Delhi’s new AI-enabled Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), approved by the Union cabinet at a cost of ₹ 1,789.52 crore on Wednesday, will enable traffic signals to automatically create “green corridors” for ambulances and other emergency vehicles, allowing them to pass through intersections with minimal stoppages.
“All emergency vehicles will have a sensor installed in the vehicle. The system is expected to use the sensor’s signal to identify an approaching emergency vehicle within a specified range. “If the emergency vehicle is not in the stipulated range, whether a green corridor will be made is yet to be ascertained. The latest ITMS proposal was submitted by Delhi Police to the Ministry of Home Affairs in February, with artificial intelligence-based traffic management now being brought together under one integrated system.
The exact range will depend on the capability of the technology and the system deployed at the junctions, Velmurugan said, adding, “For instance, it may be able to catch the signal if the emergency vehicle is in 200-500m range. Under phase one, the system is to be commissioned across five traffic corridors within the first 12 months, with 250 adaptive signal junctions and 271 enforcement points. Phase two, scheduled for completion within 18 months, will add seven corridors, 222 signalised junctions and 236 enforcement points, according to the proposal made by the Delhi Police in February this year.
Experts said emergency vehicles will be fitted with sensors that can communicate with traffic signals as they approach a junction. Once the signal detects an approaching emergency vehicle, it will automatically turn green and remain so until the vehicle has crossed the intersection, senior adviser of the National Council of Applied Economic Research S Velmurugan said. The sensor will be detected by the next traffic signal and it will automatically turn green and remain so till the emergency vehicle passes,” Velmurugan, also the former chief scientist of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), said. However, Velmurugan said the manner in which the system will function when an emergency vehicle is outside the stipulated detection range will have to be worked out by the Delhi Traffic Police and the companies implementing the system. The traffic police and the companies involved in the implementation will have to see,” he said.
