They have prepared a five-year Master Plan under M-TRAC to utilise Rs. 40 crore that will be sanctioned by the State Government. Under M-TRAC, Rs. 8 crore will be used per year to streamline traffic movements and provide additional facilities.

It may be recalled here that the previous City Police Commissioner Dr. M.A. Saleem had initiated the M-TRAC project on the lines of B-TRAC in Bengaluru and Chief Minister Siddharamaiah had approved the Rs. 40 crore project. The CM had also released the first instalment for the department to begin works.

As part of the Master Plan, three new signal lights will be installed at Dattagalli Ring Road Junction, Bannur Ring Road Junction and Nanjangud Ring Road Junction at a cost of Rs. 54 lakh. Works on the signal lights have already begun at the three junctions and the remaining 52 signal lights at various junctions will be upgraded at a cost of Rs. 4 crore.

CCTV CAMERAS: To prevent motorists from breaking traffic rules and to maintain vigil on the streets, 40 more CCTV cameras will be installed to enable the Police to maintain law and order and also reach the problem area quickly. Personnel monitoring the camera recordings at the CCTV Camera Control Room, can alert the jurisdictional  Police to reach the spot in case of trouble.   

BUS BAYS:  Bus bays to facilitate the passengers to wait for the buses and board them in a systematic manner will be installed at 24 places. These bus bays will facilitate both KSRTC and private buses and will be installed at places including Ballal Circle, near Saraswathipuram Fire Brigade, JSS Medical College, near Sub-Urban Bus Stand, Geetha Convent on Bannur Road, Old Police Station at Udayagiri, Hootagalli Circle, near Ganapathy Sachchidananda Ashrama, Railway Station, Metropole Circle, Fountain Circle, Kumbarakoppal Gate on KRS Road, Ramaswamy Circle, near Lakshmi Talkies on Chamaraja Double Road and Akashvani Circle.

JUNCTIONS: Twenty junctions will be developed at places including Krishna Vilas Road, Narayana Shastry Road, Chamundivana, JSS Old Hospital Road, Harsha Bar, Fountain Circle, Vinaya Marga, Vayu Vihara Marga, Surya Bakery, Hebbal Main Road and Kumbarakoppal Junction.

PEDESTRIAN PATHS: To facilitate smooth movement of pedestrians, high-raised pedestrian path will be constructed at 20 places including Vinoba Road, MRC Circle, Krishna Vilas Road, Ramakrishnanagar Circle, Nrupathunga Road Bus Stop, Gokulam Main Road, Temple Road, NIE Junction, J.K. Ground Circle and pedestrian path in front of Loyal World. Plans are also afoot to install vehicle-friendly road humps. In addition to the above works, painting of zebra crossing, earmarking of parking areas and installing of traffic signboards will be taken up.

GPS to track passenger rides : The city Police is developing an app that uses GPS to track passenger rides and report complaints. Very soon, autorickshaws, cabs and taxies will sport Quick Response (QR) codes, the pattern code found on consumer goods that can be read by smart phones.

The system, developed for security of women using public transport late in the night, also monitors other passenger complaints. The app will read the details of the vehicle and its driver that are embedded in the QR code, and ensure that the commuter’s journey is tracked through GPS and transmitted to the traffic control room.

According to City Police Commissioner Dr. A. Subramanyeshwara Rao, the mobile app will scan the QR code and access the database. When the commuter goes to the app and scans the QR code, it will show the details of the vehicle, driver and licence. “We will implement the project in a couple of months and the database of every single public transport vehicle in Mysuru will have to be embedded in QR codes and displayed on vehicles. This will enable us to track the entire journey and at the same time ensure passenger safety,” he said.

“During the course of the journey, if a commuter encounters a problem, he or she can press the ‘Panic’ button in the app and the GPS location of the smart phone will be communicated to the Traffic Control Room and help will be rushed, he added.