Wait at traffic signals will get interesting!

AHMEDABAD: In a smart move, four students of Strategic Design Management (SDM) of National Institute of Design (NID), Gandhinagar, have conceptualised an innovative idea to rein in errant commuters at traffic signals. They have come up with an idea of installing a screen at the signals which will grab the eyeballs of those waiting for the green signal!
The brains behind the concept Mayukhini Pande, Ruchira Swaroop, Rupinder Kaur and Shwet Sharvary, aim to ensure that commuters voluntarily enjoy the waiting time at the signal.Explaining about the concept, Shwet Sharvary says, "Until now, most efforts have been focused on trying to create fear in the minds of the commuters by means of monetary fine either through installing CCTVs or traffic cops at the junction."
"The screen installed at the junctions will be interspersed with public awareness messages, coupled with eye catching animation and also real time news update on the screen. The screen will start the countdown before the light goes green," she adds.
At this initial level, the design prototype have been tried and tested at Paldi Crossroads to gauge the reactions of the commuters. The four believe that once implemented, the design has the potential to not only contain the problem of jumping traffic signals but also check corruption that ensues. Pande says, "It also makes sense to stakeholders like government, media houses, GPS information providers like Google Maps." With the increasing heavy vehicular traffic in Ahmedabad, it's becoming difficult to monitor it using limited traffic policemen on the roads.
Swaroop says, "This project aims to be a supporting tool in maintaining sanity at traffic junctions. We have tried to reduce the perceived time of commuters who wait at the signal and also added value to their waiting time. This design intervention will help a lot to discipline the traffic on junctions."
The screen will also monitor vehicular movement on the computer screens round the clock and update information on congestion. Currently, the vehicular traffic in the city is more than 17 lakh. The average number of vehicles that increases on the city roads, according to a study by Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, is one lakh per year.
On viability of the project, Sharavary says, "We are also looking for sponsors for determining the success of this unique project. Already, joint commissioner of police, Mohan Jha, has given us the permission to prototype our project."
What an idea!
At each traffic junction, while commuters wait for the signal to go green, there will be a display of information mixed with entertainment on the screen. The information can range from real time news to dynamic maps within the limited periphery from the junction showing where ahead the traffic congestion lies.
It can also display information on weather, headlines, cricket scores, train delays, awareness messages, or simply fun messages that make you smile and bring down your stress levels, if only for a few minutes.