EU funds help: EU funds help to solve transport problems (VIDEO)

České Budějovice - Historical square or nice corners. These are the positives that České Budějovice offers. The only, but unnoticeable, flaw in the beauty is the traffic in the city. Now the intelligent traffic control system is supposed to improve the situation. The first stage of its construction was supported by EU funds of more than CZK 8 million.

According to Deputy Mayor Lubomír Bureš, the intelligent traffic control system in České Budějovice is being built gradually. "The complex solution was conceived as modular from the beginning. It is therefore composed of a number of essentially independent and, if necessary, replaceable subsystems that have their own specific functionality. But at the same time, thanks to a clearly specified data transfer interface, they become part of and the data base for a broader expert system," he said.

DETECTORS ON ROADS
The implementation of the strategic traffic detector project, where a network of magnetometer detectors was installed on important traffic sections in two stages, was the first step. "This system collects real-time traffic flow data. We know the number of vehicles per time slot. We monitor the detector occupancy in percentage, which allows the detection of traffic jams. Vehicles are also classified according to their length, measured speed and detected driving direction," explained the Deputy Mayor.

A major benefit of obtaining all this data is the possibility of continuous monitoring and evaluation of the traffic situation in the city. In total, there are 62 measurement profiles with a total of 147 pairs of detectors deployed at the territory of České Budějovice. The budget of the project in this first phase amounted to more than CZK 9 million and the amount of subsidy support exceeded CZK 8 million.

SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS
However, it did not stop with this project alone. Gradually, other parts of the system have been integrated to provide a comprehensive view of what is happening on the city streets. In České Budějovice, for example, five weather stations acquired thanks to a European project between 2019 and 2021 are now helping to manage traffic. Here, EU funds contributed CZK 6.2 million. The weather stations monitor meteorological data and road parameters in the outdoor environment in five locations in the city.

According to the Deputy Mayor, other components of the intelligent traffic management project include a system of traffic weather stations and, in particular, a city camera system. It is currently being modernized and expanded by a number of traffic surveillance cameras, namely 43 rotating cameras and 119 fixed cameras, designed to measure and monitor traffic. Another five camera points will be mobile. "The cameras are for the most part placed on public lighting poles, traffic lights and traction poles, and some of them are placed on new camera poles, portals and houses," Lubomír Bureš detailed.

The vast majority of camera points are connected to the city's optical data network. Only a minority of them have their connectivity with the central station via a radio link.
As Lubomír Bureš said, the trial operation of the expanded camera system has been underway since mid-May and the deadline for completion of the entire project is in June this year. Sophisticated tools for traffic evaluation are also included - video traffic analysis, traffic jam detection, anonymised reading of vehicle registration plates, etc. In the second stage, the volume of the European project amounted to CZK 86.2 million and the amount of subsidy support this time reached CZK 73 million.

All the systems described above are being acquired and continuously supplemented and extended to monitor and optimise the traffic. Thanks to them, it is possible to evaluate how many cars pass through the city, where they are coming from and other data important for traffic management in the streets of the South Bohemian metropolis. The result of this should be the future management of the traffic light system in the city. As in other cities, this would be beneficial to public transport drivers and ultimately to all road users.

Photo: Klára Skálová