Special cameras on Delhi BRT – Traffic violators watch out!

Special cameras on Delhi BRT – Traffic violators watch out! Drivers talking on mobile phones, failing to wear seat belts or jumping red lights could find themselves tracked down by junction surveillance cameras on the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor in Delhi. Discussions are on to install speed cameras on this stretch to catch errant drivers. What makes speed camera different from surveillance camera is: these speed cameras can detect the speed of vehicle also. DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multi- Modal Transit System) is working on this project to install these special speed cameras on the BRT, which will be in addition to the already existing junction surveillance cameras that man the stretch. DIMTS had done a pilot project near airport and had demonstrated the features of speed camera to Delhi Traffic Police four months ago. It was acknowledged by Traffic Police that the cameras were effective in spotting over speeding vehicles and generating challans. DIMTS spokesperson revealed that the company is in talks with various agencies for installation of high end speed camera and hopes to begin the work of installation of cameras on the corridor by early 2013. Many other countries across the world Like United Kingdom, United States, Turkey, Ukraine are using speed cameras for monitoring the roads and over speeding of vehicles. Talking about the unique features of these high resolution cameras, a DIMTS official said “These cameras store video footage and perform optical character recognition to capture license plate number in digital format and in some cases also separately stores photographs of the driver. These cameras can work effectively even in poor visibility conditions.” He further added, “If any driver is crossing the speed limit, the camera will capture his image and vehicle‘s number plate with the date, place and time stamp. The number plate will help in extracting the address of errant driver from central database and issue image based challans to them.” Once the speed cameras are installed the information related to the number plates will transmitted to the DIMTS’s Operation Control Centre (OCC) from where it will be sent to the concerned agencies for further action. Presently, DIMTS has 24 high resolution cameras monitoring the BRT corridor. The DIMTS spokesperson explained that these surveillance cameras can pan/ tilt/zoom to capture the minutest details, which help in supervising traffic conditions and spotting accidents at BRT stretch. The staff at OCC constantly monitors the BRT corridor through these cameras and on spotting violations, sends the footage to the Transport Department. The cameras also provide live update of the ground situation at the corridor. Vehicle breakdowns etc. are immediately noted and prompt action taken. Last year at the time of Delhi High court blast, DIMTS provided the video footage of the corridor at the time of the blast, for possible clues to the National Investigation Agency. These videos have become an important source in solving crimes in and around BRT Corridor.