DOT Desk: The effort to digitalise Dhaka’s traffic by replacing the manual systems with electronic traffic signals is going in vain due to technical glitches in the signal lights and other equipment, reports The Daily Sun.
Installed in 2004, the signal lights and other equipment were left dysfunction for years. Multiple glitches erupted within days after the recent re-installation or maintenance of the signal lights in almost all major intersections of the capital.
Decades-old habits of city drivers and pedestrians with manual traffic control systems, coupled with technical glitches in newly installed mechanical components is delaying the digitisation process of city’s traffic system.
The hope of controlling the traffic automatically through electronic devices now seems a far cry, insiders said, due to the practice of not following the traffic laws and malfunction of the digital systems.
“Everyday, we have to face some sorts of problem due to technical glitches in the system. Traffic signal does not function properly sometimes,” Banglamotor traffic inspector Altaf Hossain said.
Timing for traffic signals has been set for all four lanes of this busy intersection and this is controlled centrally. The timing for North to South lane is 90 seconds, East to West 70 seconds and West to East 50 seconds. But the flow of traffic varies from time to time, which leaves us in trouble as we don’t have any control over the timing of the signal, he also said.
The traffic inspector said traffic is still controlled by hand gestures of by traffic police.
Talking to the daily sun, Sangram Debnath, traffic inspector at hotel intercontinental intersection, said the remote controller that has been supplied does not work due to glitches. Same happens to the traffic signals sometimes.
As drivers and pedestrians have been long habituated with “hand gesture’, they are reluctant in following the digital traffic signals. “We have to use our hands to control traffic,” he added.
Sergeant Saiful Islam of Shahbag intersection said, “Colors of signal lights are being changed automatically and there have been some problems with the timing.”
On duty traffic cops at Matsya Bhaban intersection reported the same issues while talking to the correspondent.
Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka North City Corporation maintain at least 72 important intersections across the capital. Of those, 62 intersections are being brought under an automatic traffic control system because of the ongoing development of metro rail.
DSCC sources said for making the traffic signal functional, remote controllers and instruments have been procured from India at a cost of Tk 27 crore.
During visits to different intersections, including Bangla Motor, Shahbagh, Matsya Bhaban, the correspondent saw the traffic signal of those intersections is being controlled by the hand gestures of traffic cops.
According to the officials of Clean Air and Sustainable Environment project, the implementer of the digital traffic system, signal lights and traffic control system of at least 40 intersections have been made functional through renovation and maintenance work.
Md Sirajul Islam, project director, also the chief town planner of Dhaka South City Corporation, said, “We have been working to make traffic signals of at least 62 intersections functional by replacing the of old equipment and adding new items.”
He also said they have renovated 40 traffic signals and provided remote controllers and other technical support.
“I expect that by 30 March, we will be able to make the digital traffic signal of 62 intersections functional,” the CASE project director said.
Contacted, joint commissioner of Traffic (South) Mofiz Uddin Ahmed, said, “I don’t know why the glitches are occurring. City corporations know the reasons of the malfunctions better.”
“We are going to take control of the traffic system of the city very soon. For that we have opened a technical department in traffic and going to recruit engineers to the department,” he said.
In 2002, two city corporations installed modern traffic signal lights under Clan Air and Sustainable Environment project in 72 key intersections of the capital at a cost of Tk 25 crore.