Visakhapatnam: At a time when Visakhapatnam is gearing up to be developed in terms of tourism, IT and other sectors, streamlining traffic has become a challenging task for the officials concerned.

In order to decongest the growing traffic movement and avoid road accidents, Visakhapatnam MP M Sribharat mentioned that the support of Artificial Intelligence has been sought.

At a review meeting organised with the police, GVMC and district officials, among others, here on Thursday, the MP underlined incorporation of modern technology to improve seamless traffic movement in Visakhapatnam.

He opined that if a smart traffic signaling system is adopted, a majority of traffic woes would be addressed and daily traffic management becomes a hassle-free affair.

District collector MN Harendhira Prasad, City Commissioner of Police Shankharbrata Bagchi gave suggestions to streamline the growing city traffic and steps to be considered for the future course of action.

The officials spoke about traffic control measures, management, monitoring of violations, imposition of fines and collection, among other related issues experienced in Visakhapatnam.

In the meantime, representatives of technology companies Brihaspati, Aviros, Arcadis and Nayan gave a digital presentation of their models that offer traffic solutions. They explained the technological adoptions followed in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Indore, Lucknow, and Delhi, among other cities and briefed about a bunch of pilot projects undertaken recently on traffic regulations and how technology aids in recording violations in an automated mode, among other benefits.

A detailed presentation was made on how traffic woes could be addressed by considering a few busy stretches like Airport Road, RK Beach, Birla Junction, Punjabi Hotel and R&B Junction as model roads in Visakhapatnam. By integrating AI-based signaling mechanisms, the representatives mentioned that dashboard management, speed control, traffic alerts, and parking woes could be addressed to a large extent.

Highlighting the advantages of technological adoption, the MP emphasised that the new system would not only be efficient but also aid in bringing down accidents and help in bringing in behavioural change among people.

Addressing the company representatives, the MP said that the software should be designed appropriately for the city and a policy decision will be taken to utilise the services of an organisation that comes up with right solutions to traffic control.

Further, Sribharat suggested the GVMC officials prepare RFPs (request for proposals) in the first week of October and send them to the technical organisations. Once the initial formalities get completed, tenders would be called for in October end.