Editors Page Aug – Sept 2019

Even as the rain- damaged roads were breaking the nerves of the motorists, the recent hike in fines for traffic violations created nationwide debate. Better roads or higher fines? The Union Minister Nitin Gadkari while supporting the need to save lives by inculcating road discipline among drivers, agreed that providing good infrastructure is equally important. There is no denying the fact that Indian roads are among the most accident-prone ones in the world. There has always been a gap between traffic engineering and traffic planning.

TrafficInfraTech, over the years, (with this issue, the magazine is completing nine years of publishing) has been focusing on different verticals of Traffic/Transport infrastructure and management and trying to establish the need for an ecosystem where all the components work in tandem. Good roads, technology-backed safety & security infrastructure, communication systems, data collection & processing, strict licensing procedures, parking management, affordable and safe public transport etc.

One of the moves fast-tracked by the smart cities in the making and the cities getting revamped is the wide use of CCTV cameras to capture traffic violations and other crucial information. Having understood the role of data in traffic management, all the stake holders – the central government ( we have an exclusive interview with Kunal Kumar, Joint Secretary, & Mission Director, Ministry of Housing & Urban affairs), the local government departments, smart city implementors and the police — are making use of technologyenabled security and surveillance systems. TrafficInfraTech brings a composite view of the technology involved in surveillance for traffic management.

There are only a few weeks left for the 8th edition of TrafficInfraTech Expo, to open along with Smart Mobility Expo and Parking Infratech Expo in Mumbai. An interesting line up of national and international speakers at the three-day parallel conference is adding to the excitement around the Expos. As with the magazine, the conference too takes an integrated approach to discussing traffic/transport related topics — from the Road Safety to Future Mobility.