Filenews 12 January 2024
Tenders for the installation of the regional control system, known as "smart lights", are announced next week, which are expected to alleviate the traffic problem in Nicosia and Limassol.
According to the original plan, the call for tenders was scheduled to take place on October 15 last year, but there was a delay. As explained to "F" by the Department of Public Works, two approvals were needed before the call was made: The first concerned the tender documents from the Public Procurement Authority belonging to the Treasury. This approval was given yesterday and the other approval concerning the budget of the project is expected today. As is customary in government projects, the tender will be international, so that the installation of "smart lights" will begin by the end of 2024.
According to the plans of the Department of Public Works, the system will be applied to 125 photo-controlled contributions, of which 75 in Nicosia and 50 in Limassol. The system will be capable of connecting up to 500 photo-controlled contributions all over Cyprus. There are currently around 370 intersections in Cyprus controlled by traffic lights.
The budget of the project amounts to €7.1 million (+VAT) and is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund of the Cohesion Policy, "THALIA 2021-2027" Programme of the EU. The execution period is 24 months with 5 years maintenance.
Urban Traffic Control (UTC), as it is called in the system, will replace an older regional control system installed in Cyprus in the early 1990s. The system requires the modernisation of urban traffic management on the basis of innovative technologies and new equipment. The reconfiguration of the new unified system aims to reduce the negative impact on the environment, the economy and better traffic regulation.
The operation of the system is based on traffic data collected by sensors that will be placed at key points of the urban road network. The system will process these data in real time and give instructions on how to operate traffic lights. Smart lights have already been installed at the Agia Fyla traffic junction in June 2021. A study is currently underway in order to install "smart lights" at the Polemidia roundabout and the Port roundabout.
As estimated by Public Works and the Ministry of Transport, the new management system will optimize in real time the regulation of traffic lights, thus reducing the inconvenience observed at light-controlled junctions and limiting the phenomenon that exists today of queues forming at traffic lights and no one passing. The system includes:
- Adjusts green time according to traffic to reduce delays.
- It coordinates adjacent photo-controlled junctions on main road corridors in order to reduce the "start-stop" effect by creating green waves while reducing fuel consumption and air pollutant emissions.
- It may give priority to buses and emergency vehicles.
- Immediately informs about damage to traffic lights (immediate intervention, prevention of road collisions).
- It allows the implementation of strategies (e.g. restricting access to specific areas and times).
- Monitoring and intervention by the traffic control centre (e.g. bypassing road works, road collisions, etc.).
Among the main advantages of the system, based on the operation of similar systems in other countries, are:
- Travel time reduction by 10-25%,
- Reduction of delays by 15-30%,
- Stop-start reduction by 10-30%,
- Reduction of public transport journey time by 28%,
- Reduction of fuel consumption by 8-10%,
- Reduction of pollutant emissions by 10-15%,
- Reduction of air quality burden and improvement of quality of life.
