Traffic congestion in Casablanca may improve with the implementation of a new smart traffic system being initiated this April to notify drivers of approaching traffic jams in the city’s major thorough fares.

The smart system consists of hundreds of cameras, a smart red light control system and smartphone applications.  It’s designed to solve Casablanca’s ongoing traffic crisis. The construction of a central command station is currently underway and is set to be operational this April.

 
According the French-language news source, L’economiste, the system will manage the traffic in a comprehensive way using apps that will notify drivers of the streets where traffic congestion is occurring, prompting them to use alternative routes, thereby limiting further bottlenecking.

Deputy Mayor in charge of Mobility and Transport, Mohamed Bourrahim, quoted in the same source, stated “The first phase of the project already ended in December.” In this phase, sensors were placed at major roundabouts. The second phase, which is currently underway, consists of installing hundreds of cameras at these same roundabouts.

The central command station is being constructed in the headquarters of the police prefecture and will manage the new traffic and safety system. This station will have two main missions; a security component that is police-managed, and a traffic management component run jointly by the police and the Casablanca Urban Community.

The central command station is expected to be a state-of-the-art traffic management system geared towards informing road users, boasting the installation of dynamic panels, which indicate the locations of car parks and information on the number of places available.

The system will have a transmission network of over 220 km of fiber optics, more than 750 cameras placed on 200 crossroads and will also integrate more than 600 existing cameras.

Source :Morocco World News