The Executive Director for Kampala Capital City Authority Jennifer Musisi Ssemakula, has launched traffic control centre which monitors mobility at 12 major junctions in the city.
Speaking at KCCA headquarters, Musisi said the system will remotely monitor what happens at the junction and performance of traffic signals.
With funds from World Bank, JICA and other patterns, Musisi said KCCA has managed to construct a number of roads in town and install cameras at major and crucial junctions. Some of the junctions include, Bukoto junction, Kira road traffic lights, Fairway, Jinja road traffic lights, Nakulabye, Wandegeya, and Makerere among other junctions.
She said the authority with its development patterns have installed 40 cameras at the junctions and a technical officer will be able to control traffic flow at one place to reduce on the jam that frustrates people during rush hours.
“We want to upscale this to mobile applications so the public can get information on which route is better to travel at what particular point in time to make traveling and mobility more efficient in Kampala,” She said.
There will be emergency support services in the event of an accident, cameras at the junctions will quickly pick this up and coordinate quick response with the different emergency response providers.
“We shall also offer parking guideline facilities, here we shall be able to advise citizens on where there is available parking within the city,” she said.
The head of traffic in the police, Dr. Stephen Kasiima, lauded KCCA for the commissioning of the smart traffic lights system, “This is an exciting time to be in Kampala, the time Ugandans spend in traffic jam will be greatly reduced,” he added.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of ICT Vincent Bagiire congratulated KCCA on this milestone. ‘As the Ministry, we are always excited when agencies embrace ICT to enable the lives of citizens. This is the right step to Kampala becoming a smart city. He said”