RAWALPINDI, July 21: Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) on Thursday signed a Rs32 million agreement with a company for installing a software to control traffic in the city.

According to the contract, the company, Tollink, will control traffic on 19 busy intersections in Rawalpindi city through a software — Sydney Coordinated Adaptive Traffic System (Scats) – which will automatically turn the signals green and red according to the volume of traffic.

The software, which will be imported from Australia, has been distributed to 154 cities in 25 countries worldwide controlling 34,357 intersections. Its makers say it is designed to coordinate traffic signals for networks or for arterial roads and “each regional computer can manage up to 250 intersections.”

After operating the system for initial two years, Tollink will hand it over to RDA. Initially, the traffic control system will be installed on Benazir Bhutto Road, Liaquat Road, Saidpur Road and Stadium Road.

The ceremony to sign the contract was attended by Chairman Development Committee Rawalpindi and PML-N leader Sardar Nasim, Director General RDA Makeen Shahbaz and representative of Tollink Riffat Nazar.

“We are happy to sign a Urban Traffic Control (UTC) contract for the first time in Pakistan,” Makeen Shahbaz said. “The new traffic system can handle traffic far and wide as the software can coordinate traffic on 250 intersections,” he added.

According to Tollink representative, the system would end “manual management of traffic”. He said the new traffic control system measures volume of vehicles at intersections through installed censors, turning green or red according to the size of traffic.

The project, according to Sardar Nasim, will be inaugurated by Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif soon.