ITCS Technology in Traffic Lights Claimed to Have Reduced Traffic Congestion

KatadataOTO – The DKI Transportation Agency will use Intelligent Traffic Control System (ITCS) technology as one way to reduce traffic congestion.

With this technology, priority vehicles can pass through intersections in Jakarta without having to stop at a red light. This is very important, especially in emergency situations.

"Jakarta needs special mobility for vehicles like fire trucks or ambulances," said Syafrin Liputo, Head of the DKI Jakarta Provincial Transportation Agency (Dishub), as reported by Antara (21/08).

He gave an example, if a fire occurs and a fire truck appears from one of the roads, that lane will be given a green light priority to allow it to pass more quickly.

Photo: KatadataOTO

Interestingly, after priority vehicles like fire trucks or ambulances have passed, the traffic management returns to normal. The longer queue at the intersection will be prioritized.

ITCS allows traffic lights to be adaptive to the movement of vehicles at each intersection. This way, delays at intersections can be minimized.

However, traffic light management in Jakarta does not yet fully use ITCS. Out of a total of 321 priority intersections regulated by traffic lights in Jakarta, the technology is only present in about 65 locations.

"Meanwhile, the others still use the Area Traffic Control System (ATCS), so their management is still static," he said.

Nevertheless, Syafrin stated that the implementation of ITCS shows a 20 percent improvement in traffic performance compared to before.

"Jakarta is already approaching 20 percent, although not all priority intersections are regulated by this ITCS," he said.

Photo: @TMCPoldaMetro

He cited data from the TomTom Traffic Index 2024 as a reference. From there, it is known that Jakarta is no longer among the top 20 most congested cities in the world. In fact, Jakarta is now ranked 90th with a congestion level of 43 percent, a decrease of 10 percent from 2023.

“In the 2024 report released in January, Jakarta's congestion level reached 53 percent while its rank was 31," he concluded.