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Sunday , 24 March 2024

TrafficInfraTech Expo: Seminar: May 19, 2012

Every system and technology must now talk to each other: Rish Malhotra

International Road Dynamics is a Canadian company. We have been in business for over 30 years and in India for the last two decades. The ITS framework in India has evolved over time. In India our focus is on toll collection and management system, advance HTMS (highway traffic management system), weigh-in-motion and enforcement including bridge protection systems, data collection systems, etc. As a natural offshoot to providing the system on the toll plazas are operations and maintenance – key components of business in India. Our endeavour is to source these ourselves and provide better services to the concessionaire.

We are also involved in payment performance and health management systems. So, we basically install ITS components on roadways to provide real-time continual data to any concessionaire to be able to monitor and assess the health of the highway or the health of the investment or the asset. Along with this, we have safety surveillance and access control systems.

Earlier, we used to have manual cash based toll collection system at every toll plaza. Then semi automatic toll collection system came along giving information on basic AVC (automatic vehicle classification). At the user end, we also provided barcode tickets and smart cards. So, this is a step by step integration of our evolution in the toll collection system market.

“We have done some projects across the country to provide high speed weigh-in-motion data for concessionaires and customers to analyse and figure out the usage on the roadway for either planning a plaza or the need for putting an enforcement policy together.”

We also did a few projects with independent AVC and provided real-time data on vehicle classification because that’s how concessionaires make money. So, this is an independent component which gets transmitted directly to the plaza level independent of what happens in the main level. That’s an audit or monitoring for the concessionaires. That evolved into a fully automated toll collection system which is what we know as ETC. We were the first company in India to install microwave based ETC system in Mumbai. We also did the first RFID based ISO 18006C and 6D system.

Why is this needed? The country, over the next two-three years, is going to figure out a national standard for ETC because every technology is different and has different transponders & readers, and if every state or region uses a different technology, a whole bunch of transponders will attack your dashboard while you are driving from one state to another. So it is very important to have a unified as well as uninterruptible system. That’s why India has moved towards ISO 18006C. We too have installed it on a few sites. We have managed multi plaza management systems of single concessionaires, integrating multi levels and providing integrated data at one control centre from several plaza levels. The next step is moving into the clearing house and back office management system. This will be followed by multiple concessionaire management in a certain region.

We have different concessionaires owning different plazas. So how do we integrate or unify all these different toll plazas and data by keeping in mind India’s single toll tag system so that we have one national toll card? The communication standard is fixed for the vendors. You can have several vendors providing different tags with the same communication standards and be able to have electronic toll collection across the country.

The other component to this is the weight-mac-toll which is basically weigh-in-motion at toll plazas. So there will be a weighing machine at every toll lane in the plaza for enforcement. We haven’t gone there yet. We have slow speed weighing machine at the exterior wide lanes of every toll plaza at present and next step, especially for the four to six lane projects, is to provide slow speed weighing machine on every toll lane. But before that comes the legal component which is the framework of enforcement.

Highway traffic management systems (HTMS): We are all familiar with the stand alone static weigh bridges. After these came independent data collection systems which are intrusive counters, classifiers as well as non-intrusive database classifiers. Both are urban as well as highway management systems. These were followed by the need to integrate all the data of stand-alone systems which is now known as HTMS. Of course there is also the high speed weigh-in-motion component. We have done some projects across the country to provide high speed weigh-in-motion data for concessionaires and customers to analyse and figure out the usage on the roadway for either planning a plaza or the need for putting an enforcement policy together.

The next step is integrated highway traffic system for multiple concessionaires. You can imagine several kilometres of highways in different parts of the country all providing data through these peripherals. The data will be integrated at a central level control office which would be an integrated traffic control centre and will include weigh-in-motion based tolling enforcement.

All this has to be uninterruptible and unified. It is apparent as to why we need a unified ITS solution for India. Since every concessionaire is different and every concessionaire agreement is different, every system provided by ITS suppliers is different. They were all comparable and now we need to get to a point where they can all talk to each other. A Unified system can do away with the challenges posed by different systems being adopted by different integrators.

Best technology cannot do anything without intelligent driver: Dr Vishwanath

ITS application of all electronic, computer and telecommunication technology is to add efficiency to monitor vehicle use and capacity of existing roadways. All this helps in reducing congestion and accidents. By using the ITS, instead of a traffic signal with a fixed time you can have an online line and real-time system which is most responsive and leads to immediate relief for passengers. By using ITS, you can analyse the incidents, describe accidents, forecast future traffic, determine the fare of resources, serve more people in less time and answer the effectiveness. But right now, the system doesn’t seem to be providing much relief.

Five major functional areas – advanced traffic management system (ATMS), advance traveller information system (ATIS), public transportation system (PTS), vehicle operation and vehicle control – can be achieved through ITS. ATMS means what monitors and controls need to be exercised to manage the traffic by using Variable Measure Signs (VMS). C-DAC and other institutes are now developing these. Even IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIM Kolkata and the C-DAC themselves are doing a lot of research in this area and also in ATIS. The Government of India is giving a lot of funds for research in this field so that these systems can be customised to our country’s needs. The advanced vehicle control system (AVCS) has cruise control, vision system, etc., which are fitted into the vehicle making the vehicle intelligent.

“Five major functional areas – advanced traffic management system (ATMS), advance traveller information system (ATIS), public transportation system (PTS), vehicle operation and vehicle control – can be achieved through ITS”

Just as many new ITS systems have been applied in the smart vehicles of Germany and Toronto, in many of Mumbai’s smart road projects too such systems including smart parking systems, intelligent bridge system (Worli Sea Link and the Mumbai-Pune Expressway), smart registration on RTO, GIS and GPS based traveller system (Reliance trucking company), signal coordination (Scord), ATC using ITACA and SkyBus have been applied. The benefits are: safety, reduced accidents, better traffic flow, reduced travel cost, etc. These will lead to an increase in business activity, greater acceptance of new technologies, better travel information and better planning information. There will also be better traffic signal control – you can see what is happening. Incident management and emergency management too can be done efficiently with ITS and ETC.

If we want smart traffic management, we have to go for new technologies. If we don’t do it, we will remain behind and will require a lot of manpower to carry out the tasks. But we have not yet reached the desired level in India. When we justify to the World Bank the benefit cost ratio for installation of the signal system, we always emphasise on the fact that it would reduce manpower because every junction would be controlled by machine, thereby reducing manpower. But that is not true of every signal – we often find four-five policemen standing around the poles. So right now it might look like a self defeating purpose but in the long run, it will improve the situation.

In public transit system, in order to make the vehicle intelligent, it is important to adapt the signal timing, automated fare collection, smart call readers, silent alarm information display, automatic vehicle location identification, etc., well. Of course, the driver has to be the most intelligent person here. If he isn’t, you cannot do anything despite the best technology. Experiments are on to have buses without drivers too. That shows how effective ITS can be.

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