Effective traffic management is essential for ensuring smooth operations in urban environments. However, it also presents numerous challenges, such as keeping up-to-date road closure information, keeping tabs on inventory, and making sure the road affected by construction continues to be a safe predictable domain for users.
The need for a robust and comprehensive traffic management system was evident during Gamuda’s handling of the MRT2 project.
“During the peak times of the MRT2 project, there were an average of 4-10 closures per package, with an overall estimate of 40-70 closures per night across the entire alignment. The Traffic Management Form system automates road closure and asset management processes”
Haslan Bin Ali, Traffic Manager (KVMRT)
To combat these challenges, the team utilizes the Autodesk Construction Cloud (ACC) and Google BigQuery to create real-time dashboards automated to ensure the smooth flow of both on-ground and work traffic.
Innovative Solutions for Better Traffic Management
Generally, road closures and traffic management were previously handled through daily night road closure updates via groups in phone messaging apps and non-compliance issues were managed using third-party vendor solution. Now, both these processes are now integrated within our innovative system – ensuring we have full control of data.
The digitalised workflow system automates the report escalation process, removes the need for manual checks, and simplifies form closure processes.
Management and Operations
With the development of this system, we can ensure that up-to-date information on road closures is available to all parties for operational and public relations purposes.
With an integration of Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) into the system, we can get accurate locations for road closure and save time for both the operations and informing the public to ensure urban traffic disruption is kept at the minimum.
Mohd Shaffie Bin Mohd Yusof, Assistant Manager, GIS, Gamuda Excellence Transformation
Accurate road closure information is crucial for management to operate effectively and for the PR team to respond to public inquiries accurately. In addition, we can also monitor non-compliance through the dashboard to ensure we respond to them timely and adequately.
Documentation and Reporting
With a built-in document management system, we also integrated a reminder feature for traffic forms that have various types and levels of violation codes. Each code has different durations that need management. Based on a set workflow defined by urgency and importance, the system automates the process and sends reminder notifications to the user.
“For example, during construction work, if damage to a road curb occurs or road markings are obstructed, teams have 72 hours to resolve the issue. With everything going on (the project), it’s useful to have a reminder system in place to help move the forms processing along.”Stephen Prashant, Software Engineer, Gamuda Excellence Transformation
Road to the Future of Traffic Management
There are still an open road ahead when it comes to improvement of the system we have built. According to Haslan, there is a plan to ease three main components of traffic management: approvals, surveillance, and inventory.
We are streamlining the approval workflow for road closure requests to monitor daily night road closures efficiently. This includes tracking progress, reporting delays, and providing evidence for SOP enhancements. Surveillance ensures adherence to the approved Traffic Management Plan, while inventory monitors all traffic equipment and asset movements.
By integrating digital solutions and real-time data management, Gamuda is enhancing traffic management, ensuring safer and more efficient urban environments. This initiative aligns with our overall strategy of being a data-first company. By leveraging data, we can make informed decisions, automate complex processes, and respond swiftly to any issues that arise.
