PEOPLE living in Suva should expect less traffic especially during the usual peak hours from next month, thanks to the new traffic system that is being planned to be put in place.
The 2016 National Transport Consultative Forum sub-sector consultation held at Novotel in Lami yesterday was told that the new software, known as SCATS, was expected to be implemented within the first two weeks of July.
SCATS, which stands for Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System, is a fully adaptive urban traffic control system that synchronises traffic signals to optimise traffic flow across a whole city, region or corridor.
Its self-calibrating software minimises manual intervention, which can result in substantial operational cost savings.
Fiji Roads Authority’s Eric Singh, who is the team leader in subdivision development, revealed at a group discussion that a local company, already identified, would be provided with the software to manage traffic lights in Fiji.
He said Suva was the focus at the moment where the software would be trialled.
“The current lights are standalone lights so you cannot change that in a network. If you change something, you will have to go there to do it manually.
“With this new software, you will be able to direct the traffic from a centre. You are able to see all the traffic lights, and during the peak hours you can just increase the time of the green lights to help the flow of the traffic,” Mr Singh said.
According to the New South Wales government, SCATS is more than just a way of linking traffic signals to provide road management co-ordination, it’s a sophisticated traffic engineering system that allows you to implement complex, objective-oriented, traffic management strategies.
SCATS has been continually developed for more than 40 years and sold to 27 countries, delivering real and measurable reductions in road travel times and delays.
