Tuesday, August 19, 2008 MMDA installs surveillance cams along main roads
THE Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) on Monday warned erring public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers to adhere to traffic rules as it started installing surveillance cameras along major thoroughfares in the metropolis to monitor traffic condition.
Aside from traffic monitoring, the cameras, according to MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando, will also be used to monitor the water level at the 15 major and minor pumping stations operated by the agency especially during the rainy season to enable authorities to react to any case of flashflood.
“Through these traffic surveillance cameras, we will be able to monitor on a 24-hour basis the traffic conditions along major roadways and report on any accidents so that we can immediately deploy our personnel and emergency vehicles,” Fernando said.
The MMDA has initially deployed four Wi-max cameras along C-5 Road, Orense, Buendia, and Gaudalupe in Makati.
Fernando said the remaining 51 cameras will be installed in the next few days.
The agency said it plans to install a total of 200 wireless traffic cameras along selected intersections of the 24-kilometer long Epifanio delos Santos Avenue (Edsa).
The surveillance cameras are linked to the MMDA's Communications and Control Center where its personnel monitor the entire traffic situation along Edsa and other major thoroughfares on a 24-hour basis.
Dubbed the “Road Safety Surveillance System and Wireless Communications Backbone,” the remaining cameras will be installed on key intersections along Edsa, Macapagal Boulevard, Roxas Boulevard, Pasay Road, Ayala Avenue, Ortigas Avenue, Santolan Road, Aurora Boulevard, Timog and East Avenue, Quezon and North Avenue, Roosevelt and Congressional Avenue, Balintawak, Rizal Avenue, Elliptical Road, Philcoa, and Kalayaan and Visayas Avenue.
Fernando said the cameras would also help the MMDA determine traffic build-ups, and the needed number of passenger buses to be deployed along Edsa and other major roads as part of the Enhanced Organized Bus Route (EOBR) program.
“The installation of these traffic cameras is part of our effort to fine-tune the details of the OBR before its full implementation,” the MMDA chief said.
Approved last January, the OBR involves the installation of “micro-chips” or Radio Frequency Identification Device (RFID) and readers on buses and designated points in the terminals and thoroughfares for easy tracking of the movement of buses along Edsa.
Under the OBR, bus terminal and loading bays are equipped with tracking devices and cameras that will monitor every bus operating in Metro Manila.
Authorities said about 3,000 passenger buses ply Edsa, Metro Manila’s main thoroughfare, on a daily basis. They accumulate about 32,000 daily trips.
Earlier, the agency has started putting markings on buses for proper identification of its route to ease traffic problem in the metropolis.
The MMDA has designated three lanes dubbed “yellow lanes” for the use of passenger buses of which the two inner lanes are reserved for buses plying Metro Manila while the outermost lane is reserved for provincial buses.
Fernando said these dedicated lanes will ensure efficient and orderly dispatch of these vehicles once the OBR is fully operational. (AH/Sunnex)
