republic of Korea, which has extended an Economic Development Cooperation Fund loan of Korean won 245.081 billion (approximately ₹1,495.68 crore) for the purpose. Among other things, the loan will be used for traffic centres and to improve efficiency in toll management by setting up a toll collection system.

Mobile apps leads to dangerous driving

Bharat Kalaskar, deputy transport commissioner (road safety), Maharashtra transport department, said that the cheat apps could be dangerous. “These apps are not authentic and need not necessarily indicate the presence of CCTVs at a particular location,” he said. “Moreover, there is every possibility of accidents occurring, as motorists slam their brakes to slow down which could startle the vehicle driver behind them. We urge motorists to avoid using such mobile apps.”