Road safety initiatives and the integration of AI highlighted at the 12th edition of TrafficInfratech Expo New Delhi
With rapid urbanization and industrial developments growing persistently in India, the demands for effectively managing its transportation and infrastructure networks are intensifying. To address the challenges with advanced solutions, the 12th edition of TrafficInfratech Expo with concurrent shows Road Infratech Expo and Parking Infratech Expo was held from 22-24 October 2024 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, with exhibitors from 9 countries, 70+ Product Categories, over 300 brands and 21 companies ware participated for the first time. The three-day expo was organized by Messe Frankfurt Trade Fair India and Virtual Infosystems Pvt Ltd.
Indian infrastructure is undergoing rapid transformation across its vast landscape from rural to district to state to national to international levels. This is changing the face of public infrastructure facilities in use by the transportation and logistics segment. As urban centers across India grapple with mounting challenges related to vehicular congestion, road safety, parking, and traffic management, the need for advanced infrastructure solutions has never been more pressing.
These issues compound due to the burgeoning population and rising vehicle ownership, particularly in metropolitan regions.
Against this backdrop, the TrafficInfratech Expo emerges as a vital platform for stakeholders seeking smart, sustainable, and scalable solutions against the challenges. The expo offered a comprehensive platform for industry leaders, policymakers, and innovators to discuss the latest advancements in traffic management, road infrastructure, and parking solutions and expo-hosted conferences with subject matter experts on the crucial areas
With various government efforts to transform mobility infrastructure in India, Smart Cities Mission, PM Gati Shakti, Viksit Bharat, Bharatmala Paryojana, and more, have led to establishing new developments, and routes and upgrading the existing infrastructure.
TrafficInfratech Expo presented solutions that are smart, tech-based, AI-based, and backed by various emerging technologies and advancements. The show brought together the manufacturers and solution providers from 120 participating exhibitors from nine countries which include India, Australia, Denmark, Germany, Mexico, Slovakia, Taiwan, the UAE, and the USA. The solutions aimed at reducing commuting time, traffic congestion, improving road safety, manage mobility and which can thereby lower emissions. The show has brought together 86 exhibitors who are showcasing products and technologies that aim to improve the daily management of traffic management, roads, and parking with better solutions by the authorities in turn improving the convenience for commuters.
Encouraging everyone to uphold features of sustainability and safety in product and service developments, on the inaugural day Chief Guest Shri Mahmood Ahmed, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) conveyed, “First of all I thank everyone, the organizers and participants as you are rendering great services by doing something for the country and the world by imparting safety. There will be many discussions happening over the three days of the expo on smart mobility, road infrastructure, and the transport sector. I believe that out of these discussions shall identify gaps, and suggest possible solutions which can be collectively presented to us with your suggestions, so we can add our bit and get those implemented, making our transport and traffic infrastructure sustainable and safe.”
Commenting on the occasion, Mr Jayram Nair, Chairman of VIS Group, expressed: “This year, I am happy to see the product innovations and vibrant displays by various exhibitors. I feel delighted that the expo is rightly bridging the gap between solutions that matter and the respective user industry. This year, the expo has about several new exhibiting companies and participants from around nine countries. I am delighted to see the enthusiastic support from the esteemed ministries, industry bodies, exhibitors, and delegates who add value to the expo, making it more relevant.”
Commenting on the technology aspect of the expo, Mr Raj Manek, Executive Director, Messe Frankfurt Asia Holdings Ltd, shared: “It is great to witness the scale of innovations on the show floor. The expo is bringing forward tech-based new solutions that are going to be an integral part of traffic management operations and infrastructure-related solutions. We certainly need solutions that can enable effective management of dense road networks and traffic congestion and management systems that make parking hassle-free. These technologies will help streamline traffic movement.”
The expo has also garnered support from various regulatory bodies/ministries and associations including Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), Association of State Road Transport Undertakings (ASRTU) and National Highway Builders Federation (NHBF).
Hon’ble Minister Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari, of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, Gracing the expo with his presence on the concluding day, visited the TrafficInfratech Expo with concurrent shows Road Infratech Expo and Parking Infratech Expo highlighted road safety initiatives and the integration of AI.
In his address, he shared: “At the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) we are already building a lot of expressways and axis-controlled roads. All these developments are targeted to bring down accidents as 60% of deaths today are between the age groups of 18-36 years. We are using the latest technologies available across the globe for road construction and are also involving young and talented engineers from India for better engineering of roads and impart safety. On the law enforcement front, we are using the best technology that captures the person driving along with the vehicle number in cases of violations.
We are implementing all kinds of advanced technologies in the road safety ecosystem such as the use of AI to make roads safer.
We are appointing experts from the private sector to deal with these subjects. With this, we will be looking ahead to develop and implement a system that takes care of law enforcement, manages tolls, and also keeps an eye on road quality and health. This project will be finalized in the next three months, so a system is developed that can be implemented first on major highways and later be leveraged by respective state governments.
Regarding this, our focus is on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) who can provide us with consistent quality products.” He also stated: “The road safety infrastructure will see huge growth in India in the near future. Even the sector is so promising that the stakeholders have a huge market for exports as well.
Further, quality will play a key role as good quality will help them fetch export markets.”
With India’s growing infrastructure and road networks, various products powered by smart technologies, AI-based tech solutions and more are entering the industry. This will serve to be a critical step in taking India’s mobility, infrastructure, traffic, and parking management to the next level. These solutions will offer several benefits like real-time tracking, monitoring, surveillance, help reduce road accidents, GNSS toll collection, and more. The advanced technology and product implementation will serve to be highly advantageous for the road management authorities, municipal corporations, and companies that are associated with the maintenance of roads and their construction, managing traffic, handling parking management, and more