Traffic Engineering and Planning Agency has asked the Punjab government to release more than Pakistani Rupees 580 million to complete the installation of artificial intelligence based vehicle video detection traffic signals across Lahore, after the project received only Pakistani Rupees 10 million in the current fiscal year. The project was approved at a cost of over Pakistani Rupees 590 million, which means that almost the entire budget is still outstanding while a large part of the work remains to be done. Sources said the chief engineer of the agency has sent a summary to the Punjab Housing Department requesting the funds.
According to the summary, the project has already completed its pilot phase successfully, and around 30 percent of the total work, including the pilot, has been finished so far. The agency has installed modern pelican signals at several locations in the city, among them Adda Plot and Jati Umra Chowk, which serve as examples of how the new signals operate in busy parts of Lahore. At the remaining sites, signals will be set up under the automated vehicle video detection system, which uses cameras and software to observe the number and movement of vehicles at an intersection. Such systems are designed to replace fixed timers with signal timing that responds to actual traffic, so that green time can be adjusted according to the volume of vehicles waiting on each approach.
The agency has urged the government to release the full amount within the current fiscal year so that the project can be completed on schedule and traffic flow in the city can improve through signals that are able to respond to road conditions. A shortfall of this size raises the risk that installation may stop at the stage already reached, leaving Lahore with a mix of modern and conventional signals in different areas. Mixed systems can make it harder for traffic managers to coordinate movement along major corridors, since signals that react to vehicle numbers cannot easily be synchronised with those that run on fixed cycles. Completing the work in a single phase would give traffic planners a more uniform network and allow the pilot results to be applied across the whole city.
The funding request comes at a time when Punjab has been investing in technology for urban management and enforcement, including smart cameras for automated traffic challans in Rawalpindi and a government graphics processing unit cloud project to host local artificial intelligence platforms. Lahore, one of the most congested cities in the country, faces daily delays at major intersections, and artificial intelligence enabled signals are expected to reduce waiting times and make better use of existing road capacity without the need for new construction. Whether the project reaches the full coverage that was planned will depend on how quickly the provincial government decides on the summary and releases the remaining funds before the end of the fiscal year.
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