Artificial Intelligence, commonly referred to as AI, has emerged as a popular buzzword in the technology industry. The concept is increasingly being adopted by many sectors, the latest being traffic management. Last week, 726 cameras installed on the major roads across Kerala became operational. Part of the ‘Fully Automated Traffic Enforcement System’ of the Motor Vehicle Department, the cameras focus on detecting traffic rule violations such as not wearing helmets and seat belts, overloading on bikes, using mobile phones while driving and jumping red light. But, violations will not be penalised till May 19; instead the government is planning to conduct awareness programs to educate the citizens regarding the new system.

The Smart City Mission has boosted the adoption of AI powered traffic surveillance through its Integrated Traffic Management System in many Indian cities. Chandigarh’s 600 AI powered CCTV cameras- installed in March 2022 at 40 traffic junctions- were successful in detecting the violations and issued over 2.5 lakh challans. Other smart cities including Shimla, Madurai, Bhubaneswar, Noida & Udaipur are also planning to set up such systems.

Evidence suggests that the AI powered traffic management can definitely help the authorities to monitor violations more precisely. As per Bengaluru traffic police records, the percentage of contactless enforcement has increased from 38% in 2014 to 96% in 2023. This has helped the traffic cops to focus more on managing traffic flow instead of running behind the violators. The surveillance data can also be used for identifying areas of high congestion & planning infrastructure improvements accordingly.

But, the system is also associated with some challenges such as operating them in long run. To detect violations, AI program needs to be trained by providing continuous video feeds of violations. In Ahmedabad, the CCTVs can only detect stop line & red light violations as it is not trained to detect the others. Other challenges include absence of supporting road infrastructure & breach of privacy of the motorists.

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