Police in Lujiazui go high-tech in fight against road congestion
At a command center of the No.1 Squad of Pudong traffic police, traffic data collected by monitors in the streets are congregated and analyzed.
In the busy tourism and business area of Lujiazui, every car counts, and police are counting every car.
In their battle against congestion, police in the Pudong New Area said on Monday that they have started using high-tech traffic mapping, and have installed monitoring equipment in the streets which can alert them to situations which requires intervention.
Three such monitors are training on the exits of the Yan’an Road E., Renmin Road and Xinjian Road tunnels to Lujiazui. These have been counting the number of cars entering and leaving the area for about half a year now.
“From our experience, we found that once congestion happens in those tunnels, it’s likely that traffic in the entire core area of Lujiazui will suffer,” said Qiu Liang, head of the No.1 Squad of Pudong traffic police administrating the area.
More than counting cars, the monitors can also “spot” accidents, illegal parking and other incidents which can cause traffic to slow.
Qiu and his colleagues at a police command center are notified immediately by computer once such problems arise. They can react by adjusting traffic lights and coordinating with patrol colleagues to target key congestion points.
“Traffic here is getting busier and more perplexing all the time, but the number of traffic police officers remains the same, so we have to resort to technology,” Qiu explained.
A taxi is caught by a monitor illegally reversing at the exit of a tunnel to Pudong.
A monitor counts the number of cars entering Pudong from a tunnel for the police.
Aside from cross-river tunnels, the vehicle monitoring system also covers traffic movements in the entire core area of Lujiazui, which includes the Oriental Pearl TV Tower and nearby skyscrapers.
According to the data updated at 10:38am on Monday, a total of 38,676 cars had entered the area that day and 36,993 had left; while 12,973 cars were present at that time.
Police also now have access to the number of parking spots available at nine major parking lots within the area, as well as the real-time number of taxis and tourist buses there. Qiu said that such data can help police decide how to intervene in cases of congestion or emergency.
Together with the traffic administration, the police also keep an eye on what they suspect to be illegal taxis and cars with illegal plates.
The same system could potentially be introduced at key off-ramps and intersections in other parts of Pudong, according to the police.
