Traffic lessons on digital hoardings

Get ready for traffic lessons on digital hoardings in the city. Though the light-emitting diode (LED) hoardings were dubbed ‘distraction for motorists’ by the traffic police, the Municipal Corporation of Hyderabad (MCH) is gearing up to flash traffic safety lessons on them.
Five digital hoardings have been put up in the city—at Rasoolpura junction, Greenlands, Somajiguda circle and Nagarjuna circle. As per the build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement between the MCH and private companies, 10 per cent of advertisement slot is left for the civic authority.

The MCH will use this time slot to screen PowerPoint presentations on road safety and to create awareness about traffic rules among the public. The MCH is already ready with one such presentation. According to MCH officials, public service announcements (PSAs) under the purview of other government departments would also be posted on the screens.

“As it is, the digital screens are proving to be a distraction for motorists on these arterial roads. The concept is good but the messages would not register on the minds of motorists,” said a traffic official. However, MCH officials are unfazed and are calling for tenders for 10 more digital hoardings on the Begumpet-Banjara Hills stretch.

Also on the cards are surveillance cameras to be mounted atop the digital screens. “Through the video footage, various traffic violations like jumping signals and riding without helmet would be captured on tape. The data will be passed on to the traffic police for them to take action against the erring motorists,” MCH additional commissioner (traffic and transportation) N V S Reddy said.

The project is a zero cost one for the MCH as private contractors would have to install cameras with their money. All the 15 digital screens would be networked for synchronisation. It would cost Rs 2 crore for each digital screen with the camera unit. MCH officials said that cameras would be in place in a month. The city is the first in the country to put up digital screens. After Hyderabad, civic authorities in Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore have called for tenders to put up these digital screens.