Pedestrian signals get timers in Bengaluru

The Bengaluru Traffic Police has installed timers for pedestrian signals in the central business district. | Photo credit: Janhvi TR

Pedestrians in the city often find it difficult to cross roads, especially at busy junctions, despite the presence of pedestrian signals, where the green light only flashes for a few seconds before traffic begins to move. Now, like timers for traffic signals, the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has installed timers for pedestrian signals in some parts of the city.

These timers are connected to 165 signals under the AI-powered Adaptive Traffic Control System (ATCS) signal.

“In many parts of the Central Business District (CBD), especially at junctions near the General Post Office (GPO) or Balekundri Circle, I used to cross the road in installments because vehicles would start moving after I had covered half the distance. Last week, I noticed that now even pedestrian signals There are timers and if I have more than 10 seconds to spare, I easily cross the road without worrying about traffic,” said Rajeshwari. S, Government servant working in CBD.

According to the traffic police, these timers were installed for two reasons. “The first is pedestrian safety when crossing the road. The second is to promote better traffic flow. Pedestrians don’t know when the signal changes and if they keep walking all the time, it affects the traffic flow. Instead of mixed flow, separating the pedestrian traffic will help the vehicular traffic move better,” said Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) MN Anucheth. Hindu.

Timers are currently installed in South and West divisions of BTP along the CBD area. “This is the first phase of ATCS signals and as the project expands, more pedestrian signals will get these timers,” said Mr Anucheth.

Pedestrian accidents are reduced

Pedestrian safety on Bengaluru roads has long been a concern. According to the traffic police, the number of pedestrian deaths has decreased this year compared to the previous year.

In 2022, there were 1,034 pedestrian accidents, of which 248 were fatal. In 2023, there were 1,260 pedestrian accidents including 284 fatal accidents that claimed 287 lives. This year (up to November 30), 217 people have died in 1,69 pedestrian accidents.

“There has been a huge reduction in fatal accidents compared to last year,” Mr Anucheth said.

When asked the reason for that, he said, ‘There were many accident black spots in the city and pedestrians used to cross the road in those high-risk areas. But we installed pedestrian guard lines, high-rises and encouraged citizens to take up skywalks which reduced the number of fatal pedestrian accidents.”