MMDA upgrades traffic system

MMDA inaugurates new traffic system. Photo from MMDA Facebook page

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) has launched a P295-million digital traffic signal system, one that can automatically calculate vehicular volume and tell which lane in an intersection needs “more green-light time.”

Under the first phase of the upgrade, 85 traffic signals and controllers, along with 25 high-definition closed circuit television cameras (CCTVs) were installed at priority intersections in the metropolis, all linked to the MMDA command and control center in Guadalupe, Makati City.

During the launch on Wednesday, Indra account manager Jonathan Aguirre explained that “the old system is based on a fixed timer. You cannot change it even if the traffic volume is low.”

“Now, the automatic mode of operation allows more ‘green’ (light) time in the direction that needs it most. And it can actually be changed (at the MMDA), without having to go to the intersection,” Aguirre said.

Indra project manager Carl Decloedt added that the new system “takes real-time data from the streets [through] loop detectors on the ground.”

The sensors process the vehicle count and computes the traffic volume on-site and in real time. “Based on that, the system calculates what the best timing is for the traffic lights,” Decloedt said.

President Aquino, the guest of honor, noted that Metro Manila had been stuck with traffic management technologies as old as 14 years.

“Most equipment, like controllers for the more than 400 intersections, have been used to the fullest and need to be replaced. This doesn’t even include the failing traffic lights and loop detectors that, instead of being instruments of order and safety, are sometimes even the cause of accidents,” Mr. Aquino said.

As of 2013, he said, there are two million registered cars in the capital, with the heavy traffic resulting in lost work hours and income worth “P2.5 billion every day.”

Photo from MMDA Facebook page

Aquino hoped the new system would provide a “quicker and more accurate response” to Metro Manila’s notorious traffic jams and also be useful as a tool for security and public safety, referring to the CCTVs.

The President, who early in his term imposed the “no wang-wang policy” on his own motor pool by not using vehicle sirens just to force his way through heavy traffic, said the new technology should be complemented with discipline among motorists.

“I hope we develop discipline. Even if sometimes we are tempted as we lose our temper or get bored on the road, let us not make it an excuse for breaking the law,” he said before an audience that included several Metro Manila mayors.

“No one has the license to behave with that wang-wang mentality or act like a king on the road,” the President said.