Pedestrians to be told to cross street, smartly

TRAFFIC police are on a drive to find technological solutions to the dual problems of burgeoning traffic offenses and rush-hour congestion, no small matters in a city of 6 million vehicles.

The new solutions will be focused on preventing and punishing offenses by pedestrians and bike riders.

At busy crossroads, pedestrians, motorists and other road users often get in each other’s way, especially at rush hour.

Police are experimenting with technology that monitors pedestrians on zebra crossings and tells drivers to stop using synthesized voices.

Pedestrians will be urged to cross the street smartly.

Impatient motorists frequently drive into the center of an intersection, even with a line of stationary cars blocking the way, causing an even bigger snarl up, especially when the lights change.

Navigation apps can tell drivers when they approach a congested area and warn them against blocking the intersection.

Shared bike users should know that traffic offenses can affect their credit.

Police are in cooperation with shared bike companies on automatic tracking of offenders, with automatic deductions from the transgressors’ accounts.

There are already traffic cameras with facial recognition technology which can recognize riders going the wrong way, one of the most frequent infractions.

More cameras will be on the roads soon.

To deal with congestion, traffic lights are getting smart.

No longer simple timers metronomically switching from red to green, computers observe the traffic and adjust the interval between changes.

Xing Peiyi, head of the traffic police, said the first smart lights are near the Bund and have reduced travel times by 10 percent.