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To curb traffic congestion, UP Police launch AI-based pilot project in 20 districts
172 stretches selected in these districts in a exercise to identify routes with maximum traffic congestion
The traffic on the identified routes will be monitored and evaluated regularly by the Traffic Directorate.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday launched an Artificial Intelligence-based pilot project — City-Reducing Traffic Congestion (C-RTC Scheme) — in 20 districts of the state in an attempt to reduce travel time from one place to another.
At least 172 stretches have been selected in these districts during a months-long exercise to identify routes with maximum traffic congestion, officials said.
Director General of Police (DGP) Rajeev Krishna said they began working on the plan following the Chief Minister’s instructions to ease traffic snarls in urban areas to make daily commute hassle-free and less time-consuming for the general public.
The new system analyzes minimum, maximum and average travel time and provides outputs in graphical and tabular formats besides displaying real-time congestion points on a map, it was stated.
To make the routes with heavy traffic at peak hours congestion-free, the Traffic Directorate, which will implement the project, has identified the most congestion-prone routes in all seven commissionerates and one major district from each range in the first phase.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the DGP said the main objective of the C-RTC scheme is to reduce travel time during peak hours between the start and end points of the identified routes. The focus is on ensuring uninterrupted traffic flow by keeping routes obstacle-free.
Traffic Directorate ADG A Satish Ganesh said to achieve this goal, route-specific targeted interventions will be implemented. Each identified route will have a designated route marshal, who will be responsible for executing the scheme on the ground.
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The route marshal will be selected from among competent traffic inspectors/sub-inspectors, he added.
The appointments will be made by the district police chief on the recommendation of the nodal traffic officer, it was stated.
Depending on availability, a marshal may be assigned additional traffic-related duties when required.
The station house officers (SHOs) of police stations along the route will share responsibility and provide full cooperation to the route marshals.
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Under the scheme, the senior-most traffic officer in each commissionerate/district will act as the nodal officer.
The traffic management will be implemented through the 5E approach — Education and Awareness, Enforcement, Engineering and Technological Intervention, Encroachment Removal and E-rickshaw Operation Management, officials said.
The AI-based system enables access via smartphones without requiring technical expertise and also provides historical data comparisons (past 2 months, 1 month, 3 weeks, 2 weeks, and current week/day). A total of 172 route marshals will be appointed for the 172 identified routes. Additional traffic personnel will support them as required.
The traffic on the identified routes will be monitored and evaluated regularly by the Traffic Directorate.
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The DGP said a detailed review of the scheme’s performance will be conducted after a month to assess its effectiveness and scope for expansion.
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