“Mumbai-Pune Expressway to Get High-Tech Speed Cameras as Part of Traffic Management System”
Motorists who tend to exceed speed limits on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway will face stricter enforcement with the installation of 430 advanced cameras at 106 locations. This development is a crucial aspect of the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS) project led by the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), expected to be completed by mid-October.
Sanjay Yadav, the joint managing director of MSRDC, outlined the project’s objectives, stating, “We’ve already initiated the process of erecting gantries along the Mumbai-Pune Expressway. Our goal is to complete the installation of 430 cutting-edge CCTV cameras at 106 key spots by mid-October. These state-of-the-art cameras will be interconnected through optical fiber to a central control room. The ITMS will serve to document various traffic violations, including excessive speeding, reckless driving, wrong-way driving, motorway stops, lane changes, and driving in the wrong lane, among others.”
The project follows the Built Operate and Transfer (BOT) model, with MSRDC involving officials from the transport and police departments to supervise and penalize offenders. The extensive network of high-tech CCTV cameras, including night vision cameras, will make it challenging for motorists to exceed speed limits on the expressway.
The Highway Traffic Management System in Mumbai will enforce various violations through the HTMS system. These include excessive speeding, illegal stoppages, wrong entries (no entry), wrong-way driving, lane discipline violations, mobile phone use, seat belt non-compliance, pedestrian crossings, vehicles without tail lights and reflectors, unauthorized fancy number plates, overloaded vehicles, and two-wheelers in restricted areas.
Additionally, the system will feature a spot and average speed detection system at 39 locations, a lane discipline violation detection system at 34 locations, weigh-in-motion systems for commercial vehicles at all entry points to the expressway, an automatic vehicle counter and classifier at all toll booths, automatic number plate recognition with violation detection cameras at all toll booths for penalty collection, additional CCTV cameras for general surveillance, wrong way entry detection at 130 locations, variable messaging signs at an additional 23 locations, weather monitoring systems at 11 locations, mobile surveillance vans, and a vehicle tracking system.
To oversee these operations, a command and control center will be established in Lonavala, along with other viewing centers. All camera feeds will be accessible online for officials. There will also be provisions for citizen interaction and violation penalty collection, including a mobile-responsive website, kiosks at multiple locations, variable message signs, and SMS notifications. Violation challans will be generated immediately and validated by officials, with all evidence (photos, videos, etc.) attached to the violation and sent to the vehicle owner.
This ambitious project aims to enhance road safety, traffic management, and law enforcement on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, making it a safer and more disciplined route for commuters.
