All old Noida traffic signals to be replaced with hi-tech ones

Chip-based control-room monitored traffic signals will be installed at 106 existing intersections

The Noida authority has decided to replace all 106 old traffic signals with a new system called the ‘centralised integrated traffic signal management’ for better vehicular management on roads.

Congestion has become a regular affair on the Delhi-Noida Link Road in Noida. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The new ‘chip-based control-room monitored traffic signals’ will be installed at 106 existing and new intersections, officials said. The officials said without human intervention, the control room will get instant information about a non-functional signal.

The centralised integrated traffic signal management allows each signal to be connected with a control room. The advantage of this system is that, unlike standalone signals, here if a light or other parts of signal stops working, then a message reaches the control room with the help of the chip.

Then, the authority can repair the glitch immediately as the information reaches them faster. In standalone signals, it oftens takes days or months for the authority to learn about the glitch. During this period, motorists are put to trouble at intersections.

Chip-based control-room monitored traffic signals are operational in some parts of Delhi, officials of the Noida authority said.

The authority is likely to issue a request for proposal (RFP) from private agencies that want to take up this project and install the chip-based traffic signals.

The authority has decided to install these hi-tech traffic signals because the existing ones are not effective enough to help manage traffic across the city.

“The existing traffic signals were installed on a ‘built, operate and transfer (BOT)’ basis by a private agency. The agency installed signals and recovered its revenue by advertising on the public spaces near signals. But these signals are ineffective as they often suffer glitches and we are unaware of it until someone files a complaint. But since the new signals will be have a chip-based monitoring system , we will repair a dysfunctional signal immediately,” Sandip Chandra, chief engineer, Noida authority, said.

At present, there are 106 traffic signals across the city. The authority also plans to install these new signals in many developing areas.

“Once the agency is selected after due procedure, it will start replacing old signals with new ones. Also, we will install new signals at traffic intersections that have been designed in developing areas such as sectors 150, 151, 155, 156 and 157, etc. We hope that the new signals will enable us to improve traffic management,” Chandra said.

Non-functional traffic signals create a huge problem for motorists every day. Since the authority takes a long time to repair a signal, motorists suffer for days on end with the congestion.

“We are bringing in the new system so that we can repair a non-functional traffic signal immediately without any delay unlike now when we get information about a non-functional signal very late,” Chandra said.