Bangalore city’s traffic jams are now truly legendary- being the hottest topic for discussion - at pubs, paanwallah joints and even in the halls of Parliament. Never have I complained about roaming the streets of Bangalore and painting the town red. Just recently, venturing out nowadays is a frightening thought.

Sad, isn’t it? I mean, after all Bangalore’s charm was in just going out; shopping, movies, dinner at a restaurant; or perhaps that late night drive for ice-cream on MG Road or paan at Brigade Road. A time will come when our grandchildren will read in their history books about, ‘Once upon a time, there was this garden city called Bangalore’

How will SMS help ease traffic snarls?

India’s silicon valley is finally turning to technology to soothe its traffic woes. The Bangalore traffic police has tied up with mobile service providers to provide people traffic information of the narrow and potholed roads through a simple SMS. Now Airtel users can send an SMS to 54321 and get updates on traffic jams, bus locations and even travel routes and time.

Mobile service providers obviously have access to data about concentration of people. Based on the movement of people, they can determine the approximate number of vehicles on the road. However, it is not just about mapping traffic in the city. It also aids in easing the pressure on roads.

How will the agencies do this?

Calling their campaign the “B-TRAC 2010″, the traffic police on Friday formally launched BTIS - Bangalore Transport Information System - for real time traffic monitoring. Cell phone signals will be used to keep an eye on traffic movement. The B-TRAC is being implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 400 million, a senior city police official said.

Information gathered through this system will be made available to vehicle users via SMS, the web, electronic billboards and helplines to enable commuters to avoid congested locations. The information will help police tell commuters the estimated time required to reach a destination.

A website, www.btis.in, has also been launched so that one can become familiarise with the system.

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Via textually