Transport department in IT push

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 13 Jun 2007

Gauteng transport MEC Ignatius Jacobs is expanding the i-traffic system, in use along some of the province's national roads, onto the R21 and R24 highways in order to ease traffic congestion.

"Worldwide, efficient and effective transport management - from public transport, to use of private vehicles to freight and logistics - is made possible by the use of intelligent transport systems, or ITS as it is commonly known," he said in his annual budget vote in the Provincial Legislature yesterday.

Although he cited no figures, it is clear this and other IT-related projects will make up a fair proportion of his R6.4 billion budget.

Jacobs' remit includes dealing with traffic congestion that every peak time turns parts of the provincial highway and byway system into a parking lot. The SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) is expanding i-traffic's coverage from a 30km to a 180km stretch. Sanral expects to manage the provincial camera system from its Midrand control centre.

In addition to the Sanral network and the mooted provincial spend, for which civil engineering work has already been done, the City of Johannesburg also operates cameras along the M1 highway, to which Sanral has access.

Successful ITS pilot

Jacobs called the scheme a success, saying: "ITS enables us to monitor the road network to identify incidents, effectively manage them and proactively inform the public of these events to alter their trip planning. ITS also makes it possible to redirect traffic to other routes, by means of variable message signs, travel time estimation, etc.

"I am proud to announce that we successfully piloted the use of ITS during car-free month [last October] in the province," Jacobs said. "Based on the success of this pilot, we will, in this financial year, implement ITS [along] the R24 and R21 road reserves... The implementation process includes installation of cameras and variable messaging boards along the R24 and R21, and installation of traffic count, speed control and character recognition software in all cameras."

The MEC also announced the expansion of a driver licence testing pilot programme to facilities at Roodepoort and Nasrec. He launched the pilot programme, involving specially modified vehicles at Johannesburg's Langlaagte testing facility, in April. The R23 million system uses digital signatures and pictures, as well as biometric thumbprints, to authenticate the candidate's identity at each stage of the process.

At the time, he said the automation of the driving test eliminated a major hurdle: objectively evaluating the test. "Up to now it was the prerogative of the tester. If he failed you, it was his word against yours."

Eliminating bribery

The new system provides evidence of the test, with the yard monitored by 19 CCTV cameras and the 10 Toyota Corollas used for Code Eight tests fitted with forward, rearward and driver-facing cameras. What they see during the test, as well as other information, is recorded and played back to the candidate in an "after action review".

"It is now impossible to get a licence through bribery or error," Jacobs promised. "People will need to know the rules of the road and how to drive to get a licence, which ultimately means safer drivers on the road."

Jacobs yesterday also announced construction of a central control room at the Loveday VIP garage for the province's road traffic inspectorate and outlined a pilot integrated ticketing system for taxis.

The MEC furthermore announced an overhaul of the vehicle number plate system, citing security concerns. He says the new system will be ready for implementation by August. "Consultations with key stakeholders and users will begin next month and run for six months. Full-scale implementation is scheduled for 1 January."

The new number plate series will include a bar code and other security measures that will allow police and traffic officials to link a car to its owner. The measure will help fight car theft and number plate cloning, and will require the accreditation of all number plate manufacturers and distributors.