[Johannesburg, 30 May 2006] -
Work on the South African National Roads Agency Limited's (Sanral's) R28 million traffic monitoring project is expected to recommence this week, after being plagued by power interruptions that have set back the initiative by about two to three months.Project manager Alex van Niekerk says repeated theft of fibre optic infrastructure and power cables has essentially halted the project, but the project team will start work again in the coming days.The project, between Johannesburg and Pretoria, comprises the installation of 70 closed-circuit television cameras, aimed at gathering information about traffic problems, trends and conditions, explains Van Niekerk. This information will then be communicated to emergency services and disseminated to the public, warning motorists about potential traffic issues along a particular route.The cameras are being installed between the Shell Ultra City, on the N1 freeway, and New Road, in Midrand, on the South-bound side of the N1. However, thieves targeting copper cable have repeatedly destroyed the fibre optic backbone for the cameras, “unintentionally” ripping it up along with the power cables.Van Niekerk says the project team will commence with on-site work this week, conducting traffic measuring experiments.Good progress“The theft is more or less under control,” he notes, adding that increased security has helped the situation. “The work is back on track and we are making good progress.”However, as a result, the pilot study for the project has been delayed by two to three months. Thus far, only one tender has been awarded for the project – the R4.7 million software development tender, awarded to Cape Town-based Sport and Traffic Technologies.Van Niekerk adds that a request for information for the supply of traffic detection equipment has been announced. This component of the project is valued at between R1 million and R2 million. It is unknown when other tenders may be announced.Following the completion of the pilot, the project is expected to be officially launched, and information gathered will be distributed via a Web site, SMS, radio reports and variable electronic signs along the road.Sanral is also testing the feasibility of the electronic vehicle identification component of the project, which relies on 915MHz radio frequency identification tags to gather information about vehicles travelling along the Ben Schoeman.Related stories:
Thieves hit traffic monitoring pilot
Traffic monitoring project delayed
Roads Agency plays tag on highways
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