The M5 Multan-Sukkur Motorway in Pakistan has become the first motorway in the country to feature an automated transport monitoring system. The system consists of 269 cameras that will continuously monitor all moving vehicles, allowing prompt action against any violation. The system has been implemented at 77 hotspots for overspeeding, with speed cameras placed at five-kilometer intervals to ensure constant monitoring of the road.
In addition, the National Highways and Motorway Police (NHMP) plans to install an Intelligent Transport System (ITS) on motorways M1, M2, M3, and M4 over the next two years. The NHMP has signed an agreement with the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) through the National Highway Authority (NHA) to implement the ITS.
The new ITS system is expected to eliminate motorway delays, as motorists will only pay fines and toll taxes when they exit the Lahore-Sialkot motorway, which is fully automated. The system sends challans to offenders who exit the motorway, but there are some challenges to implementing this system in Pakistan. For instance, assigning challans to multiple family members using one vehicle can be difficult. Moreover, ITS has difficulty finding unregistered vehicles with open letters, and a strong database is necessary for an accurate and efficient ITS system.
Despite these challenges, the NHMP’s ITS system represents a significant modernization step towards more efficient and effective transport monitoring in Pakistan.
