Police Commissioner

RLVD cameras installed at traffic junctions detects commuters violating the stop line rule ; Pic: NILKANTH DAVE

We had expected that enforced compliance will become voluntary compliance. It is not only the pressure of e-challans but also the joy of discovering compliance that has led to the change AK Singh, Police Commissioner

Unlike earlier, traffic lights function at night, too. So, commuters stop at junctions even when there’s no oncoming traffic. However, stricter penalties should be levied on commuters entering BRTS corridor Raj Bhatt (32), owner, Travel agency

When commuters stop behind stop line, pedestrians feel safe while crossing road. Pedestrian safety is as important as commuter safety. It is good to see increasing numberof commuters following the rules Arpita Ashar (18), a CS aspirant

After getting an echallan for violation late in the evening, I vowed to never violate the stop line even if there was no traffic. We are already witnessing achange with commuters respecting the stop line even at night Dinesh Sharma (34), entrepreneur

Amdavadis were once (in)famous for their traffic sense. But the drop in number of e-challans issued over the past six months tell a happy story. The number of e-memos issued has reduced drastically from 6.04 lakh in January to 1.11 lakh in June, proving that Amdavadis are fast falling in line, with strict policing and CCTV cams tracking their every move on the roads. The continuous efforts by Ahmedabad Traffic Police and Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation has brought about a change in people’s attitude. It is no longer unusual to see commuters standing at the stop line past-midnight, waiting for the red traffic light to turn green at a deserted junction.To ensure traffic management, the traffic department started issuing e-challans to violators in April 2018 when 6,748 e-challans were issued. The number increased to 3.44 lakh e-challans in October 2018. The Red Light Violation Detection (RLVD) cameras installed at traffic junctions, as part of Smart City initiative, detects the commuters violating the stop line and delivers an ememo at their doorstep. This has not only brought traffic discipline but also helped in reducing manpower deployed to manage traffic on the streets of Ahmedabad.This January, the traffic department issued a whopping 6.04 lakh ememos. It plunged to 1,13,522 e-memos in June as citizens started adhering to traffic rules. Till July 18, only 51,468 were issued.AK Singh, Ahmedabadtold Mirror, "We had expected that enforced compliance will become voluntary compliance. It is not only the pressure of e-challans but also the joy of discovering compliance that has led to the change. At junctions, when people stop behind the stop line, they feel that they are a part of civilised city. There are a number of junctions in the city where cameras are not installed.However, commuters voluntarily comply with rules at these junctions too, reflecting that a culture is developing. The reduction in number of echallans can be attributed to better compliance and sense of pride in compliance.”Singh added that there are close to 30 junctions in the city which are closely monitored for traffic violators. When e-challans were introduced, there was a high volume of violations at these junctions, which has now transformed into compliance, he revealed.RTO (Ahmedabad) S P Muniya told Mirror, “After introduction of e-challans, there has been a positive change in the mindset of people as they have become more aware about traffic laws. These are the joint efforts of the transport department and Ahmedabad traffic police, due to which commuters have become sensitive towards traffic rules.”ACP Traffic (admin) Akash Patel told Mirror, “The numbers were high initially because people were not awareMONTH E-CHALLANSJan 6,04,903Feb 2,80,593March 2,67,396April 2,20,985May 1,59,183June 1,13,522July (till date): 51,468