Regular cable stops theft, ignites new issue

The JRA’s plan to use regular cable in traffic to combat copper theft has led to even more outages at intersections.

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Johannesburg - The Joburg Roads Agency (JRA) has resorted to using regular household cable in traffic lights due to the ongoing theft of copper cable, but this is leading to more outages at intersections.

Addressing the media on the state of Joburg’s traffic lights, Darryll Thomas, JRA head of mobility and freight, said the reduced quality of household cables had caused random flashing signal faults.

“However, the JRA’s traffic signal technicians are in the process of modifying the jointing process to improve the situation,” he said.

Furthermore, new underground cables were now being used which contained little copper.

Another woe plaguing the agency was that it had only one technician servicing 170 traffic lights when it should have one per 100, said Thomas.

However, the good news is that the JRA is going to tender later this month for a R3 million system which will remotely monitor the city’s 2 135 traffic lights.

The Advanced Traffic Management System will help reduce traffic congestion and integrate traffic monitoring technologies with real-time traffic data transmitted to and from the roadside using cloud-based technology.

Thomas said vandalism and power outages were the main reasons for robot failures - it was no longer bad weather and flooding.

During the past three years, the JRA had lost R12.3m on replacing vandalised lights. It had also lost R14m on installing 200 back-up batteries on traffic lights in 2012 which have now all been stolen.

“We are now combining modern technology with rapid responses to vandalism and innovative solutions to reduce the number of traffic lights that go on the blink in Johannesburg and so diminish the frustration of road users while minimising the economic impact caused by congestion,” he said.

Mpho Kau, the acting managing director of the JRA, said: “The JRA is keenly aware of the impact of faulty traffic lights on the flow of traffic and the resultant impact on competitiveness and productivity. In addition, the construction on the M1 is pushing more vehicles onto Joburg’s suburban and inner-city roads and the need for working traffic lights continues to grow.”

Transport played a pivotal role in the economy as the enabler of trade and growth, and roads infrastructure provided an essential mobility platform, he said.

“Our aim is to reduce congestion and stimulate economic growth by picking up traffic signal faults earlier and improving our response and repair times,” said Kau.

anna.cox@inl.co.za

The Star